In 2017, Demis John noticed a staffing problem among the semiconductor companies in Santa Barbara. The area had about 28 small semiconductor companies at the time, many launched from the nanofabrication facility housed at University of California, Santa Barbara, where John works. But as these companies expand, “they are all headhunting the same 10 people, basically,” John says.
“It really was hindering their ability to scale. When you start up a company, you might have five or six highly educated…
