Chris Z.

Are we seeing a fleeting Silicon Valley: It’s not just about the taxes. For years, the narrative of tech leaders "fleeing California" was blamed on a single number: the 15% (now 5%) tax rate. But the real conversation in the Valley right now is much more human—and much more complex. According to a recent deep dive by TechCrunch, the "Great Dispersal" of 2026 is being driven by three things that money can't fix: 📍 The Rise of the "Micro-Hub": Founders aren't just moving to Austin or Miami anymore. They are seeking "identity-rich" communities in places like Bozeman, MT, and Bentonville, AR, where high-speed satellite internet has made "the middle of nowhere" the new "center of everywhere." The "Quiet Life" Pivot: After a decade of "hustle culture," there is a massive shift toward lifestyle stability. The move isn't just a tax play; it’s a search for better public safety, shorter commutes, and a tangible connection to local community—things that have become increasingly scarce in the Bay Area. The End of Geographic Density: With the 2026 breakthroughs in AI-driven remote collaboration, the "collision of ideas" no longer requires being in a Palo Alto coffee shop. Innovation is becoming decentralized, and for many, California is now a place you visit for board meetings, not where you raise a family. The Takeaway: Silicon Valley isn't dying—it's evolving into a state of mind rather than a zip code. The tech industry is finally learning that you can build the future without losing your sense of place. https://lnkd.in/gtNN7Bn5 #SiliconValley #TechTrends #FutureOfWork #DigitalNomad #CaliforniaExodus #Innovation

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I’m lucky to work alongside colleagues like Richard Fruehauf, who constantly push my thinking. His latest piece unpacks why U.S. robotics and drone manufacturing faces uphill economics, and how public policy can help turn the tide. One key takeaway: 232 tariffs on robotics imports could help reset the economics that are holding back U.S. investment and production. It’s a sharp perspective on how policy can shape the future of advanced tech here at home. Well worth a read: https://lnkd.in/edMPTQPQ Richard Fruehauf, Robert J. Szczerba, Michael Lutzky, Edward Ovando, Karl Sanchack, Herman Herman, Jeff Legault, Phil English, Richard Fruehauf, Ryan Aument, Michael Guido, Sheila Fitzgerald Sterrett, David McCormick

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When most people hear "solid-state," they think storage. But in Santa Clara, xMEMS Labs just gave that term new resonance, literally. The company just raised $21M in Series D funding led by Boardman Bay Capital Management, with Cloudview Capital, CDIB-TEN Capital, Harbinger Ventures, Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, and other strategic investors tuning in. This isn't another round of capital, it's an #amplifier for a company turning silicon into a new language of #sound and #cooling for the AI era. Founded in 2018 by Joseph Jiang and Jemm Liang, xMEMS spun out of piezoelectric R&D at TSMC and turned what was once wafer-level theory into commercial hardware. Joseph Jiang, a veteran of Knowles, Fortemedia, and InvenSense, leads with precision and swagger, while Jemm Liang, who built Ultrachip from the ground up, drives the engineering with surgical focus. Co-Founder & CLO Wei-Fu Hsu, the former MediaTek exec and IP expert, ensures xMEMS' innovation is as protected as it is disruptive. Their play? A monolithic MEMS platform that transforms voltage into vibration, silicon into sound. Unlike legacy coil speakers and fans, xMEMS tech doesn't move parts, it moves markets. Over 500K MEMS speakers shipped in 1H'24, backed by >250 global patents. The Cypress & Sycamore lines redefine what "small" can do: 1mm-thin, full-range, and capable of sub-bass response once thought impossible in earbuds. Their XMC-2400 µCooling chip, 1mm-thin, fan-on-a-chip, inaudible, moves 39cc/sec of air at just 30mW. That's not cooling, that's choreography at a molecular level. Dr. Chester Hwang, named CTO on Oct 15, 2025, joins to push that curve further. Alongside veterans Mike Housholder (VP Marketing & Biz Dev), Jim Wargnier (VP N.A. & EU Sales), James Lee (VP & Korea GM), Steven P. Bentley (VP Sales), and Martin Lim (VP MEMS Tech), xMEMS is scaling at semiconductor speed. They're already in BleeqUp's AI sports glasses and teamed with Dongguan Rayking Electronics for TWS modules. When OEMs talk "next-gen," they're talking xMEMS-level integration. For investors like Boardman Bay's Will Graves, this isn't just sound engineering, it's signal intelligence. With AI pushing devices thinner, faster, and hotter, xMEMS' piezoMEMS platform sits at the intersection of #acoustics and #thermals, where every millimeter matters. Backing them is a bet that the next wave of #sensorytech won't just compute, it'll feel alive. So what's next? Scaling production, expanding capacity, and embedding xMEMS' silicon pulse into everything from earbuds to AI #datacenters. In a world chasing speed, silence, and fidelity, xMEMS isn't following the beat, they're building the frequency the future will hum to. #Startups #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #SeriesD #AI #Sound #SoundEngineering #Semiconductors #Data #DataDriven #Technology #Innovation #TechEcosystem #StartupEcosystem #Hiring #TechHiring If software engineering peace of mind is what you crave, Vention is your zen.

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The SEC is preparing to let public companies report semiannually instead of quarterly. The argument: less frequent reporting reduces compliance costs and encourages more companies to go public. Warren Buffett has had a nuanced take on this for years. He likes getting quarterly figures as an investor. What he doesn't like is quarterly guidance, the earnings forecasts that pressure CEOs into short-term thinking and, as he put it, doing things they otherwise wouldn't. Private markets have the opposite problem: not nearly enough reporting. Companies die quietly because there's not enough transparency to catch problems early or spot undeveloped potential. Cambridge Associates' venture capital index is up only 3% over the past three years. PE is at 8%. As CNBC's Kate Kelly pointed out, it's hard to know how much worse it could get because we don't have a good look at the financials of the underlying businesses. So public markets want to report less. Private markets need to report more. But frequency may not be the core issue. It's what the reporting is designed to achieve. Reporting shouldn't exist to check a compliance box, hit a quarterly earnings target, or protect a stock price. It should help companies actually understand their performance. Is your growth truly impressive, or are you burning too much to sustain it? What targets should you hit before your next raise? What valuation multiples are realistic? Today, most private companies can't answer these questions. As one early-stage company CFO shared with me, their planning is often a complete shot in the dark. Fundraising prep is no better because there's no visibility into what good looks like. When companies and investors focus on reporting the right metrics, companies get clarity on where they stand and what to aim for. Investors get the visibility to support them effectively. https://lnkd.in/dQppJFnA

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San Diego startups are returning $7 for every VC dollar raised. That’s better than NYC, LA, and Austin. Fred Grier and I unpack a new data set ranking cities by return - not hype by Nate Bek of Ascend Listen in on the latest episode of This Week in San Diego Tech: https://lnkd.in/gqNMtH_t

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"We've become so insular in who we talk to and listen to, and I didn't realize how much that was keeping me in tunnel vision and tunnel thinking." Seth Levine, Co-Author of Capital Evolution and Partner at Foundry, talks about seeking out more diversity of thought on Tech Scenes Unplugged. #venturebacked #vcbacked #venturecapital #leadership #ceo #founder #operatingsystem #peakOS #foundermode

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