Brett Fox

I am an accomplished high-tech executive with experience as a CEO, marketer and turnaround specialist. I have a proven track record of building and leading successful teams, developing breakthrough ideas, creating innovative products, and successfully marketing new and existing product lines.

I founded and led Touchstone Semiconductor as the CEO. I successfully raised funding during the Great Recession, built the organization, and focused the company on the growing low power Internet of Things market. Touchstone introduced more new products than any IC startup over the past 20 years. The performance improvements are breathtaking: a 10X improvement in power versus performance. Touchstone was sold to Silicon Labs in 2014.

Previously, I successfully turned around Micrel’s High Bandwidth Division. In just three years, the business progressed from the only money-losing division of Micrel to the most profitable division. Focusing on the business basics of people, process, and products, I implemented a three-phase plan resulting in a 5X revenue increase. Revenue was less than $10M at the bottom. Revenue peaked at over $50M. Gross margins improved from 40% to greater than 60%.

Prior to Micrel, I helped Maxim Integrated Products grow from $40M to over $1B in revenue during the 1990’s. I ran and set the strategic direction for many of Maxim’s business units. I founded and built Maxim’s Fiber Optic Business Unit from $0 to over $100M in revenue during my five year tenure.

I started my career as a design engineer, and I hold three patents.

I have a BSEE from the University of California at San Diego, and an MBA from the University of Southern California.