Lessons from Lip-Bu Tan

A titan in the technology and venture capital sectors, Lip-Bu Tan is renowned for his transformative leadership at Cadence Design Systems and his foundational work with Walden International. His recent appointment as the CEO of Intel has further solidified his reputation as a visionary leader. Through his extensive career, Tan has shared a wealth of knowledge on innovation, leadership, and investment.

On Leadership and Culture

On the essence of leadership: "Leadership is not about being the smartest person in the room; it's about bringing out the best in others." [1]
On humility in leadership: "I subscribe to a simple philosophy: Stay humble. Work hard. Delight our customers." [2][3]
On taking on challenges: "One of the things you will learn about me is that I am never deterred by challenges. Throughout my career, they have motivated me to solve hard problems." [4]
On fostering innovation: "Bureaucracy kills innovation." [5][6] This is a key part of his strategy to revitalize Intel by removing unnecessary complexity. [5][7]
On building a strong team: "I learned to be humble. I may not be the smartest guy in the room. But I surround myself with the smartest people who are much smarter than me. And I have learned from them."
On creating a new company culture: "It's clear to me that organizational complexity and bureaucratic processes have been slowly suffocating the culture of innovation we need to win." [7][8]
On empowering engineers: "Under my leadership, Intel will be an engineering-focused company. One of my top priorities is to retain and recruit top talent — engineering — and empower innovation and growth." [9]
On the importance of teamwork: "I always believe a team is very important...how do you work and then become an extended team to the customer...and then understanding their pinpoint and then how to solve that." [10]
On changing a company's culture: "I decided to change the culture of Innovations...always believe that new the best product win." [11]
On accountability: He believes in holding the company responsible for commitments and execution. [4]
On the need for speed and agility: He emphasizes accelerating progress in areas where the company lags behind competitors. [4]
On fostering unified teamwork: He promotes a culture where collaboration drives success. [4]
On transforming a struggling company: When he took over Cadence, the stock was at $2.42. Through a major transformation focusing on business strategy and culture, the shareholder value increased by almost 84 times during his tenure. [11]
On organizational structure: To foster teamwork at Cadence, he redesigned the organizational chart into a circle to promote dynamic interactions and cross-functional collaboration. [12]

On Innovation and Technology

On the lifeblood of the tech industry: "Innovation is the lifeblood of the tech industry. Without it, we cannot move forward." [1]
On the future of technology: "The future of technology lies in collaboration—between companies, industries, and nations." [1]
On the semiconductor industry: "The semiconductor industry is the backbone of modern technology. We must invest in it wisely." [1]
On the evolution of software: "In the past, Intel's approach has been inside out. We designed hardware, then you figure out developing the software to make it work. The world has changed. You have to flip that around." [6]
On purpose-built silicon: "The world wants purpose-built silicon that's designed and optimized for specific workloads." [6]
On the importance of software: In any startup, he likes to see a 50/50 ratio between the software and hardware teams, emphasizing that software has become critically important. [10]
On the potential of AI: He sees AI and machine learning as game-changers, with significant opportunities in verticals like medical biotech, drug discovery, and fintech. [13]
On the future of AI systems: "If I have my way, our future systems will outperform rival products, sell for less, and use less energy." [14]
On groundbreaking research: "We really need to continue to invest in groundbreaking research that open door for New Market and application." [10]
On the semiconductor industry's future: He believes it's a "sunrise industry" that needs the brightest engineers to drive innovation. [10]

On Customer-Centricity

On prioritizing customers: "My number one priority since my first day on the job, has been spending time with customers." [15]
A simple motto for customer satisfaction: "My motto is very simple under promise and over deliver."
On rebuilding trust: "We are here to serve you and earn your trust...I won't be happy and satisfied until we are consistently delivering our promise on time, on quality, to exceed your expectations." [6]
On receiving feedback: "Please be brutally honest with us...I believe harsh feedback is most valuable." [6]
Learning from negative feedback: After receiving "Ds and Fs" from customers at Cadence, he said, "That's humiliating and I learned a lot...it's really ignite me to change." [6]
The goal beyond satisfaction: "I also emphasize not just meet the customer requirement. we have delighted customer...customer had to praise us." [11]
Building trust takes time: "Stay humble and admit a mistake and apologize for the mistakes...the trust take times to build." [11]
The power of serving: "The real magic happens when you stop selling and start serving." [2]
Becoming a partner, not just a vendor: At Cadence, he fostered deep partnerships, working side-by-side with clients to build integrated solutions. [2]

On Investment and Entrepreneurship

On his investment philosophy: "I invest and work alongside founding teams who, through grit and determination, are building important and valuable companies with disruptive innovations. I am committed to being a long term, trusted partner to help mentor entrepreneurs and nurture companies from idea to successful IPO and beyond." [16]
On having a contrarian vision: He named his venture capital firm, Walden International, after Henry David Thoreau's "Walden," inspired by the idea of being "contrarian, rather than just following the trend." [6][17]
On doubling down on semiconductors: "When semiconductors were not popular 20 years ago, I doubled down on it." This contrarian view led to 43 IPOs and 25 successful M&As from 251 semiconductor-related investments. [6]
On what he looks for in an entrepreneur: He values entrepreneurs who are willing to listen and adapt, have the right background, and are honest. [11]
On the importance of the market: "Management management management is most important sometime is wrong market and market and market is more important. if you address a big market. people can change uh you can replace. and uh you can fix. and but if you address a market is narrow. even you have the best management. team." [18]
Advice for entrepreneurs: "Think big, take small steps and keep your eyes open for opportunities."
On taking calculated risks: "Just keep your eye open take calculated risk. and um and be bold and make calculated risk and that have been the best advice I get you know from MIT." [18]
On the flexibility of entrepreneurs: "Nine out of 10 business plan are back they change their plan from the day one to later on become successful. and so that flexibility of the entrepreneur is very important." [11]

On Career and Personal Growth

On continuous learning: "You always have to constant. learning...lately I've been learning a lot and I also invest a lot one thing good about you know venture capital you invest by learning." [19]
On networking: He advises young professionals to use their three meals a day to meet new people and build their network.
On mentorship: "Find some mentorships...Indian are more successful that's a reason they are very networking." [19]
On being yourself: "Find out what is your core value and then uh what you believe in it. and then stick to your core value. and then uh and then be different be yourself you don't have to mirror image somebody else." [19]
On turning weaknesses into strengths: "Use your strength to wage in and learn your weakness become strengths and over time you become a lot of area you become strong." [19]
On the power of truth: Inspired by Thoreau, he says, "'Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.' That really speaks to me. I always want to have my customer, my team, my partner, my wife, give me the truth."
On resilience: "Resilience isn't about never falling. it's about how you rise after the fall." [2]
On long-term thinking: "Short-term wins can make you rich. but only long-term. thinking can make you legendary." [2]
On creating a legacy: "Your future won't be written in one single moment it will be built in the daily practice of courage vision and humility that is how you create not just a career but a legacy." [2]

Learn more:

Lessons from Lip-Bu Tan

On Leadership and Culture

On Innovation and Technology

On Customer-Centricity

On Investment and Entrepreneurship

On Career and Personal Growth

Written by Antoine Buteau

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