Get to Know the CEO showcases some of the faces of our member companies, what they’re working on outside of work and the wisdom they have to impart on others in the industry. This month we interviewed Brandon Cho, CEO and Co-Founder of SEMIFIVE.
What personal projects will you be working on this weekend? (Are you building anything cool? Any electronics or software projects, for example?)
Obsessed with digital efficiency, I love trying new tools and systems that can help me organize tons of information at my fingertips. Recently, I started a project to combine Notion, Alfred, and AppleScript, to unify my notes, tasks, contacts, and events into a single database system and make it accessible with just a few keystrokes. Isn’t it cool?
What advice would you give to early-career engineers wanting to get into your vertical market?
The semiconductor industry is going to be the industry that will change most fundamentally in the next decade. We will see paradigm shifts in its economy, dynamics, and business models. I would strongly encourage early-career engineers to build broader perspective, to understand macro trends and find out innovation opportunities.
What was your first job in the industry?
I worked as a System software engineer at a start-up, which substituted my military duty in Korea. I still had to join a bootcamp for weeks and learn shooting rifles, throwing grenades, etc.
What personal technology could you not be without? (i.e., mobile phone, laptop, Alexa/Google Assistant, Oculus headset, exercise tracker, Peloton, etc.)
Air conditioning
Who is your favorite musician, writer, or artist?
Paul Cezanne. He had an impossible dream to express both vanishing impression and perennial truth from objects at the same time. It’s amazing to see how he pursued his goal persistently, had suffered from it, but finally triumphed in his numerous masterpieces.