foundation leadership

a balanced team is essential

We believe entrepreneurs can change the world — if they’re paired up with the right team. At the Intuitive Foundation, our leadership team lives these values. Bob Dobkin, a brilliant engineer, and Gabe Fenton, a skilled businessman, have been able to reach great heights by pairing up their complementary abilities.  

 Though we have very little overlap in our skill sets, we have great mutual respect. Our mission is to help others achieve the same. 

Intuitive Foundation Bob Dobkin

Robert “Bob” Dobkin, Founder

Bob is a renowned inventor, entrepreneur, and is considered one of the founding fathers of analog integrated circuit design. He co-founded and served as Chief Technical Officer of Linear Technology Corporation, which he helped grow to 5,000 employees and well over $1 billion in revenue until ultimately selling Linear to Analog Devices for $14.8 billion in 2017

Bob is also Co-Founder and Chairman of Intuitive Private Equity. He has served on the boards and advisory councils of many companies, including Genia Technologies – alongside CMU alumnus Dietrich Stephan, HMicro, Quellan, SleepIQ Labs, and Spectra7 Microsystems; and has made several hundred private equity investments.

He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and started his career in his hometown of Philadelphia at GTE Defense Systems. He soon moved on to analog module manufacturer Philbrick Nexus in Boston, MA, and then in 1969, Bob joined National Semiconductor in Santa Clara, CA to work for Bob Widlar designing analog integrated circuits. He stayed at National for 11 years and rose to Director of Advanced Circuit Development.

Bob holds more than 100 patents in the field of linear integrated circuits. He has authored over 50 technical papers including the three-volume technical guide, Analogue Circuit Design.

Bob and his wife Kasey founded The Robert and Kathleen Dobkin Intuitive Foundation in 2017 with a mission to support education, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the fields of engineering, technology, medicine, and science. The Foundation grew out of Bob’s extensive engineering career and forty-five years of investment experience and Kasey’s passion for helping others. Bob and Kasey live in Monte Sereno, CA.

“Bob started helping us initially on the technical side. His profound knowledge in IC and analog circuitry has been incredibly helpful in making some of the big technical decisions. What we didn’t realize is that Bob was willing to offer us a lot of his business network and advice, which has proven to be as valuable as those tech insights.”​

— Xunjie Zhang, Nimbus Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University

Intuitive Foundation student portrait
Intuitive Foundation Gabe Fenton portrait

Gabe fenton, president

Gabe has twenty-five years of capital markets experience and has started numerous successful private businesses. In addition to his work with The Robert and Kathleen Dobkin Intuitive Foundation, Gabe is the President of Intuitive Private Equity.

Before joining Intuitive, Gabe founded Resolve Funding, a national private real estate lender that specializes in providing loans for real estate investors, builders, and developers. Earlier, he was a VP for Bernstein Private Wealth Management; Founder and General Partner of NetWide-Coor Capital; and SVP Wedbush Securities, where he was active in building the alternative investment platform. He was a Portfolio Manager for UBS Wealth Management and spent the three years before that at Morgan Stanley in San Francisco. Gabe served as a VP of Finance for Wells Fargo Advisors and he began his professional career in 1991 as a financial consultant for John Hancock Insurance. Gabe authored the book Employee Stock Options: A Strategic Planning Guide for the 21st Century Optionaire in 2000.

Gabe has been a volunteer football and rugby coach at the local high school, as well as a YMCA sports coach specializing in weight training. 

“Over the months of our involvement, Gabe Fenton has given me mentorship that has been a huge part of my personal growth as an entrepreneur. His guidance has helped me grow my perspective and develop a deeper understanding of what it takes to run a business.”​

— Cody Candler​​​, EdBoard Technologies​, CU Boulder

Intuitive Foundation startup founder portrait