Innovating Battery Life: Powering Down to Power Up

03/19/19 • 37 min

Killer Innovations with Phil McKinney - A Show About Ideas Creativity And Innovation

Being connected has become an essential part of our daily lives. Wireless has made huge strides over the past two decades. IoT is connecting our world in ways we would have never imagined. With the growing demand for constant connectivity, one area that needs fine-tuning is battery life. All these devices we use throughout the day require battery power. Today’s guest saw this as the opportunity. David Su is CEO of Atmosic. His company is innovating battery life. Creating technologies to reduce battery usage, Atmosic develops solutions that keep things powered up.

Stanford to Startup

Much of David’s career has been in the wireless space. With a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, David joined Atheros Communication in 1999 as its fifth employee. David continued with Atheros as it grew and went public. He stayed on when Qualcomm acquired Atheros. After some years, David felt his time at Qualcomm had run its course. He ventured into new areas. With four former work colleagues, he started a new company.

Atmosic’s Vision

In the wireless world, battery power can be a boon and a bane. Reliance on wireless means dependence on batteries for power. When batteries lose charge, things can come to a standstill. Limited battery life also means a lot of batteries get thrown out – to the tune of three billion per year. Two and a half years ago, David and fellow co-founders started Atmosic with this in mind. David, Masoud Zargari, David Nakahira, Srinivas Pattamatta, and Manolis Terrovitis brainstormed. They sought advice from experts in the field. Their vision began to coalesce – to keep connected devices powered with little to no battery usage.

“ If you want to do anything meaningful, make sure it works with what is out there. Don’t create a niche market.

—DAVID SU, CEO ATMOSIC

With the vision in place, Dave and his team went to work innovating battery life. They started with battery powered Bluetooth devices.

Solving Core Battery Problems

The advantages Autmosic’s technologies will offer:

Lowest power usage without compromising quality.
Turns device off when not in use with system level check that transmits only when needed.
RF energy harvesting, enabling the battery to last forever.

Long-term vision:

“Battery-free utopia” – ecosystem in enterprise applications.

Lessons Learned

What has David learned along the journey towards innovating battery life? David has some tips for people whether they’re starting a company or pursuing innovation.

Interoperate – work with what is already known and improve it.
Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and be willing to listen.
Make sure what you are doing is what you truly believe in and are passionate about.
Ground what you are doing in reality.

By innovating battery life, Atmosic is focusing on a problem that affects us all. Powering down to power up will keep us connected in a sustainable way.

To track what Atmosic is doing, visit www.atmosic.com. For the latest updates, check them out on Twitter and LinkedIn.

To hear the interview with the CEO of Atmosic David Su at #CES2019, listen to this week’s show: Innovating Battery Life: Powering Down to Power Up.

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Stanford to Startup

Atmosic’s Vision

“ If you want to do anything meaningful, make sure it works with what is out there. Don’t create a niche market.

—DAVID SU, CEO ATMOSIC

With the vision in place, Dave and his team went to work innovating battery life. They started with battery powered Bluetooth devices.

Solving Core Battery Problems

The advantages Autmosic’s technologies will offer:

Lowest power usage without compromising quality.
Turns device off when not in use with system level check that transmits only when needed.
RF energy harvesting, enabling the battery to last forever.

Long-term vision:

“Battery-free utopia” – ecosystem in enterprise applications.

Lessons Learned

What has David learned along the journey towards innovating battery life? David has some tips for people whether they’re starting a company or pursuing innovation.

Interoperate – work with what is already known and improve it.
Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and be willing to listen.
Make sure what you are doing is what you truly believe in and are passionate about.
Ground what you are doing in reality.

By innovating battery life, Atmosic is focusing on a problem that affects us all. Powering down to power up will keep us connected in a sustainable way.

To track what Atmosic is doing, visit www.atmosic.com. For the latest updates, check them out on Twitter and LinkedIn.

To hear the interview with the CEO of Atmosic David Su at #CES2019, listen to this week’s show: Innovating Battery Life: Powering Down to Power Up.

