Putting Kos AI on the Map in Silicon Valley - Executive Leadership

After graduation, I spent three months attending Bay Area events to explore my next move.

By the third month, I began building again - launching a personal project that shared other people's journeys.

It was then I realized that people are drawn to those who are curious and capable, and if I can build something for myself, people know I can build something for them too.

Several meetings later, I joined Kos - a healthtech startup - as one of the executives to plant Kos on a map in Silicon Valley after four years of remote development on the 13th iteration of its wearable hardware and integrated software.

At this point, Kos had passed several rounds of private investment (safe contracts), had multiple 10-figure evaluation reports, had a board of ex-executives from major healthtech corporations, and had a team under 50 spread out remotely.

The goals were clear: customer, funding, and team.

• Served as the face and voice of Kos, hosting product launches, hiring events, celebratory gatherings, and networking sessions - representing Kos at family office, high net worth, medtech conferences, and forums
• Executed the relocation into newly leased offices in Stanford Research Park, ensuring the space was fully equipped for incoming engineering, operational, and medical teams, and establishing day-to-day administration
• Led daily operations as second-in-command, consulting the CEO, exploring financial oversight, investor relations, and regulatory processes (FDA 510(k), PTCRB), and working toward closing new customer contracts; promoted Kos in-person at over 50 VC offices on Sand Hill Road, leveraging our HQ location to engage potential investors and fuel the push toward a $10M Series A
• Consolidated the remote team of under 50 into an on-site team of 8 by recruiting engineers and others through Stanford hiring events (info sessions, meet and greets, company tours, career fairs), transferring four years of remote work into on-site optimization
• Handled corporate governance and legal frameworks (NDAs, employment agreements, stock grants, budgeting), learning about compliance along the way, and ensuring the company was structured to keep R&D and operations moving forward

Series A wasn't fully closed (70%) by the time my employment ended. Kos reached customers, but in healthcare, deals can take time, and revenue is the only language that is loud enough. Still, building an engineering team that now carries the knowledge and tech forward was a success.

Due to goals not being fully met, my executive employment wasn't approved to continue by the board. And despite Kos's genuine interest in finding a different role, we weren't able to see a clear path to continue working together.

A great experience, with even greater lessons learned - and more yet to be learned.

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