Interview with Ernest Kasparov, Founder and CEO-AMKOM Design Group Inc.

Amkom Design Group Inc. based in Vista, California is a manufacturer of world-class amplifiers of varying frequencies in a full portfolio of Commerical Off The Shelf (COTS) products and provider of  custom design services for the VSAT and satcom markets. Satellite Markets and Research caught up with is Founder and CEO, Ernest Kasparov who expounded on his company's unique approach to manufacturing Block Upconverters (BUCs) and amplifiers. 

What made you decide to start a company in a very competitive sector of the ground segment market which is saturated by established players?

Before I started the company, I worked for 13 years with an equipment distributor which made me familiar with most of the RF products in the market. Knowing that we are going into a very competitive segment of the industry, I decided to test every single BUC that we could find out there--from the lowest cost one to the most expensive. We found some flaws in the design of these products and the claims that they make, so we took it upon ourselves to engineer what we call a “perfect BUC”—with no flaws. We started with a lower power  16w BUC and from there after years of rigorous Research and Development and  testing, we now have  a whole line of products and grew the business so we can do high volume manufacturing.  

The challenge we faced in the beginning was to come up with a ‘manufacturable” product. By this I mean a product that can be consistently made in high volumes and perform consistently and reliably in extreme conditions.  With nearly 5,000 units out there to date, I think we have achieved this at a very high level with virtually no returns. 

What differentiates your company from your competitors?

Our coming in later in the market doesn’t mean we’re behind. We actually benefit from having a wider perspective from all the lessons of the past and also being newer in the game, we use the latest and best components which should give us an edge in the next few years.    
We think of ourselves as a boutique manufacturer. We do the kind of work that not many others are willing to take.  We consider every order very important.  We will take on custom orders for as low as one unit. We provide every opportunity for potential customers to try our products. Because somebody with either little or extensive experience who is looking at the specs and testing that product against that specs will not take too long to realize and see that our product is the superior choice. It doesn’t matter how big or small the company—we treat them all the same. 

Everything we do is built from scratch. Our engineers designed everything, we didn’t just pick stuff off the shelf and put them together—that’s why it took so long to test and develop our products before we launch them in the market.  We ensure that every board is tested separately and has worked efficiently and reliably without causing any issues in operation at any temperature whether it’s on a moving vehicle, in the sea, or on a plane.  We put emphasis on using extreme internal filtering in our development, so that our customers don’t have any issues on their receive band end, so they can confidently deploy our products immediately.

We always strive to exceed  our customers’ expectations. We are never afraid of a challenge and are willing go the extra mile for them.  We are not an 8-5 shop. We are available 24/7 as we understand that our products are used in critical emergency situation, so we respond very quickly to any issues.   

To what do you attribute the success of your company in a relatively short time?

In today’s post Covid and situation around the world, we are very fortunate to have such great people working within our company, and partners who worked with us through the pandemic to meet on time deliveries.  Our engineering and design teams are top notch.  We also develop excellent relations with our various partners and suppliers, which help us meet the stringent requirements of our clients.  Overall, our company’s culture is dedicated to continuous improvement and providing world changing products and incomparable customer service experience.