This interview was held with George Dimitropoulos, CEO of ADVEOS.
Tell me about ADVEOS
ADVEOS was founded in 2015, and is a privately-held fabless company, providing ASIC design services and developing RF and analog IP cores. Adveos supports a growing international customer base, designing various technology products and infrastructure that can be found in everyday life, for example in consumer electronics, communications networks, medical equipment, etc.
Within ADVEOS, we have managed to develop a well-balanced mix of an agile run small company with the scale and execution of a global corporation. Within the first 3 years of our existence, we have grown to a team of 35 people, we have established a Tier 1 worldwide customer base and managed to demonstrate several silicon proven chips using our designs. We’ve grown into a well-established and prestigious ASIC design house in Europe.
At the same time, we’ve had 100% employee retention. We are regularly told by our customers that they enjoy the right balance between performance and high level of support they are receiving. So, they continue the co-operation not just for the performance of the circuits, but also for the quality of the support and experience working with our engineers.
When did you start ADVEOS? What were you doing before that?
The five of us – Savvas, Thanasis, Gerasimos (Jerry), Yiannis and myself – started Adveos in 2015. We are all coming from various assignments and roles within the semiconductor industry, ranging from small start-ups to global multinational corporations, bringing significant experience in RF, Analog, Digital and Commercial domain. Although we had overlapping periods in various companies in 2’s or 3’s, we never worked in parallel as a team of 5 in the same company, prior to ADVEOS. The timing was right when we all felt the urge to become entrepreneurs and build our own company. We started Adveos with no external funding and within a very harsh financial environment – remember that Greece was under capital controls at the time – but have never looked back since. We still have complete ownership of the company and we are enjoying every moment of it.
What problem did you see that needed to be fixed? What is your approach to solving that?
It was rather unusual at the time – and probably still is – to identify independent groups with high caliber ASIC designers outside the large multinationals. Most of ASIC design teams were part of these organizations and were not open for business to the outside world. Medium or smaller size companies had very limited access to ASIC design services, since they couldn’t afford to maintain their own ASIC design teams. In several occasions, even the large multinational companies request ASIC design services from external partners, mainly due to internal restructuring, additional resourcing, acceleration of time to market for certain projects or even for cost purposes.
Our approach was to setup a team capable of addressing the demand for custom ASIC solutions, focusing on a value for money proposition for those who would like to miniaturize their electronics without the significant overhead of an internal investment for an ASIC design group.
How was the role/offering of ADVEOS changed during the recent years?
We are becoming more focused in the area of design services we are offering. Moreover, we have now the capability to develop our own RF / Analog IP cores based on a better market understanding and following closely our customers’ requirements.
What is a typical customer for ADVEOS?
Practically, any company interested in developing a CMOS/BiCMOS chip is potentially a customer for ADVEOS.
At the present time, our customer’s portfolio ranges from Tier 1 multinational corporations offering hardware solutions in the areas of computer micro-processing or high-speed networking equipment to smaller or medium sized OEMs operating in the fields of telecommunication or medical equipment.
Customers are focused on time-to-market, first-time-right, price, etc. Do you see a change in customer behaviour in recent years? Where is the focus today and why?
It is hard to identify the priority that any customer requires for a given project. Indeed, priorities change from customer to customer, sometimes they may even dynamically change in the course of a project, especially if we are talking about developments with longer timelines. However, if I had to identify the main focus for a typical ADVEOS customer, I would probably say it is time-to-market followed by specification compliance.
Are you currently hiring? What type of jobs?
We are always in constant need for Engineers with an RF, Analog, Mixed-Signal and Digital circuit design background willing to work and live in Athens, Greece. A city with a rich history, powerful culture and a great lifestyle.
What is your #1 advice for people who want to work for Adveos?
I would advise anyone (obviously, with the right skills) who would like to join us, to do so with an enthusiasm to strive and with a very strong team-player mentality. These are both very important virtues that we value as a Company and these are the very virtues that shall take him/her very far in his/her professional career.
Where can one find more information?
You may check our website www.adveos.com or our LinkedIn company page https://www.linkedin.com/company/adveos-microelectronic-systems/ . For job applications, please send your CV at [email protected]
What is the best moment in your day?
I really love the fact that so many things happen in ADVEOS that every day can be different on its own and bring special moments. Having said that, the days I am at the office, I thoroughly enjoy the first morning coffee of the day with Jerry and Yiannis in the coffee shop round the corner: a really nice way of planning your business day ahead, and combining it with pleasant conversations from yesterday’s politics and sports news.
How do you spend your time outside working hours?
During the weekends, I try to spend as much time with my family, which I don’t really have the chance to do during the weekdays. In addition, I try to keep myself active (running, cycling, swimming), while reading a good book or watching a great movie are equally important. Last but not least, traveling is also very high on my agenda, when time is not an issue.
Partner with us