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Baker: We see ourselves as the focal point between the design engineer and various vendors and suppliers in the industry. For example, for component vendors and distributors, it’s a huge pain point to support all of these smaller customers. But at SnapEDA, we love hearing from designers, no matter how small their company, because it enriches our product and communication with them. Engineers can write to us and say, “I can’t find the datasheet for this component. You don’t have it on your site.” We’ll reach out to the component manufacturer and manage that relationship for them. The engineer does not pay for that. We do it because it helps us enrich our platform with the design data that another engineer might need, and it allows us to help the designer. We see ourselves as a helper between the engineer and the thousands of different vendors out there.
Feinberg: I can see that what you provide is valuable. I haven’t done any design stuff since vacuum tubes.
Baker: Oh, wow (laughs). It’s been a while.
Feinberg: We used to take a chassis, cut holes in it, and put tube sockets in it. You didn’t know how much space you were going to need, and you had no idea when you started. It’s totally different now. I’m just amazed.
Baker: And that’s a perfect example. Our business model wouldn’t have worked 20–30 years ago. Because to just give away stuff that we’re spending millions of dollars making made no sense back then; it barely makes sense now (laughs). I’m joking, but we’ve been able to do it because we have the scale. We have so many engineers using us on the web. We can say to our partners, “We have a massive community.” But 20–30 years ago, how would you get one million engineers in your city? You couldn’t. That’s the scale that only the internet can enable.
Feinberg: You are being kind; that was actually over 50 years ago. Do you find that the engineer and the design segments are growing in the United States and North America?
Baker: Definitely, but we’re seeing a big shift away from huge companies being the only ones designing electronics. One startup company that uses our platform makes electric airplanes. They have good funding, but still, they’re a company with a small team that didn’t exist two years ago. We’re also seeing companies doing satellites and space electronics. Overall, it’s the shift from complex design being done by larger companies to many smaller companies and/or multiple smaller groups within large companies. By the way, all of the top technology companies—such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook—have electronics teams. Even Netflix, Adidas, and Nike are making circuit boards. Because of this, I think electronics designers are going to be the next tech superstars.
Feinberg: There’s no doubt that Asia is where all the volume stuff is being made, but look at the design stuff that’s happening within 100 miles of here. There are probably 1,000 companies designing stuff that we don’t even know about right now, and look at some of the amazing stuff that’s coming out of Israel right now.
Baker: Definitely. Design is happening everywhere, and there are some awesome technology startups in Israel.
Feinberg: How do you monetize what you do since you’re giving away so much for free?
Baker: As a team of 20 engineers, it is extremely important to us that SnapEDA always remains free for other engineers. We make money by working with component vendors and distributors and helping them drive the demand for their products. It’s a win-win.
Feinberg: Very good. Thank you so much, Natasha.
Baker: Thank you.
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