Boy are the Silicon culture in for a shock.

http://chipdesignmag.com/sld/blog/2014/05/30/business-secrets-from-private-semiconductor-ip-companies/

Savage: We are entering an exciting new era. Innovation as a result of scaling (Moore’s law) and improvements in productivity (EDA) is slowing and the next level will be reached through a massive level of IP reuse. 40, 30, or 20 years ago, entrepreneurs found a home for their ideas by starting new semiconductor companies. But about 10 years ago that started changing when it became increasingly difficult to start new semiconductor companies. Today, we have legions of engineers whose next bright idea will be brought to market through the IP model— not starting a chip company as their forefathers did.

Yet, the IP model is no walk in the park. All the normal business challenges are there for new IP companies and in our panel here we see a nice cross-section of companies from newly born entities to 20-year old success stories. Each was born out of unique circumstances with their founders bringing their own vision on how their dream would be realized. I believe that unlike the brick-and-mortar semiconductor and EDA world where the forces of Moore’s law bring about a natural consolidation in the market, the IP market will be different. That is because we are not talking about manufacturing devices faster and cheaper through commoditization forces, but rather through differentiating products through new ideas that are delivered to silicon through IP. The next Steve Jobs will run an IP company.