Hey, I’m JK 👋 welcome to my little corner of the internet.
Quote on my mind lately:
“You’re under no obligation to be the same person you were 5 minutes ago.” – Alan Watts
About
I use my engineering, business, and empathy skills to help people thrive in their careers, lives, and minds. That currently looks like 1) AI engineering R&D at Commure 2) a psychotherapy master’s program 3) coaching men who want more out of life 4) investing in startups reducing suffering.
Before this, I started a healthcare technology company and shut it down due to lack of PMF. I wasted a lot of time in the “idea maze” trying to find a startup idea I was excited about. I then met a co-founder and started an AI company in the employee benefits space. We built a product, raised money, and got customers. I achieved my dream of running a VC backed company and yet, something felt wrong. On the outside things were going well but on the inside, I was the unhappiest I’d ever been and my marriage was on the rocks. While doing cold outreach for my business, I accidentally stumbled upon a therapist that changed my life (at the time I believed therapy was bullshit – ironic, eh?) and it became clear to me that I was wrong about the ingredients of what I wanted in my life so I decided to leave and figure out what meaningful work meant to me.
Before all of that, I led engineering teams at Affirm building the next generation of financial technology within the new product accelerator. We built the first version of the Affirm Card and then a crypto product. Prior to that, I led the Solutions Architecture function defining and building new technology and integrations for the biggest retailers in the world. It was a blast going from 400 to 2400 employees in 3 years! Before Affirm, I spent 1.5 years at Engagio (acquired by Demandbase).
I graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Cognitive Science (Computational Modeling and Data Science).
My pillars of wellbeing are:
- Physical health: gym, dojo, and high quality vegetarian protein
- Purpose: reducing suffering
- Family: both the one I grew up in and the one I’m building with my wife
- Spirituality: God, meditation and breathwork, calmness and awe
- Social health: friends and fun
I invest in and build companies working on important problems that reduce suffering out of Window Ventures.
Reach out
- If you’re an entrepreneur: I can help you build a company grounded in purpose and meaning and support you with engineering and fundraising along the way.
- If you’re seeking a meaningful career in tech: I can suggest (and answer questions about) great startups, review your resume, make intros, negotiate offers, etc.
- If you’re thinking “what should I do with my life?” or thinking through a big decision and trying to getting unstuck. I draw inspiration from many philosophical, psychological, and business perspectives that I’ve been told brings a good balance of inspiring, affirming, and no bullshit.
You can grab some time to chat with me here.