Baris has been the CEO of Hip Digital Media since 2008. Prior to joining Hip Digital Media, Baris was a venture capitalist for ten years, at U.S. Venture Partners, a leading Silicon Valley based venture capital firm and at Fuse Capital. As a VC, Baris invested in a wide variety of industries including digital media, telecommunications and semiconductors. Baris' recent board seats/investments include: Hip Digital Media, Like.com (Acquired by Google), SpectraLinear (acquired by SiLabs NASDAQ:SLAB), Minerva Networks, Redline Communications (LSE: REDL) and Aspendos Communications (Acquired by Beceem Communications). Baris is still an angel investor and advisor to a number of startups in Silicon Valley.

Before becoming a venture capitalist, Baris worked in both engineering and marketing at 3Com/U.S. Robotics, where he developed software for the company's networking and cable modem products. His efforts at U.S. Robotics resulted in a number of U.S. patents.

Baris served on the board of directors of “Friends of Anatolia”, a nonprofit that restored and renovated a number of on elementary schools in rural Turkey. He is also the founder of “Nature Turkey”, a nonprofit promoting conservation ecology in northern Turkey. Active in the Turkish business community, Baris has been a long time advisor to the Turkish American Business Connection (TABC), the premier business organization in the West Coast promoting collaboration between the US and Turkey. Baris also is the Silicon Valley advisor to Turkcell, Turkey’s largest wireless operator, on matters of venture capital and the startup ecosystem.

Baris holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Lafayette College, where he graduated summa cum laude. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu.