Mark Turner, CEO and founder of Turner Laser Systems, a Silicon Valley small business serving the laser micromachining and automation industry, takes a holistic approach to entrepreneurship. Key choices, personal connections and influences, and critical lessons are crucial to his achievements. He shares how business vision combined with personal growth and human connection led to a well-rounded and sustainable career.
Mastery of foundations
Turner’s interest in lasers began at the University of Adelaide, where he completed a B.S. in optics and photonics. Working with his honors supervisor, Professor Tanya Monro, he was inspired by her fiery passion for photonics, which motivated him to think big for his career. After graduating, he realized that to make an impact in this highly technical field, he needed a Ph.D.
Turner pursued his Ph.D. in experimental physics at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Swinburne housed one of the largest collections of ultrafast lasers, and his supervisor Professor Min Gu, whose pioneering research on ultrafast laser-based micromachining, microscopy, and two-photon polymerization, greatly impressed him. Professor Gu taught both ultrafast laser physics and strategic thinking. When Turner decided to leave academia for the industry, Professor Gu respected his decision and cheered him on as he moved to the U.S.
Students often ask Turner: “Do you recommend doing a Ph.D.?” He made the choice to do a Ph.D. by exploring the photonics industry, and then looked up successful pioneers and leaders within the field whose careers inspired him. He noticed many of them had a Ph.D. He also learned from inspiring people he met outside of physics, including athletes and world-class dancers who shared the importance of taking the time for mastery of foundations, a mindset to learning to get really good at something.
What he didn’t know at the time, was that the Ph.D. would both deepen his foundations of photonics but also open the door to project management, building collaboration, learning strategic decision-making, and the humility of science. The lessons he learned during his Ph.D. became the core foundation of how he operates and empowered his transition into entrepreneurship.
Approach business holistically
After receiving his Ph.D., Turner joined IMRA America’s applications laboratory in Fremont, California, as a laser applications engineer. IMRA, a pioneer in industrial femtosecond lasers, offered him a chance to work on cutting-edge industrial applications. At that time, femtosecond lasers were less powerful and more expensive than today's lasers, but they were at a turning point, with new commercially viable applications emerging.
The Silicon Valley location added to the allure. Turner embraced the entrepreneurial atmosphere and the philosophy of mitigating risks strategically rather than waiting until endeavors were fully de-risked. This mindset is embedded within Silicon Valley culture, which he deeply respects. The volume of modern technologies emerging from startups and Fortune 500 companies made daily work life exciting. Being an applications engineer was an opportunity to expand his knowledge beyond academia. He learned about various hardware devices and their manufacturing challenges. His supervisor, Alan Arai, helped him understand how to serve the advanced manufacturing industry—an essential foundation for his future business.
One memorable success at IMRA was solving a manufacturing problem for an electronics company. Their device had a limited signal-to-noise ratio due to conventional manufacturing constraints, and they sought to improve it using IMRA’s femtosecond laser—without causing damage. The customer’s engineering team spent years of experimentation of many technologies to no avail. They achieved a breakthrough on the first try in their laser lab by listening carefully to the product team’s needs, what didn’t work in the past, and their ultimate vision.
Based on this, they put together a strategic experimental plan. As they fired the laser onto the device, they immediately saw the signal-to-noise ratio improve significantly with no visible damage to the product. It was a thrilling moment! This experience taught Turner success isn’t just about being “good with lasers.” It requires a deep curiosity to understand the problem from the customer’s perspective.
Finding the path
After a few years at IMRA, Turner moved closer to his entrepreneurial vision by joining startup Prosint, which manufactured machines that integrated lasers like those from IMRA America. At Prosint, Turner wore many hats and transitioned from applications engineer to roles in program management, systems engineering, and customer-facing activities. While this multi-hat experience could seem overwhelming and disorganized to some, those with an entrepreneurial mindset will find it exciting and challenging—a fun way to grow as a team builder.
When Turner met Prosint's CEO Krishna Rajagopal, he shared his dreams of becoming an entrepreneur during his interview, as he’d done with other interviewers at other companies. Instead of seeing his ambitions as a downside, Rajagopal saw an opportunity to mentor Turner and use his drive for the growth of Prosint. Rajagopal told him: “Work for me, and I’ll show you how to run your own business.” This offer was invaluable, and Rajagopal became Turner’s first business mentor who still provides guidance as a good friend that he greatly values today.
