About the Newsletter
Vik’s Newsletter is a publication that is highly relevant for those interested or working in semiconductors and chip design. Detailed explainers behind the technology to scale the steep learning curve, actionable advice to students and professionals in chip design, and latest insights from technical conferences.
This publication is written by Vikram Sekar (LinkedIn, X) — a seasoned semiconductor professional with over 15 years experience working in the industry in both US and India. He holds a PhD from Texas A&M University's Analog and Mixed Signal Center, and has worked on the forefront of RF technology in major semiconductor companies.
What to expect:
Weekly Technical Deep-Dives: Semiconductor technology is complex and often difficult to understand unless you have a prior background in hardware technology. I breakdown complex topics in my weekly deep-dives into much simpler explanations, lots of pictures and almost no equations to make engineering concepts much more accessible.
Short posts: On a weekday, I write a short post that takes less than 5 minutes to read and breaks down small concepts in the context of semiconductors and chip design, provides actionable advice for semiconductor professionals, and provides industry insights. These are always free, and are meant to educate without taking too much of your time.
Actionable advice for students and professionals in the chip industry: Articles that provide an insiders view of the semiconductor industry with years of my working experience rolled up into actionable frameworks that you can follow to be more successful in your career.
New worldwide technology trends: Fresh insights from leading technical conferences and world-class experts in the field of semiconductor technology. I attend technical conferences paid for with the help of patrons of this Substack to report from the bleeding-edge of research and development.
For free subscribers:
A short weekday post with basic concepts, actionable advice or industry insights.
An occasional fully free deep-dive technical post.
The introductory part of a deeply researched article.
Paid subscribers will get 2-3 times more content.
For paid subscribers:
In addition to the above:
Sunday Deep-Dives: Long-form educational articles. These are well researched posts that take between 10 and 15 minutes to read and go deep into a technical topic or provides in-depth analysis or actionable advice. See the full archive.
Early Technology Insights. I travel to a few major conferences each year (ISSCC, IMS, IEDM) so you don't have to. In-depth posts from the frontlines of research and industry with latest emerging ideas and semiconductor trends.
No ads. Paid newsletter content will not have ads. Ever.
Suggest topics. Paid subscribers can suggest topics they want me to explore in greater detail through this form.
How much does it cost? $15/month or $150/year (or local currency equivalents). See also the “Discounts” section below.
Discounts
Purchase pricing parity: if you are based in a country with lower income compared to the US and Western Europe, you can get paid subscriptions normalized to your country’s buying power. Email me at subscriptions@vsekar.com with your country of residence to get a more affordable option (example: 70% off for India: ₹400/mo or ₹4000/yr).
Students: 50% off monthly and annual subscriptions for students with a .edu address. Don’t have an .edu email address? Email me at subscriptions@vsekar.com.
Expensing the Newsletter
If your company has an allocated budget for learning, professional development or training, you can expense the subscription to this newsletter. When becoming a paying subscriber, you will immediately receive an invoice.
Here is an email you can send your manager.
If you have any questions, email me at subscriptions@vsekar.com
Refunds
If you are not happy with your subscription, email me at subscriptions@vsekar.com within 30 days for a full refund. If you can share your reason for requesting a refund, it will help me do better in the future.
Group/Company Subscriptions
When setting up a group subscription, an administrator can purchase X annual seats for the group. They can then add/remove/replace people in the organization who receive newsletter issues. There is a 20% discount for group subscriptions of 3 people or more. You can always add more seats even after purchasing a group subscription.
Most Popular Articles
If you want to get a sense of what kind of content is in the weekly newsletters, check out the following posts.
A Short Introduction to Automotive Lidar Technology (#2 on HN, 20K+ views)
Why the Chip Industry is Struggling to Attract the Next Generation (11K+ views)
How Origami-Inspired Phased Arrays are Reshaping the Future of Antennas (HN, 10K+ views)
How Automotive Radar Measures the Velocity of Objects (HN, 8.5K+ views)
How Foundries Calculate Die Yield (HN, 6.7K+ views)
Guest Posts
On occasion, I do co-write articles with other experts in the field. If you want to write a guest post or co-author one on any particular topic, email me at substack@vsekar.com and let me know!
Holiday Policy
If I am not able to write articles on this Substack (health, extended holiday, other commitments, etc.), I will pause paid subscriptions until I can get back to it. When this happens, billing cycles are frozen.
For example, if I take a hiatus for a month, then your paid subscription will expire one month later than it would without the pause. So you will still get 12 months for a yearly membership. New paid subscribers will not be able to join during the hiatus. Existing paid members will still have access to the full archive.
I’m not doing a paid time-off policy because that sounds too much like a corporate job. I’m trading freedom for revenue.
