# An Interview with Andreas Olofsson - Adapteva's Ampliative Abacus

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2015-06-18
- Length: 1h 06m
- Episode: 254
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-18-an-interview-with-andreas-olofsson-adaptevas-ampliative-abacus
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/254-an-interview-with-andreas-olofsson-adaptevas-ampliative-abacus/

## Summary

Andreas Olofsson, founder of Adapteva, discusses the design of the Epiphany parallel processor and the company's journey with the Parallelo development board. He explains the technical rationale for a specialized, energy-efficient architecture optimized for compute-intensive tasks like matrix math and imaging, contrasting it with general-purpose CPUs and ASICs. Olofsson details the challenges of semiconductor economics, including the high cost of tape-outs and the difficulty of securing venture capital for chip startups. He also reflects on the lessons learned from their 2012 Kickstarter campaign, particularly regarding pricing strategies and the gap between developer platforms and consumer markets.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-18-an-interview-with-andreas-olofsson-adaptevas-ampliative-abacus#t=0) Introduction and Background
- [1:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-18-an-interview-with-andreas-olofsson-adaptevas-ampliative-abacus#t=88) The Failure of the Tiger Shark DSP
- [5:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-18-an-interview-with-andreas-olofsson-adaptevas-ampliative-abacus#t=339) ASIC Design Efficiency and Tools
- [14:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-18-an-interview-with-andreas-olofsson-adaptevas-ampliative-abacus#t=864) Epiphany Architecture and Performance
- [35:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-18-an-interview-with-andreas-olofsson-adaptevas-ampliative-abacus#t=2124) Kickstarter Campaign and Pricing Lessons
- [54:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-06-18-an-interview-with-andreas-olofsson-adaptevas-ampliative-abacus#t=3268) Semiconductor Economics and Future Outlook

## Topics

- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Adapteva (company)
- Epiphany (chip)
- Parallelo (product)
- Tiger Shark DSP (chip)
- Analog Devices (company)
- Raspberry Pi (product)
- Xilinx (company)
- NVIDIA (company)
- ARM (company)
- Ericsson (company)
- DigiKey (company)
- RS Components (company)
- Amazon (company)
- TSMC (company)
- GlobalFoundries (company)

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- [026 - You Can Lose in so Many Colors!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2019-08-31-026-you-can-lose-in-so-many-colors) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)
- [Ep. 23 | Arduino Co-founder Massimo Banzi on How Arduino Took the World by Storm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/moores-lobby/2021-04-29-ep-23-arduino-co-founder-massimo-banzi-on-how-arduino-took-the-world-by-storm) (Moore's Lobby)
- [EP 123: Marvell ASIC TAM, ASIC Challenges Remain, More Semi 2.0](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2025-06-23-ep-123-marvell-asic-tam-asic-challenges-remain-more-semi-2-0) (The Circuit)
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## Citing this page

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