Ray Capece

Ray Capece co-founded Lattice Semiconductor in 1983 alongside Rahul Sud and C. Norman Winningstad. Capece had experience raising capital through his work with venture capitalist Ben Rosen, and he handled financing for the fledgling company. Like Sud, Capece lacked operational management experience, and the duo's mismanagement—including extravagant spending on facilities and employee perks, failure to meet production schedules, and unwise product decisions—nearly destroyed the company within four years. Capece left the company during the 1987 bankruptcy reorganization.

Ray Capece was an American venture capital professional and co-founder of Lattice Semiconductor Corporation. With experience in capital raising through his association with venture capitalist Ben Rosen, Capece partnered with Rahul Sud and C. Norman Winningstad to establish Lattice International Inc. in 1983. He handled the company's early financing efforts but, along with Sud, struggled with operational management. The founders' extravagant spending on a 140,000-square-foot headquarters, expensive perks, and failed product strategies led to Lattice's near-collapse and Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 1987. Capece departed during the reorganization, and his role in the company's early history serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of operational discipline in technology startups.