Aspire Ventures

Company & Product Context

Aspire Ventures was a startup incubator and precision medicine fund focused on building an interconnected ecosystem of healthcare and adjacent technologies on top of a proprietary machine-learning platform, A2I. The portfolio spanned AI marketing, cybersecurity, market research, and multiple healthcare products—from remote monitoring and imaging to clinical tools and a clinical validation lab.

At its peak, Aspire housed 17 early‑stage companies. Each needed a distinct brand and product identity, but we also wanted them to interoperate as a connected suite of experiences that could share data, models, and insight through A2I. The stakes were high: the goal was not simply to launch products, but to create companies that were attractive for acquisition or further investment.

Mandate & Leadership Scope

Formal role
As Head of Design, I led the entire design practice across disciplines—product design, brand, marketing, web, and motion graphics—to build company brands and products that could stand on their own and work together as a connected ecosystem.
Real scope of influence

• Worked as a product strategist, not only designing interfaces but participating in product strategy and company concept meetings where we decided which ideas to turn into ventures and how to position them.
• Helped co‑create and operationalize a repeatable 18‑month 0→1 program that took a concept from initial idea to validated product and fundable business.
• Upleveled the design team’s workflows so they could manage a high volume of concurrent startup projects without sacrificing quality.
• Connected ventures through shared brands and UX patterns via A2I, creating a recognizably related family of experiences rather than a set of one‑off products.
• Advised leadership on product direction, launch readiness, and the storytelling needed for exits and fundraising.

Work Pillars

1. Multi‑startup Design Leadership

Context
17 startups meant a constant flow of new ideas, pivots, and product explorations. Initially, design operated in a more reactive, “agency‑for‑hire” mode, responding to branding and marketing requests.

What I led:

• Established a full‑service in‑house design studio capable of delivering brand identity, product UX, marketing campaigns, and motion graphics for multiple ventures in parallel.
• Standardized workflows and tooling so designers could manage many projects efficiently without burning out or fragmenting quality.
• Shifted design from a “service provider” to a strategic partner by embedding designers in product and concept meetings, not just downstream execution.

Impact

• Enabled Aspire to simultaneously progress multiple startups from concept to launch with a consistent level of quality in brand and UX.
• Created a recognizable design “DNA” across ventures, making the ecosystem feel coherent to partners, investors, and clinicians.

2. 18‑Month 0→1 Company Launch Program

Context
Aspire’s leadership saw that ad‑hoc company launches caused uneven outcomes and slower time‑to‑market. We needed a more predictable system to take ideas from hypothesis → prototype → validated product → exit‑ready business.

What I led:

• Co‑designed, with engineering, product, legal, and finance leaders, an 18‑month launch program that defined key stages, milestones, and go/no‑go checkpoints.
• Created a brand and product UX playbook that detailed how a company would move through the program—from initial concept and naming, through MVP, to validated product and market positioning.
• Defined the design deliverables and decision gates at each stage (e.g., discovery research, prototype testing, UX flows, brand systems, launch assets).
• Piloted and refined the program with startups such as SoftCGM, using real product work to stress‑test and improve the framework.

Impact

• Turned company creation into a more repeatable, scalable process, reducing ambiguity and aligning all functions around a shared model for what “launch‑ready” meant.
• Strengthened Aspire’s ability to de‑risk early bets, making startups more credible to acquirers and investors.

Not every startup moved through the program in a straight line; a few required us to revisit stages or adjust milestones, which helped us refine the framework so it worked in practice, not just on paper.

3. Flagship Startups & Outcomes

Connexion Health – Reducing Clinical Error

Context
Connexion Health developed technology to improve sports medicine and rehabilitation, where mismeasurement or inconsistent data capture can lead to misdiagnosis or poor treatment decisions.

What I led:

• Led the end‑to‑end product development process, spanning brand, product UX, technology integration, hardware design collaboration, software platform, and testing.
• Led research and validation to understand clinician workflows, measurement needs, and how to integrate gesture controls and biofeedback into clinical practice.
• Partnered closely with engineering and manufacturing to ensure the physical and digital experience felt unified and easy to use in a clinical environment.

Impact

• Connexion Health reduced clinical error rate in sports medicine and rehabilitation therapy by 97%, dramatically improving reliability of assessments.
• The product’s clarity and reliability contributed to its attractiveness as an acquisition and deployment-ready solution.

Wylei – AI‑Driven Marketing Outcomes

Context
Wylei applied predictive modeling to marketing campaigns, personalizing content to increase customer engagement and repeat business.

What I led:

• Led design for product experience and marketing storytelling, helping position Wylei’s AI capabilities in a way that was understandable and credible to enterprise brands.
• Worked with the team to create interfaces and flows that made complex predictive modeling feel approachable and usable for marketers.

Impact

• Wylei’s predictive model for Hilton Starwood Rewards increased return business by about 37%, resulting in an estimated $27M in additional revenue.
• Wylei was subsequently acquired by Facebook, validating both its technology and its market positioning.

Smart Health Innovation Lab – Clinical Validation in the Real World

Context
Smart Health Innovation Lab was a hybrid technology lab and clinic created to validate new health tech in real clinical settings. The goal was to speed up adoption of new therapies and tools by proving they could work within existing clinical and insurance workflows.

What I led:

• Led design for the brand and product experience of the lab, clarifying its value to health systems, startups, clinicians, and payers.
• Helped shape how the lab framed validation journeys—from initial technology assessment through clinical integration and reimbursement readiness.

Impact

• Smart Health Innovation Lab enabled direct application of new medical technologies fully supported in the insurance cycle, helping physicians prescribe, use, and bill for innovative solutions.
• It became a critical proving ground in Aspire’s ecosystem, increasing the credibility of startups piloted there.

4. Design Maturity & Team Operations

Context
The initial design function was stretched thin by volume and variety of work. Without better operations, quality and strategy would suffer.

What I led:

• Upleveled the design team’s practices: set up workflows, prioritization mechanisms, and review rituals so designers could juggle multiple startups without losing focus.
• Introduced content design and UI engineering capabilities to move beyond surface visuals into deeper, more system‑level design contributions.
• Created shared libraries, patterns, and templates so work from one startup could inform and accelerate work in another.

Impact

• Increased efficiency and consistency of design output across the portfolio.
• Raised design’s influence in product and company‑creation conversations, making design an essential part of how Aspire evaluated and grew ventures.

Metrics & Outcomes Snapshot

• 17 in‑house startups supported with full‑service design leadership.
• 6 successful exits or acquisitions across the portfolio during my tenure.
• Established and operationalized an 18‑month company launch program used to guide startups from idea to validated product.
• Wylei’s work with a major loyalty program increased return business by ~37%, and Connexion Health’s solution reduced clinical error rate in sports medicine and rehab by ~97%.

How Aspire Shaped My Leadership

Aspire Ventures was where I learned to operate as a design‑driven company builder, not just a product designer. Leading design across 17 startups in parallel, together with a small but mighty team, forced me to think in systems: how to create shared playbooks, patterns, and practices that scale. It also sharpened my ability to tie design to tangible business and clinical outcomes, to work at the intersection of hardware, software, and services, and to partner tightly with executives on investment and exit strategies.

This experience strongly informs how I now lead product design in PLG SaaS: I bring a portfolio mindset, a bias toward measurable impact, and a comfort with complexity that comes from helping multiple companies move from idea to acquisition.