Mike Farmwald
Encyclopedia
Mike Farmwald is a successful serial entrepreneur
working in the Silicon Valley
high-tech industry.
Mike Farmwald is known for his combination of computer engineering skill and market vision. Mike, who holds a doctorate in Computer Science from Stanford University
where he was a Hertz Foundation
Fellow, has founded six companies to date, five of which were financed in part by Benchmark Capital
, where he is a Venture Partner.
He has founded these companies:
Mike is probably best known for cofounding Rambus
(NASDAQ: RMBS), a developer of high-bandwidth interfaces for memories and other chips. After founding the company in 1990, Mike served as Vice President and Chief Scientist, overseeing the development of several key innovations, including the 1992 introduction of the world's first 4 Mbit RDRAM.
Mike also invests directly in startups through Skymoon Ventures. His recent investments include technology companies incubated at Skymoon R&D (Dash
, whose navigation systems bring internet to the car, and Finesse Solutions, a measurement and control provider to the biotechnology industry) as well as companies that bring technology to traditional business (Remote Lands
, a luxury bespoke Asian travel outfitter started by entrepreneur Catherine Heald
and ICE
, a fitness concept company started by award-winning cheerleading coach Darlene Fanning).
He has also publicly criticized and shorted the stock of technology companies he believes are defrauding investors by misrepresenting their technology. In 2005 he shorted ParkerVision, a RF semiconductor IP company, and created a website detailing their problems with the company.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
working in the Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
high-tech industry.
Mike Farmwald is known for his combination of computer engineering skill and market vision. Mike, who holds a doctorate in Computer Science from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
where he was a Hertz Foundation
Hertz Foundation
The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation is an American non-profit organization that awards fellowships to Ph.D. students in the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences. It is considered to be the most competitive and prestigious graduate fellowship in science and engineering. The...
Fellow, has founded six companies to date, five of which were financed in part by Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital is a venture capital firm responsible for the early stage funding of some very successful startups. In 1997, the firm invested $6.7 million in eBay, which became worth more than $5 billion by the spring of 1999. Other high-profile investments include Ariba, Juniper Networks, Red...
, where he is a Venture Partner.
He has founded these companies:
- FTL (1986) - ECLEmitter coupled logicIn electronics, emitter-coupled logic , is a logic family that achieves high speed by using an overdriven BJT differential amplifier with single-ended input, whose emitter current is limited to avoid the slow saturation region of transistor operation....
supercomputers, merged with MIPS Computer Systems - RambusRambusRambus Incorporated , founded in 1990, is a technology licensing company. The company became well known for its intellectual property based litigation following the introduction of DDR-SDRAM memory.- History :...
(1990) - high speed interfaces, used in PCsIBM PC compatibleIBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
and video game consoleVideo game consoleA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s - Chromatic ResearchChromatic ResearchChromatic Research Inc. was a company based in Mountain View, California that developed a multifunction multimedia device for PCs called the MPACT! The company was formerly known as Xenon Microsystems Corporation. Chromatic Research, Inc. was founded in 1993. The founders came from Kubota,...
(1993) - media-processors, acquired by ATI TechnologiesATI TechnologiesATI Technologies Inc. was a semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, Canada, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985 as Array Technologies Inc., the company was listed publicly in 1993 and was acquired by Advanced Micro... - Epigram (1996) - inventor of HomePNAHomePNAThe HomePNA Alliance is an incorporated non-profit industry association of companies that develops and standardizes technology for home networking over the existing coaxial cables and telephone wiring within homes.-Overview:HomePNA does not manufacture products, although its members do...
, a local area networkLocal area networkA local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
implemented over POTSPlain old telephone servicePlain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world....
, acquired by BroadcomBroadcomBroadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los... - Matrix Semiconductor (1997) - 3D semiconductors
Mike is probably best known for cofounding Rambus
Rambus
Rambus Incorporated , founded in 1990, is a technology licensing company. The company became well known for its intellectual property based litigation following the introduction of DDR-SDRAM memory.- History :...
(NASDAQ: RMBS), a developer of high-bandwidth interfaces for memories and other chips. After founding the company in 1990, Mike served as Vice President and Chief Scientist, overseeing the development of several key innovations, including the 1992 introduction of the world's first 4 Mbit RDRAM.
Mike also invests directly in startups through Skymoon Ventures. His recent investments include technology companies incubated at Skymoon R&D (Dash
Dash
A dash is one of several kinds of punctuation mark. Dashes appear similar to hyphens, but differ from them primarily in length, and serve different functions. The most common versions of the dash are the en dash and the em dash .-Common dashes:...
, whose navigation systems bring internet to the car, and Finesse Solutions, a measurement and control provider to the biotechnology industry) as well as companies that bring technology to traditional business (Remote Lands
Remote Lands
Remote Lands is a privately-held ultra-luxury Asia travel designer and tour operator based in New York and Bangkok. The company creates highly personalized bespoke holidays in Asia for high net worth individuals, often using upmarket travel agents...
, a luxury bespoke Asian travel outfitter started by entrepreneur Catherine Heald
Catherine Heald
Catherine Heald is a serial entrepreneur and founder of four software and travel companies in Asia and the United States since 1989. She is currently CEO of Remote Lands, a New York and Bangkok-based luxury travel company catering to celebrities and high net worth individuals travelling to Asia...
and ICE
Ice
Ice is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...
, a fitness concept company started by award-winning cheerleading coach Darlene Fanning).
He has also publicly criticized and shorted the stock of technology companies he believes are defrauding investors by misrepresenting their technology. In 2005 he shorted ParkerVision, a RF semiconductor IP company, and created a website detailing their problems with the company.