407: Boards Are Like Sandwiches
Mihir Shah, CEO of Royal Circuits and former CEO of InspectAR, explains the complex, labor-intensive manufacturing process of printed circuit boards (PCBs), detailing how they are built from the inside out using lithography and chemical etching. He discusses the consolidation of the US PCB industry, noting that high capital expenditures for equipment have driven out smaller shops, leaving a fragmented market dominated by a few large players. Shah also outlines Royal Circuits' corporate venture strategy, investing in early-stage hardware and software startups like SnapEDA and Illuminant Surgical to support the engineering community.