[hassy]

Presumably, a YCombinator start-up is one where writing good code is the core competency, and a major competitive advantage.

You don't outsource your core competency.

[cmars232]

Unless you're the semiconductor industry.

[socmoth]

what do you mean?

making semiconductors is a ton of math, theory, and layout work. are you talking about actually using masks to do the doping?

[majimojo]

he probably means outsourcing your design/foundry work to taiwan, then manufacturing the chips in china. management you keep over here. typical of a company like Marvell (not the comic company you nerds! :D)

also because semiconductor "startups" have higher capital costs than your typical software company.