Dispatch From the Frontier - 11/18
From Tailored T-Shirts to Custom Chips: Musings on Chip Manufacturing, Light, and Teddy Roosevelt
For New Readers: Welcome! These dispatches capture lessons learned, readings, and random musings as I build the next great company.
I spent the first four years of my career helping retailers build the capability to “mass customize” their products. Back then, we believed nothing could be better than a t-shirt tailored to your exact measurements and purpose.
This week, I discovered that mass customization might soon come to the world of chips.
Key Learnings Last Week
Mass Customization for Chips - not Just Shoes: I’m becoming increasingly convinced that the semiconductor industry is on the cusp of shifting from generalized solutions to mass customization of specialized chips. This pattern is common across industries: specialists consolidate into generalist firms, only to disaggregate back into niche players. I believe semiconductors are nearing such a point of disaggregation.
We already see hints of this trend in AI processing units, but what’s holding it back on a larger scale? Manufacturing technology. Specifically, the ability to switch production lines cost-effectively. The chart below illustrates a broader truth: what’s old often becomes new again.
Light is Nuts: I wish I had a more elegant way to put this, but the fundamental behavior of light is absolutely nuts. The most accessible book i’ve found so far that explains this in a comprehensive way is QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter by the incomparable Richard Feynman. As he says: “It is my task to convince you not to turn away because you don't understand it. You see my physics students don't understand it... That is because I don't understand it. Nobody does.”
Focused Research Institutions (FROs) Have Some of the Best Ideas: Focused Research Organizations (FROs) blend elements of startups, non-profits, and research labs to tackle specific scientific goals that otherwise wouldn’t be pursued. For company creators like us, this means FROs often have a coherent technological vision—not just scattered research projects. Lately, I’ve been diving into white papers and roadmaps from organizations like Speculative Technologies and [C]Worthy. These documents are goldmines for fresh ideas, inspiring missions, and connections to brilliant scientists.
I Read, and You Can Too!
Nanomodular Electronics Roadmap: To the above point, you really should read this roadmap from Speculative Technologies. It envisions a world in which semi-conductors are assembled from component pieces, and breaks down what needs to be true for that to happen in the next 10-15 years. If you have time to read only one thing on this list, I would recommend this.
Fundamental Manufacturing Process Innovation Changes the World : Yes - it’s an academic paper but no - it’s not boring. This paper could easily have been one of those corny airport business books talking about the “7 Innovations that Changed the World of Manufacturing” but thankfully it isn’t. Instead, it’s a great overview of the big manufacturing changes that have step changed industries in the past 150 years. From the Bessemer Steel Process to PCR reactions, manufacturing innovation makes it all happen.
Steve Blank: Almost everything Steve writes is worth reading. What caught my eye this week was this: What Product Market Fit Sounds Like. A literal recording of Steve finding PMF for a startup product 20+ years ago. This is what we are searching for in all of our interviews
Random Musings
I found the coolest tool to visualize Wikipedia! Check this out : Wikipedia Visualization. Start with a Wikipedia search term, click on it to find the linked topics, rinse, and repeat. My favorite team activity is Wiki Racing - this tool takes it to the next level!
The Man in the Arena Speech tends to come up at the worst of times. 9 out of 10 times, the person referencing it it is just trying to make themselves feel better - not actually help you.
Help Needed
Non-technical co-founders of very technical businesses who have succeeded (or at least not failed yet). I could use mentorship here.
Research roadmaps or master plans to reach full photonic / optical compute
Introductions to employees big photonics startups (Procyon Photonics, Lightwave, etc.)
Christmas gift suggestions! I’m looking for inspiration - what are your best ideas?