A DC-to-DC converter, comprising: a first switch (M1) connected to an input voltage and a common node and, if on, the first switch (M1) provides a signal path through the first switch (M1) and through the common node to an output voltage node of the DC-to-DC converter; a second switch (M2) connected to ground and the common node and, if on, the second switch (M2) provides a signal path through the second switch (M2) and through the common node to the output voltage node of the DC-to-DC converter; a control logic coupled to the first and second switches (M1, M2) and configured to provide first and second control signals to control the first and the second switches (M1, M2) respectively; a first node usable to produce a first voltage that ramps up from zero during initialization; and a first soft start controller coupled to the control logic and configured to control the second control signal while the first voltage is not greater than a predefined level; wherein while the first voltage is not greater than the predefined level, the first soft start controller is configured a) to determine a duty cycle of the second control signal based on a slope, wherein the slope is based on a difference between the input voltage and a nonzero voltage level of the output voltage node and b) to control the second switch (M2) independently from the first switch (M1) and to keep the second control signal at a higher level to maintain on the second switch (M2), and transitions the second control signal to a lower level only at the time when the first control signal transitions from a lower level to a higher level; wherein the first control signal is a high side control signal and the second control signal is a low side control signal. a first switch (M1) connected to an input voltage and a common node and, if on, the first switch (M1) provides a signal path through the first switch (M1) and through the common node to an output voltage node of the DC-to-DC converter; a second switch (M2) connected to ground and the common node and, if on, the second switch (M2) provides a signal path through the second switch (M2) and through the common node to the output voltage node of the DC-to-DC converter; a control logic coupled to the first and second switches (M1, M2) and configured to provide first and second control signals to control the first and the second switches (M1, M2) respectively; a first node usable to produce a first voltage that ramps up from zero during initialization; and a first soft start controller coupled to the control logic and configured to control the second control signal while the first voltage is not greater than a predefined level; wherein while the first voltage is not greater than the predefined level, the first soft start controller is configured a) to determine a duty cycle of the second control signal based on a slope, wherein the slope is based on a difference between the input voltage and a nonzero voltage level of the output voltage node and b) to control the second switch (M2) independently from the first switch (M1) and to keep the second control signal at a higher level to maintain on the second switch (M2), and transitions the second control signal to a lower level only at the time when the first control signal transitions from a lower level to a higher level; wherein the first control signal is a high side control signal and the second control signal is a low side control signal. <EOS>