Chip-fuelled creativity

THE tiny ESP8266 microchip, made close to a decade ago, has amassed a cult following far beyond what its lead developer, Singaporean Teo Swee Ann, had envisioned. Measuring just a few millimetres, the Wi-Fi chip has captured the imagination of do-it-yourself tech hobbyists - or "makers" - all over the world.

Makers have created numerous online tutorials and even written books on how to use the ESP8266 - and Mr Teo's subsequent chips - to build smart devices and systems. These range from simple temperature and air humidity monitors, to complex wireless Web servers and even Wi-Fi-controlled robots. Some of these innovations have even stunned Mr Teo.

"I have seen someone transmit analogue TV with our chip, even though it's not designed to do that," he tells The Business Times over a Zoom call from his office in Shanghai. "I'm just really amazed by what the makers can do."

By serving not just corporate clients, but also the maker movement, Mr Teo believes that his chips can benefit society. "The potential is to help everything connect and make things smarter, so there is less wastage of energy and there is less consumption of materials," he says.

The electrical engineering graduate is the founder, chief executive and president of Espressif Systems. His China-headquartered firm manufactures the flagship ESP32 series of chips and software, which came after the ESP8266, as well as other cutting-edge Wi-Fi-and-bluetooth integrated devices and solutions.

"Other than chips, we also build software that supports the development of IoT applications. We also build frameworks that developers can use for certain capabilities. For instance, with connectivity to the cloud, we try to simplify the connection," he says.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Monday, 3.30 pm

Garage

The hottest news on all things startup and tech to kickstart your week.

Sign Up

These innovations all tap on the Internet-of-Things (IoT), or the science of turning "dumb" everyday objects into smart, interconnected ones.

As an early entrant in IoT in Asia, Espressif has grown rapidly, and also profitably. Since its founding in 2008, the firm has expanded its headcount to about 450. Beyond China, it also has offices in India, Brazil and the Czech Republic. Espressif is currently also building up a presence in Singapore, with plans to hire some 80 engineers in the next two years for an research and development (R&D) centre.

Among Espressif's fans is Foreign Affairs Minister and tech enthusiast Vivian Balakrishnan. On his Facebook page, Dr Balakrishnan has described the low-cost ESP8266 as "legendary".

In July last year, Espressif went public on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, commonly known as the STAR board, of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Even with global trade tensions and Covid-19, its market capitalisation has stayed buoyant. As of Friday, the firm was valued at over US$2 billion.

As Espressif has grown from strength-to-strength, so has Mr Teo's standing in the international business community. Last month, the 45-year-old joined the Forbes list of Singapore's 50 richest individuals, with an estimated net worth of US$990 million.

Today, Espressif has tens of thousands of clients globally, he says. They include manufacturers of everyday electronics, such as coffee machines and light bulbs, as well as providers of smart city and automation solutions.

But when asked about his entrepreneurial success, Mr Teo immediately points to the ground-up support he has received from the maker community.

"There are a lot of makers who use our chips. They helped us find bugs in our software and they created a lot of interesting applications out of it. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to them. I believe that the makers can really make a difference," he says.

And it is this spirit that he hopes to channel into the future direction of his business: to pursue not just profits, but to do good with tech.

"Just imagine, if you were to connect everything in the world, what would that be like? I believe that in the process of trying to model the world, one day, everything can be connected and controlled from the Internet. We can make the world a lot more responsive to us through that technology," he adds.

A lifelong passion

Mr Teo began tinkering with tech from a young age. As an eight-year-old, his curiosity was piqued when "poking around" the inner workings of his Apple II, one of the earliest versions of mass-produced computers.

"We didn't have a lot of games to play with, but there was an Apple reference menu that documents very clearly the assembly language of the computer, and so you could actually do a call function and start programming," he recalls.

Looking at the code written for existing programmes, Mr Teo gradually began to figure out how it worked. This curiosity carried on into his youth. Even though his parents' background was in business, he was drawn to the tech world, with a particular fascination for engineering and biology.

"I never really thought much about it, but I'd always wanted to be an engineer," he says with a laugh. After junior college, he went on to study electrical engineering at the National University of Singapore, and subsequently completed a master's degree in the discipline.

Upon graduation, Mr Teo did not think twice about leaping into the startup world. He joined bluetooth chip maker Transilica, then just a young company in the United States. The enterprising fresh graduate took on a variety of roles, including as a circuit designer, layout engineer and test engineer.

"In a startup, you are constantly trying to build something with a limited amount of resources. It's really tough. That experience in Transilica prepared me for what was to come in starting Espressif. Startups are not smooth-sailing; you have an idea, you try to build and you're going to fail. You need a great team with tenacity, that will stick to it. That builds discipline," he says of his first job experience.

