Exclusive: The ‘Father of Pentium Processor’ Vinod Dham talks about Startups and where India is headed

He invented the first Pentium Processor that made Intel the world’s biggest chip-maker. He then invented the AMD K6, popularly known as the ‘Pentium Killer’.

He has the most cracking anecdotes about how Robert Noyce (Co-founder, Intel) once called him at his desk when he joined Intel as a young engineer, and how he suggested Gordan Moore (Co-founder, Intel) to buy off Knight Ridder to get rid of his newspaper worries.

Today he’s better known as the Executive MD of IndoUS Venture Partners, the VC that funded Snapdeal back in the days. Vinod Dham, 65 is nothing short of a legend.

He believes Innovation is done by cheap labor, and never misses an opportunity to tell Narendra Modi to fund College Projects instead of government-driven research. “They haven’t done anything worthwhile after all”, he says!

He ain’t a big supporter of the Ambani/Birla model where business is done through subsidies and upfront guarantee of being profitable. “That’s not business. They’re still not profitable”, he dismisses.

He has li’l regard for MBAs, accepts that Intel missed the smartphone chip train and loves the thrill of startups.

Business Insider sat down with this kickass inventor-cum-entrepreneur-cum-Venture Capitalist-cum…um, there’s a long list, and got chatting.

The Father of the Pentium Processor was FORCED into Engineering?
*Laughs* I ultimately followed my passion, and it paid off. You should really do what you want to do, because then work becomes play.

I was forced to shift from Physics. My brother felt I won’t be able to earn enough money in my life. I don’t blame him for that.

I ultimately ended doing my Masters in Solid State Physics, which is basically Semi-Conductors.

It’s one of those things where you need to know Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Electronics, Circuit Design, Computer Science, Software, and even Fluid Mechanics. I found it intriguing.

The ‘Intel Inside’ Campaign catapulted the company into the limelight. Do breakthroughs like that just happen?
It doesn’t happen overnight. It sometimes takes decades.

Intel had existed since 1969. It was only in 1993-94 that we realized Intel chips were going into 90% of the computers, but no one knew they come fitted with the same processor inside. People just asked for a Compaq or IBM PC. That made us very envious.

It was then that we came up with the idea of the ‘Intel Inside’ sticker. We offered lower prices to consumers who let us stick those. Then Bill Gates got his, and so on and so forth. That’s how it started.

You’re the go-to microprocessor guy. Is smartphone heating bad engineering or necessary evil?
It’s a necessary evil. Physics creates the heat.

The architecture has been scaled over the last 40 years to one billionth of the original. You’ve not scaled only one thing, and that’s the voltage or power supply. It was 12 Volts earlier, soon became 5 Volts, and finally 3.3 Volts.

If you don’t scale everything, heat will be created as a byproduct. You’re at an atomic level. You can’t go beyond that. So you’ll have to live with the heat.

Alternately, you can try chilling and other mechanisms that Apple is trying.

India’s Smartphone Boom and the Microprocessors Industry
It had to happen. It was just a matter of time.

Today, if you want to buy the original Pentium machine I built in 1991, it will cost you $200,000.

The only smartphones that are going to be made are the new ones. You can blame Moore’s Law for that. Amazing guy!

Why doesn’t India have a global Software brand?
The very fact that we are the ultimate destination for software services in the world is our weakness. In IT Services the mindset is of service. We’re waiting to be told what to do.

We have an entire generation of young engineers who’ll do anything you tell them to. They’re very smart kids, don’t get me wrong. However, in the process we’ve not allowed them to be creative.

We need to get out of service mode, and get into problem solving mode. It’ll come. I already see Vishal Sikka steering his big boat into product orientation. I’m sure Wipro and TCS will follow.

Do you buy into the Startup Bubble Idea?
There are no bubbles, only pockets. In the enterprise software industry in the US, there are 78 Unicorns. Everybody decided to go on funding them as IPO is very hard there.

In the process, if 20-30% of them die, I don’t see a problem. If you want to call that a bubble, you may, but that’s a part of the natural evolution of any business.

Valuation Bubbles
Greed is human. You work between greed and fear.

Investors are humans too, and they want money. Once everybody’s investing, you don’t want to be left behind, and so you invest. When everybody wants to invest for the same deal, valuations go up, and that’s what’s been going on. However, it has to self-correct.

I won’t worry about it too much. It’s a good time to consolidate, sit back, review and those who can’t make it will go home.

There will be a collective learning. Failures teach you something. You won’t make the same mistakes next time at least. That’s how you learn and grow, and I like it.

VC-funded Startup Ecosystem
We only get our money’s worth with the home run.

We look at the thousand deals that come to us, and look at a hundred in all seriousness. Out of that we invest in ten, and ultimately invite one.

When you go backwards, there is a very low probability of success in VCs. However, the ones who succeed bring all the goodness into the world. That’s why I’m such a believer.

Big sectors other than E-Commerce
Data Science, Artificial intelligence and Health Science.

A lot of innovative and creative ideas are coming out of India.

How do you foster innovation at a young age?
Foster curiosity.

There is a mindset in India that needs to change right from schooling. This change needs to take place significantly at a 6^th, 8^th and 12^th grade level.

We shouldn’t focus on rote learning. Nobody needs 2*2 tables; you have a calculator today for that. Just ask them to be curious and creative in their own way.

Your vision for Mobile Computing
It’ll become more intelligent. The question is what form it’ll take.

The total computational power of a smartphone will far exceed that of the human brain. It’ll be able to do things that we can’t even imagine.

Image Credit: WizIQ Edtech