Training Data · Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Dylan Patel founded SemiAnalysis in early 2020, a period marked by personal loss, including the death of his grandmother, and professional setbacks where his work was not properly credited. He found solace and focus by traveling across the US in a campervan, dedicating himself to writing blog posts about semiconductors, which eventually grew into his research firm.
“My my grandparents grew up in my house with us, right? Or in the motel with us. They lived with us. And so, you know, very close with them and my grandmother got dementia and she forgot who I was. And she fell down some stairs and had like a tragic accident and passed away. So all of that happened early 2020.”
“And so all of those things sort of culminated then COVID happened. And my brother's like, dude, just just come stay with me. He lived in Nashville.”
“So I came and stayed with him in Nashville. We were like, oh, lockdowns will be a few weeks, you can stay with me while they happen and then you can go back home and, you know, whatever. Famous last words, lockdowns lasted much longer.”
“But, you know, living with my brother for a few months, you know, was like, sort of like, okay, didn't know what I was doing. Was now at my brother's home. Everything was his rules, you know, sort of like, you know, him and his fiancee at the time, now wife, you know, were there. And so like, I basically had to tiptoe around. But I didn't care about my job and I was posting even more than normal.”
“I made a real blog, Semianalysis. And on my 20th birthday, I posted, um, you know, two blogs. And then from there it just like, it was not a newsletter, but I got so much traction.”