Mr Teo then went on to work at another US chipmaker, but began to crave a more challenging environment. That was when he packed up everything and made a bold move to China in 2004. There, he was part of the founding team of Montage Technology, a fabless semiconductor company, which makes chips for digital television and memory interfaces.

"After a while, I got bored of building chips and then thought, how about making chips in a smarter way? If you are building chips by hand, it's like you're a doctor, you can only work on one patient at a time. How can we automate this process and make it better? So that was the beginning of Espressif," he says.

Finding its niche

However, it took some time for Espressif to find its niche. After starting out designing software for analogue circuits, the company moved on to become a chip design consultancy, helping companies to design components. But Mr Teo was still restless. He decided to begin making his own chips, paving the way for the ESP8266.

"As I was writing software to build circuits, I realised that computing power was increasing a lot. When we started the company, there was a processor by Intel that we managed to run a lot of jobs on. I saw that if the number of cores keep increasing, we can really perform a lot of things. And this is where computation can be used directly to create a better world."

"We decided that IoT was a trend. In 2008, there was an idea buzzing around in the community for a cheap Wi-Fi chip... But not a lot of people actually went to do this. We were one of those who decided it was interesting to look at," he said. The ESP8266 was developed in 2011 and subsequently went into production in 2013.

The bet on low-cost Wi-Fi chips turned out to be prescient. Soon after its release, the ESP8266 caught the attention of makers halfway around the world, in the US. Beyond serving commercial clients, the chip began to take on a life of its own in the maker community. For Mr Teo, nothing could be more satisfying.

Kids these days can't have the same experience that he did in his childhood unpacking the Apple II, he notes. But with his chips serving makers, he hopes to play a part in fuelling their curiosity for tech.

"We have a whole bunch of makers who can buy our chips for a low price. We try to recreate that experience for makers, where they can go down to the lowest level (of the device) and do whatever they want," he says.

Thinking global

By starting Espressif in China, Mr Teo had the advantage of riding along the country's early wave of tech companies, which has seen explosive growth. Navigating the Chinese market is no cakewalk, particularly for a hardware player, given the intense price competition. But Mr Teo says that he could not have picked a better market to start from.

"There are very few places that can rival Shanghai's ecosystem. The good thing about China is that it's a huge country and it's much easier to survive because there are many opportunities here, big and small. When you are a startup, you have got all kinds of opportunities that you can fit in. There's an enormous pool of talent here as well," he says.

Many Singapore startups tend to use the homeground as a test market, before expanding into South-east Asia. Mr Teo thinks that this approach should change. Entrepreneurs should think bigger and go straight for the world's economic powerhouses, he reckons.

"Singaporeans have an advantage of being bilingual. Both India and China are huge markets, they hold enormous opportunities. It makes sense for Singaporeans to travel out and connect with the world," he says.

"We can keep our roots in Singapore, but the market size here is small. If you want to do a startup, you have to go out and try to conquer the world, not just South-east Asia, which is very fragmented. Focusing on the big countries is great... People can try to copy you, but you have to be innovating and moving ahead constantly. In China, it's no longer just about competing on price, but more about quality."

Of course, thinking global has become much tougher in a post-Covid-19 world. With the added threat of global trade tensions, some fear that countries may turn insular. But Mr Teo urges fresh graduates to keep their eye on the bigger picture: the relentless march of technology is already changing the future of jobs. Rather than flying to safety, now is a time for measured risks.

"Just look at the rise of AI; think about how AI is able to beat a professional (board game) player. AI is going to change everything. I guess the jobs situation in the future will be very much influenced by the use of AI as well, and we had better get prepared for that," he says.

"Try to do something crazy and learn new things. A lot of people are looking for a normal, stable job. But I think that model will have to pass, because with AI, a lot of things are going to change and we all have to be adaptable."

That said, Mr Teo also reiterates that having a core vision underlying the business is important. And it has to go beyond the money.

"It's really not just about making profits. It's all about the value proposition of the company. If we do something for society, that's for the better. I don't agree that companies exist just for profit. We need to do good for society, and in the process, maybe make some profits."

He adds: "I also have this thing to say about Espressif. We have people from around 20 different countries, working together on various parts of the system, to create something that it is useful for the world. And we believe in the open source movement and contributing back to it."

TEO SWEE ANN

Founder, CEO and President Espressif Systems

1975: Born in Singapore

EDUCATION

1996-1999: Bachelor of Electrical Engineering with Minor in Law, NUS

1999-2000: MSc (Electrical Engineering), NUS

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2000-2001: RFIC Design Engineer, Transilica, USA

2001-2004: Senior Design Engineer, Marvell Semiconductor, USA

2004-2007: Engineering director, Montage Technology, China

Since 2008: Founder, President and CEO, Espressif Systems, China