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Previous Episode

CTO Advice for the Innovator

How does one become a successful Chief Technology Officer? It takes creative vision, innovative strategy, and thorough preparation. In this week’s show, Tony G. Werner, President of Technology and Product at Comcast, joins me to share CTO advice. Tony tells us what helped him achieve success. For those working toward a similar role, Tony’s CTO advice for the innovator gives valuable insight.

From Second in Charge to CTO

Before becoming CTO at Comcast, Tony spent a good part of his career as the number two guy. At Rogers Communications, Inc., people counted on Tony to get the job done. From there, he moved on to TCI in the number two role. His innovative vision soon got him recognized. A phone call from John Malone surprised Tony. John had a problem that needed to be solved. With two weeks to mobilize, Tony brought the right people together and came up with a solution. John was impressed. About three weeks later, Tony was promoted to Chief Technology Officer. Success to Tony is when opportunity meets preparation.

Steps a CTO Needs to Take

What are some of the first steps a new CTO should take? Focus on your vision, belief, and financing.

“ Never underestimate an opportunity and when to prepare for it and how to do it.

—TONY G. WERNER, COMCAST PRESIDENT OF TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCT

For Tony, the most important thing is to bring people with you. The people on your team need to be fully on board and passionate about your vision. Steve Job’s team is a great example. His team brought the innovative ideas. Steve made those ideas into bigger things. As a CTO, you need a credible plan to sell to your team, to your peers, to the CEO, and the Board. Then you need to execute.

CTO Lessons Learned

Looking back on his career, Tony shares some lessons learned. Do you have your sights on a CTO role? Here are a few words of CTO advice for the innovator:

Be willing to take a step backwards to go forward.
- There have been times in his career that Tony has taken a step backward to gain experience. The value of experience outweighed the financial down step.
Set high expectations for yourself and your team.
- Tony feels at times he could have set higher expectations and would have achieved more.

CTO Challenges and Success

From my experience as CTO at Hewlett Packard, a CTO has a divided focus. The challenge is to find a balance between thinking of present goals and thinking years ahead. Senior leadership support is crucial.

Another bit of advice for the innovator is to vary your experience. What helped me find success was my wide range of experience. For long-term career success, having a variety of experiences can make the difference. You have to step out of your comfort zone. Be willing to try different roles. Be a part of teams that you would not normally be comfortable in. Having different experiences gave me the confidence I needed to be bold in innovation.

To hear the interview with Comcast President of Technology and Product Tony G. Werner at #CES2019, listen to this week’s show: CTO Advice for the Innovator.

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If you have questions or comments about today’s show, drop me a note. Join the conversation on this and other topics at The Innovators Community.

Next Episode

Innovations Using Edge Computing

Making creative ideas into tangible products takes time. Anything that can optimize the process will give the advantage. Developing the next evolution of cloud computing is Mutable, which offers public edge cloud. This translates into low latency, increased security and maximum efficiency. Antonio “Pelle” Pellegrino is Founder and CEO of Mutable. Pelle joins me to discuss his innovations using edge computing.

Bowling Alley to CEO

Pelle’s career has been an interesting one. From working in his parents’ bowling alley to streaming E-sportscasting, he gained business sense and startup initiative. Four years ago, he saw the potential for innovations using edge computing. With Nathalie Zadocks, he founded Mutable. It was self-funded and revenue-based in its inception. The company is now charging ahead as part of the CableLabs Fiterator program.

Solving Problems of Latency and More

Speed is no longer the metric. Latency is what is measured, especially in gaming. Latency depends on distance. How does Mutable managed the distribution of edge computing assets? Through automation, from networking to server management to deployment, Mutable uses software to bring all the pieces together. It’s a platform that makes things seamless for developers. With its innovations using edge computing, Mutable is a market maker for shared compacity.

Retrospective Advice

Pelle’s experience starting up Mutable has given him some perspective. His words of advice ring true for startups and innovators.

Be persistent
Know when to scale up
Be disciplined and do not overextend

Innovating cable services, Mutable meets the demand in lowering latency. To track what Mutable is doing, visit https://www.mutable.io/edge.html. For the latest, check out their Twitter account: https://twitter.com/mutable.

To hear the interview with the Founder and CEO of Mutable Antonio “Pelle” Pellegrino at #CES2019, listen to this week's show: Innovations Using Edge Computing.

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