Steve Cooper – Founder

Steve Cooper is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience leading companies in the semiconductor, semiconductor equipment, software and medical device industries. Following a tour as a Captain in the US Air Force, Mr. Cooper started his career at Intel where he held various technical and management positions from 1973 until 1980. In 1980 he joined Silicon Systems, a leader in custom analog/digital integrated circuits. In 1981 he took SSI public with the founder and later served as its President and COO until 1987. He was subsequently Chairman and CEO of Bipolar Integrated Technologies. In 1993 was hired to turnaround Etec Systems, Inc. which he took public in 1995 and sold to Applied Materials in March 2000 in a transaction valued at approximately $2.5 billion. In 2001 Mr. Cooper provided seed financing to start Inogen, Inc. the leader in portable oxygen concentrators for patients with COPD. He served as Inogen’s Chairman from founding until 2008 and today continues as a Director. In 2003 he started Skyler Technology, Inc. a developer of software for the financial services industry and served as its Chairman and CEO until it moved to London in January 2010. In 2010 Mr. Cooper started High Tech CEO Advisor to focus on mentoring CEO’s of early stage high tech companies primarily in Southern California. Mr. Cooper holds a B.S.E.E. from UC Santa Barbara where he is a Trustee, a member of the College of Engineering’s Dean’s Cabinet and a member of the advisory board for the Technology Management Program. Currently Mr. Cooper is a member of the boards of Aurrion, Inogen, Active Life Scientific and Built on Logic.