Advice From the Longest Serving CEO of a Publicly Traded Silicon Valley Company

Ray Zinn was a Silicon Valley pioneer. He co-founded microchip company Micrel in 1978 and bootstrapped it to profitability. Best-known as the longest-serving CEO of a publicly traded Silicon Valley company, he delivered a total equity value of more than $800 million when Microchip acquired the company in 2015. During his 37 years with Micrel, he served as president, CEO and chairman of the board.

Today, Ray is a speaker, author and leader of a Silicon Valley accelerator called ZinnStarter, dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build profitable and lasting companies.

A podcaster and author of Tough Things First and Zen of Zinn, Ray dishes out practical advice for running a profitable company in this episode of Talking Business Now. Find out:

1. Why he bucked the traditional Silicon Valley mindset and bootstrapped the company rather than starting it with venture capital.
2. His formula for building a profitable, sustainable company. Ray led Micrel through eight downturns in the global chip markets, including the dot-com bust and the Great Recession.
3. His perspective on why so many startups fail—and how to avoid it.
4. How to handle mistakes.
5. His philosophy on decision-making.
6. How he earned 20 patents for semiconductor design by challenging his team to be innovative.
7. How he created a corporate culture at Micrel built on dignity of the individual.