For this edition of Get to Know the CEO, we had the chance to sit down with the remarkable Charles Janac, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Arteris.

Mr. Janac is president and CEO of Arteris, where he is responsible for growing and establishing a strong global presence for the company pioneering the NoC technology concept. Charlie’s career spans 30+ years and multiple industries, including electronic design automation, semiconductor capital equipment, nanotechnology, industrial polymers and venture capital.

In the first decade of his career, he held various marketing and sales positions at Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ: CDNS), where he helped build it into one of the ten largest software companies in the world. He joined HLD Systems as president, shifting the company’s focus from consulting services to IC floor planning software and building the management, distribution and customer support organizations. He then formed Smart Machines, a manufacturer of semiconductor automation equipment. He sold it to Brooks Automation (NASDAQ: BRKS). After a year as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Infinity Capital, a leading early-stage venture capital firm, where he consulted on Information Technology investment opportunities, he joined Nanomix as president and CEO, helping build this start-up nanotechnology company.

Mr. Janac holds a B.S. and M.S. degree in Organic Chemistry from Tufts University and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Check out our interview with him below:

Q. What personal projects will you be working on this weekend? 

A. I am trying to get our five-year-old granddaughter, Valerie, to be a survivable swimmer. I will likely work on that this coming weekend. 

Q. What advice would you give to early-career engineers/people wanting to get into your vertical market/people wanting to start a company in the current climate/etc? 

A. There is no better job in the world than a start-up that works and no worse job in the world than a start-up that doesn’t work. Choose carefully and then work on things that matter. Another piece of advice is to be humble, for very often, the margin between success and failure is narrow. Finally, find your passion because if you are working on something that fits you, you are not really working. 

Q. What was your first job in the industry? 

 A. I was the only person in my Stanford MBA class to have gotten laid off from my summer job between the first and second year of business school. The same week that happened, I received a call from someone named Jim Solomon, who was trying to hire a family friend who was one of the most accomplished developers of place-and-route software in the world. After hearing the business plan for an integrated CAD system for chip design, I recommended our friend, Jiri Soukup, to join SDA (predecessor to Cadence), which he did. Jim said, “You are going to business school, so you must know something about business. How would you like to become the acting chief financial officer?” Even though I had dubious qualifications for the position, I accepted and became the second employee of SDA. That was my first job in the semiconductor industry. 

 Q. What advice would you give to your younger self? OR What advice do you wish you had when you graduated? 

 A. Beware of your dreams, for they may come true. 

 Q. Who was your mentor? And, what is the best piece of advice you received from him/her? 

 A. In high technology, I have been fortunate to know Jim Solomon, the founder of Cadence on the SDA side. I worked for him and with him on and off for 14 years. Jim is one of the best technology managers I have ever met. When he approached a technical problem, he always returned to scientific principles. Who knew you could build EDA software and analog chips starting from the three laws of thermodynamics? Jim had an eye for genius software developers and could manage even the most challenging ones. I learned from Jim to have high respect for technical excellence and the original geniuses who build society-changing products. 

Q. What personal technology could you not be without?  

A. I am a big fan of automated driving on highways. When I go on a long trip, I always turn on the autopilot, let it do its work and arrive fresh and ready to go. 

Q. What book do you read over and over again? OR What book are you currently reading? 

A. I like the TV series Expanse as it may be the best prediction of our future. I am in the process of reading the final three books of the Expanse series. 

Q. What has been the highlight of your career to date? 

A. The highlight of my career was Arteris going public on Nasdaq in October of 2021. It was quite a journey for a company starting in France with eight people. 

Q.Who has inspired you most in your life/career? 

A. I am inspired most by the image of my grandfather, whom I never met. He was an entrepreneur in Czechoslovakia who built a machining company from scratch. I always wanted to rebuild his “empire” which he first lost to the Nazis and later to the Communists. Since helping start five entrepreneurial companies, I was fortunate to find this mission fulfilling.   

 Q. What hobbies do you participate in outside of work, or what do you do with your free time? 

 A. My favorite hobbies are sailing, playing tennis, biking and playing chess. Also, I try to spend as much time with my wife, Lydia, as possible. 

 Q. Who is your favorite musician, writer, or artist? 

 A. My favorite musician is Bruce Springsteen. I grew up on the Jersey Shore in New Jersey with his music. 

 Q. What is the biggest challenge you have faced in your career, and how did you overcome it? 

 A. When Jim Solomon and I wanted to start the Cadence Analog Division, no one wanted to fund it because “Analog electronics were all going to be replaced by Digital.” Instead of quitting, we went to our customers and created “Analog Partnerships,” where we took in about $12M from four customers in the form of prepaid analog software. In return, we got a substantial amount of stock from Cadence. Then, there was the problem of who would buy the analog software. I realized very quickly that traditional analog designers were not going to use our software as they were quite conservative. We instead focused on designers who had to design mixed analog/digital chips and had limited experience with pure analog designs. By the time I left Cadence, the Analog Division would have been the fourth-largest EDA company if it had been a standalone company. 

Q. What is the most used app on your phone? 

A. Outlook is my phone’s most used app, keeping me in touch with Arteris colleagues. 

Q. What is something that would surprise people to know about you (secret talent, do you collect something unique, etc)? 

 A. I would have been a professor of ancient military history if my father had not insisted that I get a technical education and a technical job. In hindsight, I had a smart father.Â