Turner’s time at IMRA and Prosint revealed a common problem: a gap between proving the feasibility of a laser manufacturing process and achieving a solution ready for reliable manufacturing, a.k.a. “the Valley of Death.” Many companies struggle to navigate this critical phase, and he saw an opportunity to address this gap. He decided it would become the niche to master for his own company.
Out on his own, not really
At first, building a company as the sole founder and putting Turner’s name on it makes it sound like he went “out on his own,” but was far from it. Something he learned early in his career was not to do things alone. In physics we are taught to “work it out ourselves.” There are certainly benefits and appropriate times for this, but when you’re building your own business being efficient with your resources is critical.
In the early years of Turner Laser Systems, he was fortunate to have skilled individuals join to support the company’s vision. Todd Brehmer, the company’s director of engineering, expressed his desire to join any future company Turner might start when they worked together in the past. Brehmer’s technical expertise has been invaluable in developing the company’s advanced laser systems. Chief of Staff Christina Lim, a close friend, was inspired by Turner’s approach to leadership and values. Despite her nontechnical background, her trust and dedication to the company vision have significantly contributed to its growth. Lim's ability to translate technical information into effective marketing strategies has helped the company connect with a broader audience.
Turner partnered with a top-tier manufacturer rather than build his own manufacturing team and facility. This was one of the most important decisions he made when founding the company. He chose to partner with Owens Design, a company that provides design and build services for OEMs and factory automation end users. At the time, he met with Bob Fung, the current CEO, and shared his vision for tackling the Valley of Death in laser manufacturing. They chose to have the company's partner for two reasons: first, they realized the potential for amazing win-win synergy, and second, after conversations about their values, they saw great alignment.
Owens Design empowered the startup in ways beyond that of an investor or incubator. During 35 years in business, the company guided customers from process feasibility to fully automated manufacturing solutions for demanding industries, including semiconductor, consumer electronics, medical devices, and their original industry, hard-disk drives. They provided Turner with a wealth of resources from design, purchasing, S&R, manufacturing, and business mentorship.
Navigating the valley
Since its formation, the company created services to support their customers, and the infrastructure for the business, including a high-performance team of laser physicists, engineers, and engineering program managers. They developed the 360 Mastery Methodology as an effective, phased approach to navigate the Valley of Death.
This methodology holistically approaches problem-solving from the viewpoints of technical product needs, manufacturing needs, and business needs. To serve the technological needs, the company approaches the product features to be created by the laser and features to be avoided (such as damaging the material). To serve the manufacturing needs, they build their solutions considering the manufacturing conditions, such as the natural tolerances of upstream processes, dependencies of downstream processes, and required throughput. To serve the business needs, they focus on the commercial elements such as long-term commercial viability, equipment budget, and timeline.
This methodology might sound obvious, but as Turner has found in this highly technical laser industry, and being an enthusiastic physicist, it’s easy to get so focused on technical development while neglecting the perspectives of these other key areas that are just as important. He’s proud that this methodology has become a key to the way the team operates.
Today, the company has a diverse client base with their laser micromachining tools and holistic solutions that helped them through their own valleys. Through the partnership with Owens Design, they offer their customers effective, low-risk pathways to scale with automation for high-volume manufacturing. Turner feels strongly about its foundation, products, and mission, and is confident they have many years of growth ahead.
Turner Laser Systems continues to grow because its work aligns with who Turner is. The company’s mission—to deliver laser systems through quality, mastery, creativity, humility, and integrity—speaks to the integral parts of his personal philosophy. This commitment to excellence serves not only the company but also its employees, customers, and the larger industry.
Jose Pozo | Chief Technology Officer, Optica
Jose Pozo joined Optica in March 2022, and has spent more than 25 years working in photonics. He earned a PhD in quantum physics from the University of Bristol (U.K.), and an M.Sc. and B.Eng. in telecom engineering from UPNA, Spain / VUB (Belgium). Prior to joining the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) in 2015 as CTO, Jose was a Senior Photonics Technology Consultant with PNO Consultants, with some of the main accounts such as CERN, Thales, and TE Connectivity. He has worked at TNO, The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, and as a postdoctoral researcher at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, where he contributed to the early development of EFFECT Photonics.