About the Author
Ray Zinn
Ray Zinn is an entrepreneur, inventor, author and Silicon Valley legend, best known as the co-founder and 37-year CEO of Micrel Semiconductor, acquired by Microchip in 2015. An accomplished innovator with over 20 patents and credited with conceptualizing the Wafer Stepper, Ray is the longest-serving CEO of a publicly traded Silicon Valley company—and one of the longest-serving CEOs in U.S. business history. He’s also an angel investor, mentor, and co-host of the long-running Tough Things First podcast.
Passionate about passing on his hard-won lessons, Ray created the nationally recognized ZinnStarter program, which funds and mentors student entrepreneurs and operates at seven U.S. universities. He is the author of Tough Things First and the Zen of Zinn series. His newest book, The Essential Leader —which distills a lifetime of leadership wisdom into practical guidance for today’s executives—will be used as a textbook and course foundation at San José State University beginning in Fall 2026.
