News

Silicon Valley’s longest-serving CEO Ray Zinn retired to Helena, Montana but never slowed down

September 16, 2018 /

MATR Sponsor (view all)

The MDT Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program encourages and supports the participation of companies owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals in transportation contracts.

Along the way, Zinn desired to get back to his ranching roots. He and his wife looked at Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Montana.

"I fell in love with this 500 acres," he said of his home near Helena.

In 2003, he traded his laboratory for a ranch at the base of McDonald Pass. The most interaction he has with electronics anymore, he said, is when he talks to his friends via ham radio.

"We settled right in," Zinn said.

While he "retired" three years ago, he’s not about to "sit on a rock somewhere in Hawaii."

Zinn also started ZinnStarter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4keID3xfec , the Zinn version of Kickstarter for undergrads. The program started three years ago at six universities. It’s all part of an entrepreneurial leadership program that teaches students how to start a business. ZinnStarter is a competition with seed money as a prize for the team that does the best.

MARIA L. KIRKPATRICK [email protected]

https://helenair.com/news/local/silicon-valley-s-longest-serving-ceo-retired-to-helena-but/article_11a59875-4911-5d71-ac4b-35b7596c2950.html#tracking-source=home-top-story