Talk:Eric Fossum

Eric Fossum

I created this article on July 24, 2007. You can make contributions by adding more information in the article. RS1900 06:24, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Without citations it is little more than worthless. 83.104.249.240 (talk) 01:10, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

I added some references myself, hopefully now better than worthless. -EF — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.175.195.210 (talk) 22:45, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

The inventions section sounds like it's more about NASA and Goldin than about Fossum. 98.234.130.156 (talk) 23:16, 27 August 2015 (UTC)

I see someone made a correction and someone else uncorrected something. I reverted to the original correction because Chamberlain was hired by and worked for Noble so NOT independent. And Weimar cites Noble's paper. Not sure if I can fix mistakes by official rules of conduct however. -EF — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.170.70.24 (talk) 11:51, 20 November 2016 (UTC)

Self referencing

This page has numerous self referencing sections which is against Wikipedia policies: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Self-references_to_avoid

I will work on this page as I go to bring it up to policy. Sciexp1956 (talk) 23:45, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

Response to SciExp1956 March 2024 edits

Regarding having the invention of the "CMOS active pixel image sensor with intra pixel charge transfer," US Patent No. 5,471,515, it is just a fact that it is a US Patent (several, in fact) and that Caltech litigated this patent against major corporations and they subsequently licensed the IP. Further, this invention, and me as the primary inventor, was vetted also by The National Inventors Hall of Fame, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, along with a number of other award-granting organizations.

Regarding the claim that Siimpel was acquired for $15M, don't you need to cite a reference for this? It happened about 3 years after I left Siimpel.

SciExp1956, if you are in fact an expert in the image sensor field, you ought to be well acquainted with this history. And if you are an expert, what are your credentials? Why do you remain anonymous?

I did not create the page about me, I just try occasionally to keep the facts straight when the page is defaced/vandalized by someone who apparently has an axe to grind. Since you are anonymous, and have not done editing on other imaging webpages as far as I can tell, I wonder if you are that person. Are you?

There are additional edits you have made to the page over time that water-down contributions I have made. I haven't asked a Wikipedia Editor to revert them yet, but why don't you just give it a rest? FossumER (talk) 14:43, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Regarding Siimpel, in 2007, in the middle of raising C-round financing with a good increase in company valuation, the founders became concerned about their ownership dilution and told the board they wanted to retake management control of the company. However, after a short time, the board brought in a new CEO. Three years later the company was sold to Tessera at a loss to most investors. Since I left 3 years earlier in 2007, I don't know what exactly what caused the ~4x decrease in valuation, but no doubt related to the loss of Moto's leadership position in the handset market. FossumER (talk) 12:50, 4 March 2024 (UTC)

This contradicts with your own blog post about Siimpel. https://image-sensors-world.blogspot.com/2007/09/eric-fossum-left-siimpel.html Ultimately, the edits you have continually made over the years regarding your involvement in Siimpel leave a big sense of self-promoting.

Previous Wiki user has claimed in the page's Dec 2022 edits that the loss in valuation is directly tied to your performance - the product focus you picked for Siimpel and leaving the company heavily engaged with several tier 1 handset manufacturers (per your blog post) and missing out on selling Siimpel to Motorola earlier before Motorola loss its leadership position in the handset market. ImageFanatic1988 (talk) 13:40, 4 March 2024 (UTC)

It is a false claim. The loss in valuation must have occurred after I left Siimpel based on the term sheet I secured prior to my departure. And there was never an offer from Moto to acquire Siimpel while I was CEO. This is just a made-up story by someone. The blog post you refer to is 100% consistent with what I wrote above. FossumER (talk) 15:36, 4 March 2024 (UTC)

I don't find 100% consistency between what you wrote above and your blog post. Your talk edit today says: "founders became concerned about their ownership dilution and told the board the wanted to retake management control of the company ... after a short time, the board brought in a new CE0". Your 2007 blog post, however, insinuates a different story that you were replaced by a new CEO 2.5 years into serving because you had agreed to take the role for 2 only years. These seem like two distinct reasons to me.

Additionally, Crunchbase shows Siimpel raised approximately $17M in series A & B 2002-2004 prior to you coming on as CEO, raised $20M in series C in late 2005, then raised $21M in series D in late 2007.

Your blog post claims you raised over $25M in financing during your tenure 2005-2007, but what you wrote above says you left Siimpel in the middle of C-round financing which would be in 2005 per Crunchbase.

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/siimpel-corporation/company_overview/overview_timeline ImageFanatic1988 (talk) 17:16, 4 March 2024 (UTC)

I went back to some old files to check on some things from 17+ years ago. First, you are correct, the round in 2007 was the D round. Second, the total amount raised for the 2005 C-round was $20M, not $25M. Thank you for checking those details. FossumER (talk) 19:40, 4 March 2024 (UTC)

The $25M number in the ISW blog post probably included the $5M verbal commitment I received from the D-round lead investor, that I believe came in during the D-round that closed after I left Siimpel. FossumER (talk) 20:10, 4 March 2024 (UTC)