TSMC's Renegade Genius

I don't understand how you can possibly produce such information packed videos so frequently.

Taiwanese companies have their fair share of poaching talents too. Around 2009-2014, Tokyo grew increasingly worried about the trend of retired japanese engineers popping up and rejoining the labor market in Taiwan. Lots of these japanese engineers worked in renesas, toshiba dram, national electric, and others.

Liang is an unsung hero of semi-conductor physics. He single-handedly advanced IC industries and spat on the face of monopolies. His efforts would be remembered by all as the one of the reason why we have these technologies today.

When I worked in Shanghai, Liang used to frequent the "semiconductor starbucks" in Zhangjiang semiconductor port. An informal hangout place for peope who worked in the Shanghai semiconductor scene at the time. I have no way to confirm if everything he was saying about TSMC is 100% true, but he was very salty, nearing personal animosity about his seniors allowing "rot" from quid-pro-quo promotions to take root, and "circle hiring." As for what he spoke of his remuneration at TSM, he have certainly went for a hyperbole, unless he meant he was getting "less than 100k" in a month. The disaster with Liang has certainly made TSMC to correct since then. PG35-38 RnD staff salaries got more than doubled, and they toned down on hiring for senior posts from outside.

I have no words to describe how much your work is amazing .. keep it up .. no channel is even close to your work

TSMC accusing the employee of being disloyal after they pushed him out. What did they expect? I’ve seen this time and time again at tech companies. 5% of employees do all the work and they’re usually antisocial and the first to get fired during lean times, then get constantly harassed by their former colleagues for help because they can’t do the job without them.

Can we talk about how guys at the absolute superstar level of chip R&D, who have impacted the entire world with technology advances, are paid 1.5M? There are youtubers who actively lower the intelligence of viewers and get paid much more. 1.5M is entry level chump change for CEOs. Goes to show that even the very best engineers need representation. Technical intelligence seems to have a lot of hubris attached that precludes engineers from thinking they need help, but clearly engineers are terrible at compensation negotiation.

wow, I learned a lot from this video. I never heard of most of these people. Even though my family is from Taiwan, I've never heard of any of them talking about these TSMC super stars

Small quibble - IBM did commercialize their Cu interconnect tech and Transmeta used it at the 180nm node in 2000. If memory serves me, it used aluminum for M1 and Cu for M2 or perhaps M3 and up. IBM's move to silicon on insulator and other events meant we needed to shift to other fabs - eventually settling on TSMC's 130nm process for the Efficeon.

These are the people that drive human race forward with uncompromising focus on a singular task. Good Video.

Lol legend! "Oh, just a quiet lecturer position... but the students are your competitors, and on their campus." Yes, bad faith move, but definitely ballsy.

Its amazing how scientists that literally make or break whole industries get paid only 300k. Athletes and celebrities get that kind of money to wear some clothing for an hour or whatever.

I honestly stumbled on your videos by accident, and have thoroughly enjoyed! This video was especially good, I really enjoyed the comment at the end, it's not the machines that matter, but the people. A great piece of advice!!! Keep up the good work! :D

amazing video. thanks for telling this story in such a way it's still understandable for not so technical people, but without leaving the technical things aside, which I aspire to understand more and more. greetings from Argentina.

Jon, this might be your best episode yet. Loved all the characters in this story. It's sometimes easy to forget there are actual wizards and geniuses inside these companies. More of this!

I feel real bad about myself now. I'm only working the day shift and getting a master's degree. I have no clue how I would attempt a phd

Very interesting! Wish you tell such stories about tech companies more often. Thank you!

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite channels. I'll hit up the patreon soon my friend. keep up the good work. 謝謝你的重要的工作

Thanks for the solid research and clear, interesting presentation.

Brilliant research, editing, and reporting. Quite captivating.