NVIDIA's Quadro and Tesla sales manager joins AMD's ranks

[Final8y]

Originally with Seimens, Rob MacDonald is a seasoned veteran with almost 14 years experience in tech. From what we can gather, Rob took over nVidia’s UK graphics sales operation around 2002 and was then given control of graphic card sales into the Nordic region (Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway).

nVidia then promoted Rob across into Quadro sales and he’s been expanding that role ever since. Why is this move significant? Well, simply put, professional products are the cash cow of the graphics industry.

Slip your hand underneath & tweak those teats for juicy workstation profits. Rob's an expert tweaker.

To understand why the Quadro/Tesla udders produce such sweet milk, you need a little background maths.

GTX460 cards sell for around £150. After we take off sales tax and a profit for both the store and the distributor, we then need to deduct some money for the AIB (Add In Board partner – for example Zotac or EVGA), then we have £90.

Finally, there is packaging (box, user guide etc), the GDDR memory, the actual printed circuit board itself and the various plugs, driver disks and adapters we all know and love. In terms of component cost, this is all educated guesswork, but when all is said and done, nVidia would be lucky to get up to £50 for a graphics processor.

Imagine now that you can take the same chip, control most of the production process, package it as a professional solution and take £500 for the same processor ? Moo Moo. That’s what we say.

Back to Rob MacDonald. He was nVidia’s point man into all of their key accounts across the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, India and the Middle East countries. If you wanted to launch new AMD Fire Pro cards etc into the market, then knowing exactly which customers are buying what product – would be a huge advantage. Cue Rob.

While AMD might be almost twice as big as nVidia overall, its sale of Fire Pro etc is far smaller than Quadro. Again, cue Rob.

Will be interesting to see if one man can make a difference. Cue Rob.

On the basis of ‘all roll over and one falls out’ logic, if you’re in the market for a sales management role and fancy Fermi, then you’re in luck

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...uadro-and-tesla-sales-manager-defects-to-amd/

 

[Klo]

Ooh, interesting. I wonder if he left because he got bored of Nvidia, or whether it was because AMD was offering more wonga.

 

[Greebo]

Mega more wonga I reckon.

 

[ToxicTBag]

+1

 

[drunkenmaster]

Well AMD have picked up their VP of Cuda/physx a while back, and now the sales manager of Quadro/Tesla, me thinks pretty soon AMD are going to be pushing a vastly improved opencl drivers, new firegl cards and going after professional market big time.

People keep saying Nvidia dominate, they do, 99% because AMD really aren't trying, I mean, at all. They put out some cards, and gave basic support but didn't have money to back it up, Nvidia haven't at any stage had to fight AMD actually trying in the market. They now have money, a LOT of money behind them, and are getting it together for a run on the professional segment, which, is the only thing proping up Nvidia profits at the moment, losing really any of it will be problematic.

The biggest problem is, AMD, and even Intel, will be able to offer fully validated platforms for professionals, with cpu/apu/gpu all working together. Nvidia will have gpu's, at a higher cost, likely on consistantly better process's in the future, with deals if they buy the whole platform from AMD.

 

[Rimsy]

It'll take more than hiring sales/marketing gurus and senior managers for AMD to write vastly improved drivers for the firegl replacements... unless they bring a few old faces with them (which wouldnt be beyond the realms of possibility)

 

[layte]

It'll take more than hiring sales/marketing gurus and senior managers for AMD to write vastly improved drivers for the firegl replacements... unless they bring a few old faces with them (which wouldnt be beyond the realms of possibility)

ATI picked up the core of Nvidia's EU/UK developer relations team when they left to setup their own company about 6-7 years ago iirc. That worked out well.

It will take a couple of years of high profile solid driver work with ISV's and workstation OEM's before they start to affect Nvidia's mindshare in this market.

 

[GJ02]

once you leave a company like nvidia and go to amd would you have to sign a secrecy act so you cannot discuss stuff to the enemy ?
i had to do a similar thing in my work, just wondered if it would be the same ?
how much do you you reckon he is on ?

 

[layte]

once you leave a company like nvidia and go to amd would you have to sign a secrecy act so you cannot discuss stuff to the enemy ?
i had to do a similar thing in my work, just wondered if it would be the same ?
how much do you you reckon he is on ?

I would be shocked if they do not have some kind of anti competitor clauses in their contracts.

 

[ZXSpectrum]

Hummm.. not exactlly a major issue..

 

[drunkenmaster]

Helps in that way that the Cuda/physx guy was working on closed source stuff and will now likely be heading up teams for opencl and the likes, actually a bonus there that Nvidia closed themselves off so much, likewise, head of sales, is just that, head of sales, he won't be talking directly about Nvidia products but doesn't need to, he's apparently a very successful marketing/sales guy and importantly knows who needs what, apparently all over Europe, africa, middle east and asia or something.

Not really too sure on the whole issue of non compete clauses, legally binding, new employers are supposed to run the "US ARMY" campaign of, don't ask, don't tell. But I wouldn't be too surprised if they did ask, and there was telling.

 

[koooowweeee]

once you leave a company like nvidia and go to amd would you have to sign a secrecy act so you cannot discuss stuff to the enemy ?
i had to do a similar thing in my work, just wondered if it would be the same ?
how much do you you reckon he is on ?

i think it would be the same or there going to get into trouble with copyright and what not

 

[ZXSpectrum]

From what i hear he will not be involved with the gfx sector...

 

[iviv]

Don't they have to do something like take 9 months paid leave or something, so that when he does start working, anything he knows is out of date? I'm pretty sure I heard something like that with regards to a different area of business, I assume it would be the same for this?

 

[Stanners]

Don't they have to do something like take 9 months paid leave or something, so that when he does start working, anything he knows is out of date? I'm pretty sure I heard something like that with regards to a different area of business, I assume it would be the same for this?

There will be a clause like that in his old contract, it is quite standard as you say.