Harvesting the Crown Jewel

Front cover

Final front cover, sRGB. Right-click a link and choose “Save link as” to download, or take all images as one zip (3.7 MB, original files).

• Print and press use: 1600 × 2560 JPG
• Web and screen: 1080 × 1728 JPG
• Thumbnail: 540 × 864 JPG
• WebP: 1600 × 2560 · 1080 × 1728 · 540 × 864

The hardcover jacket image will be added here in December.

Author photograph

• Square portrait: 1200 × 1200 JPG
• Landscape, 16:9: 1600 × 900 JPG

Photographs: Ashita Apurva. For use with coverage of the book.

About the book

In 50 words

For forty years the tools of electronic design got better. The workflow never became whole. Harvesting the Crown Jewel is the history of the people who came closest, from Protel and Altium to Renesas’ 2024 acquisition of Altium, and the Seven Obligations any owner of a unified workflow must meet.

In 150 words

Every electronic product begins as intent and ends as a thing on a shelf. Between them lie silicon, circuit, board, firmware, mechanical, sourcing, validation and manufacturing, each with excellent tools, and the reasoning that connects them living in meetings and memory.

Harvesting the Crown Jewel is the story of the people who came closest to making that journey whole. It begins with Nick Martin’s conviction that professional design capability belonged on the working engineer’s computer, follows the board workflow Protel and Altium made continuous, and explains why every contender who saw the larger problem extended outward from the asset it already owned and never reached the center. It ends where the next chapter begins: Renesas Electronics’ 2024 acquisition of Altium, treated as a test, not an answer.

A narrative history with an argument, the Seven Obligations, for engineers, engineering leaders, tool vendors and investors. Written in the author’s personal capacity.

About the author

DISCLOSURE: I wrote this book in my personal capacity. It was not commissioned, sponsored, or endorsed by Renesas, Altium, or any other company. At the time of writing, I was Vice President, Digitalization Division, at Renesas Electronics. The views are mine.

D. K. Singh has spent twenty-five years inside the electronics industry: first as a system design engineer in India and Japan (Onida in India, then JVC in Japan, thirteen years in Japan in all), then in semiconductor product management in Silicon Valley from 2013. He studied at IIT (BHU) and grew up in Patna, Bihar.

San Jose · Yokohama · Patna

Read DK’s journey · D. K. Singh on Goodreads

Editions

218 pages · 6 × 9 in · Crown Jewel Press · First edition, 3 November 2026

Advance praise

“Every engineer knows the frustration of changing one requirement and discovering how many things suddenly stop working together. We’ve spent decades building better tools, yet somehow this problem never really goes away. DK understands why. …”

Fabio Violante

Former CEO of Arduino

“A definitive record of how electronics design tools moved closer to the engineer, while the larger issue of coherent product intent stayed just out of reach. Required reading for anyone who builds, buys, or depends on the tools that turn silicon into systems.”

Robert Lucas

Vice President, High Performance Computing, Monolithic Power Systems

“A practical and engaging exploration of the distance between a technically correct design and a complete, manufacturable product. Engineers and engineering managers will recognize many of these challenges immediately.”

Andreas Hammer

Senior Vice President Global Sales at YAGEO Group

“Part candid history of Desktop EDA, part insider account of modern tech centralization, Harvesting the Crown Jewel captures the evolution of hardware design with remarkable rigor and nuance. …”

Sailesh Chittipeddi, PhD

Venture Partner, NovoTellus Capital; Former President, Renesas Electronics America

“Good product development starts with a real problem and the customer we are solving it for. Harvesting the Crown Jewel shows how easily that original intent can become fragmented as a product moves through architecture, specialized engineering disciplines, and implementation. It is a reminder that successful product development ultimately requires keeping sight of why we are building it in the first place.”

Rufino Olay III

Technology Executive & Engineering Educator; Adjunct Faculty, San José State University

“This book uses the history of CAE tools as a backdrop to deeply reflect on real end-user needs, and what is still missing to reach the holy grail of a unified design suite capable of preserving all the know-how behind a project.”

Dario Pennisi

CTO, FAE Technology

“It is a fascinating account of a System Designer witnessing the evolution of PCB solution ecosystem and its manifestation in various corporate avatars to address the technical challenges on the ground. It is fast paced, carries the reader along effortlessly.”

Sridhar Joshi

CEO, TenXer Labs

“While individual engineering teams and tools excel, creating a unified development workflow across domains remains one of the industry’s toughest challenges. D. K. Singh tackles this head-on with an unusual blend of technical depth, customer insight, and executive vision …”

Amit Kumar

Vice President and Business Unit Head, Schneider Electric India Private Limited

“Having known DK for several years, I still find this worldly, sophisticated manager full of surprises. This book is not only about the history of electronics and choosing the best tools, but also about where good ideas come from and how to execute them. While skillset, attitude and timing are all important, DK’s differentiator is his personal vision for shaping the future of the electronic industry.”

Dr. Christian Meyer

Senior Manager Application, SGX Sensortech

“The most difficult transformations are rarely limited by technology alone. They require leaders to connect organizations, incentives, knowledge, and customer needs around a shared vision. Harvesting the Crown Jewel makes that case with clarity and conviction.”

Maruti Eknath Chavan

Senior Vice President, Information Technology, Axis Bank

“An unusually clear view of the gap between designing a circuit and realizing a complete, manufacturable system. Essential reading for anyone shaping the future of engineering workflows. …”

B. S. Chakravarthy

CEO, DTDS Technology Pte Limited, Singapore

“… It explores why the electronics industry has successfully unified PCB design but still struggles to achieve a seamless, end-to-end electronics system design workflow. It traces decades of efforts from early EDA tools to modern platforms …”

Donald Parkman

Retired Semiconductor Marketing Executive

Press enquiries

Press enquiries: info@thewinningunderdog.com

Review copies, interview requests and excerpt permissions: please include your outlet and deadline.