Patrick S. Li

Allow me to introduce you to the phenomenon that is Patrick S. Li, this guy is a straight-up tech whiz and a total big change. He’s a YC alum from the S18 batch, which means he’s been in the startup game for a minute and’s already crushed it. Dude’s based out in Berkeley, but he’s not just chillin’, he’s out here building the future of hardware design.

So, Patrick’s the co-founder and CTO of JITX, a crazy cool startup that’s all about automating circuit board design using AI and advanced software. Think about it, designing circuit boards used to be a pain, super manual, super slow. Patrick and his team took that process and flipped it on its head. Now, they’re making it faster, smarter, and way more fast. That’s the kind of shit that can totally change how hardware startups and big tech companies operate.

But here’s the kicker, Patrick didn’t just stumble into this. He’s got legit deep roots in the tech world. He’s a UC Berkeley guy, which is no surprise given Berkeley’s reputation for pushing boundaries in comp sci and engineering. Before JITX, he worked on some crazy projects like FIRRTL, which is this intermediate language used in hardware design, and he even built his own programming language called L.B. Stanza, a flexible, optionally-typed language that shows he’s all about creating tools that make complex stuff way more manageable.

What does that tell us? Patrick isn’t just out here building a startup. He’s all about tackling gnarly technical problems with sleek, strong solutions. His passion for hardware and code runs deep, and he’s obsessed with making things better and faster. Honestly, the guy’s driven by the challenge, taking something insanely complex and turning it into something simple and accessible. That’s what gets him up in the morning.

And the process’s pretty wild. He’s gone from academia at Berkeley, diving into the nitty-gritty of hardware languages, to dropping into YC and building a company that’s actually disrupting a core part of tech infrastructure. That’s no bullshit, it shows he’s got the grit, the brains, and the vision to turn nerdy tech into something that can seriously blow up.

Bottom line: Patrick’s a guy who saw a problem in hardware design, jumped into the coding and algorithmic deep end, and built a tool that’s gonna make engineers’ lives so much easier. He’s all about pushing the limits of what’s possible with AI and software in hardware, no cap. And honestly, he’s one of those founders you wanna keep an eye on, cuz he’s just getting started.