J W.

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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🌐 NextPlane Introduces Cross-Platform Voice & Video Calls Between Teams and Google Chat! OpenHub now supports seamless voice and video calling between Teams and Google Chat, allowing users to elevate any chat into a call without switching apps. This upgrade streamlines collaboration, reduces tool-hopping, and keeps hybrid teams connected in the most natural way. 👉🏻 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/d8cmfRQu #NextPlane #Interoperability #SeamlessCommunication #CrossPlatform #CollaborationTools #UnifiedCommunications #GoogleWorkspace #MicrosoftTeams

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I’ve been seeing a clear trend lately across the San Francisco Bay Area tech scene, especially in SaaS. A lot of companies are pivoting. Rebuilding. Retooling. Sometimes, tearing things down entirely. And those roles are being framed as: “Come make an impact.” Which can be true. But it’s not the full story. Some people thrive in that environment. Others aren’t ready for it yet. Both are valid. The real challenge isn’t selling the work. It’s answering the why. What’s in it for the finance or accounting leader you’re asking to step into uncertainty? Because the people you actually need right now are rare. They’ve been through pivots before. They know how to lead when the path isn’t clear. They can operate in real time while the business shifts underneath them. They know how to protect cash, build teams carefully, and construct new systems that scale. They also know their value. So if you’re recruiting through a product pivot, restructuring, or rebuild, the question isn’t: “Who wants a challenge?” It’s: Why this challenge? Why now? What does success look like for them, not just the company? Top finance leaders don’t need a pitch about chaos. They need clarity, trust, and a reason to believe their expertise will matter when decisions get hard. When we help hire in that environment, that’s the question we start with.

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𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞. Along with resume and LinkedIn optimization, I regularly stay connected with 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 across different teams and organizations. This proximity offers valuable insight into how candidates are evaluated in real scenarios - not in theory and helps me continuously refine how I position professionals in today’s job market. It highlights: • Why strong profiles still don’t get shortlisted • Which skills influence decisions vs filler keywords • How resumes are filtered before interviews • What decision-makers notice in the first few seconds These insights directly shape how I: ✔ Write resumes aligned with current expectations ✔ Optimize LinkedIn profiles for better recruiter discovery ✔ Position professionals for stronger interview traction Effective resumes aren’t built on templates or assumptions. They’re shaped by 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫. If your applications aren’t getting the response you expect, a market-aligned perspective can make a meaningful difference. 📩 Happy to help with a resume or LinkedIn review.

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Marcus built his tech company from a garage startup to a $50 million enterprise. His board celebrated record growth. His employees admired his vision. His investors praised his strategic brilliance. Yet in the quiet moments between meetings, he struggled with something he couldn't discuss with anyone: a persistent sense that he was failing at everything that mattered. His marriage was strained. His sleep was fragmented. His confidence in major decisions had eroded to the point where he'd spend hours second-guessing himself. When his CFO mentioned therapy, Marcus dismissed it immediately. CEOs don't have time for that, he thought. More importantly, what would happen if word got out? The research tells a different story: → 55% of CEOs experienced a mental health issue in the past year (up 24 points from previous year) → 50% report feeling lonely in their roles → 61% believe this isolation negatively impacts their performance → 81% believe organizations view mental health issues as weakness → 70% of C-suite leaders seriously considered quitting for roles that better support their wellbeing Here's what most people miss: the very traits that propel someone to the CEO role—relentless drive, high standards, comfort with risk, the ability to compartmentalize—can become liabilities when psychological strain reaches a critical point. The isolation of leadership creates a perfect storm: immense pressure combined with virtually no safe outlet for processing it. Addressing these challenges doesn't compromise your leadership. It enhances it. https://lnkd.in/gJdyKVJd #CEOMentalHealth #Leadership #ExecutiveWellbeing

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Meet Jennifer Pinter✨, Chief Experience Officer at Kapta. My co-founder, Rishabh Pugalia, had a chance to catch up with her in SF last month. In this 1-minute clip, she shares how AI disrupted their day-to-day operations, decision flows, and long-term strategy.

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