Brian Smiga

What do creative technologists build? At Baukunst, we’ve spent the last few years answering that question in real time. We are a collective of builders — operators, designers, engineers, and investors — committed to advancing the art of building at the frontiers of technology and design. We lead pre-seed rounds with conviction, often as the first institutional capital a founder takes, and we invest deeply in the messy, magical early days of company creation. This deck is the portfolio behind that philosophy, or rather that portfolio that has grown up out of it. We have chosen to champion these companies, and they chosen to co-create with us. These are companies built by creative technologists, founders who think in systems, design for real people, and push beyond the familiar. 

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big question Olga Usvyatsky and Francine McKenna address in Dina Bass' Bloomberg article: How long do high-speed and AI GPU chips last? - Call it the chip-replacement cycle: Fortunes were won and lost in the electronics bubble of the go-go 60s by ignoring/exaggerating how long first gen corporate computers would go between replacements, see the rise and fall of Saul P. Steinberg's Leasco https://lnkd.in/ecb2p_hQ

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Founders build companies. Ecosystems build founders. 🚀 Behind every "overnight success" is a powerhouse of support, the people who provide the capital, the coaching, and the connections to bridge the gap from a raw idea to a fundable venture. The Reed Smith LLP ROCKY Award by Tech Coast Venture Network (TCVN) is our way of recognizing these pillars of our community. As a Founder’s Choice Award, it is unique because the winners are chosen by the entrepreneurs themselves and the TCVN board. Who we celebrate: We honor the "rock-solid" individuals who help founders become investor-ready, including: * Angel Investors: For providing the critical early-stage belief and capital. * Mentors & Advisors: For guiding founders through the highs and lows of the journey. * Community Champions: For building the infrastructure that makes our ecosystem thrive. By honoring our champions, we ensure the next generation of innovators has a foundation to build upon. Watch this video for a behind the scenes look at the pre-show set up. 👉 Want to see who's leading the way? Check out the full press list to see this year's incredible winners and nominees. #TCVN #ReedSmith #StartupEcosystem #AngelInvestors #Mentorship #FoundersFirst #CommunityChampions

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This woman built tech that can spot bipolar episodes, detect postpartum depression, and keep her diabetic son alive. Vivienne Ming is a theoretical neuroscientist, a serial entrepreneur, and a self-proclaimed “mad scientist.” Her obsession? Maximizing human potential. Vivienne was born Evan Campbell Smith. By her early twenties, she had dropped out of college, fallen into depression, and was contemplating suicide. Then she made a decision: if she was going to keep living, she was going to do something substantial. She flipped a coin between economics and cognitive science. It landed on cognitive science. She went back to UC San Diego, earned a degree in cognitive neuroscience, then completed a PhD in psychology and theoretical neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon. While in grad school, she met Norma, a fellow PhD student. They fell in love. And one night, Vivienne told her the truth. “My secret is that I wish I were a woman.” Norma didn’t run. She listened. Vivienne underwent hormone therapy after conceiving their first child, Baxter, and completed gender confirmation surgery in 2008. They later had a second child, Thalia. Over the next two decades, Vivienne launched six startups, and served as chief scientist at two others. She invented AI systems that could: - Predict manic episodes in bipolar patients - Reunite refugee orphans with surviving relatives - Help autistic children learn to read facial expressions - Manage her son’s diabetes in real-time - Identify and mitigate bias in hiring - Improve cognitive recovery in TBI and dementia patients - Assess student creativity and emotional intelligence In 2011, she co-founded Socos Labs, her fifth company, a “mad science incubator” focused on the intersection of neuroscience, AI, education, and human development. Then she built The Human Trust, a nonprofit data trust that works on complex social challenges: disability, economic exclusion, algorithmic justice… She also co-founded Dionysus Health, where she helped create the world’s first biological test for postpartum depression, using AI and epigenetics to identify risk before symptoms appear. Throughout it all, her central thesis never changed. AI is not the end of the world. It’s not salvation either. It’s a tool, it’s only as useful as the humans who wield it. The real danger, she says, is that we’ll use AI to do just enough. That we’ll automate away our creativity. Flatten our curiosity. Become passive operators of tools we don’t fully understand. When writing her latest book, Robot-Proof, she fed every chapter into Gemini. But not to edit. “I tell it: You’re my nemesis. Tear this apart. Tell me where I’m wrong. Then I run it again: Now you’re a bored reader. Show me where you got lost.” Her work has earned her a spot on the BBC 100 Women list, Inc. Magazine’s 10 Women to Watch in Tech, and more than a dozen research and innovation awards. 💡 Follow Justine Juillard for daily #femalefounder spotlights

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