So, here goes. I grew up in Hong Kong and absolutely loved the food and culture there. People there were scrappy and believed that hard work would eventually pay off.

When I moved to the U.S. in 2003, I thought I'd be here just long enough to finish college. But the more people I met, the more I immersed myself in the culture, the more I fell in love with everything. What really stood out to me was how everyone was encouraged to express themselves and become whoever they wanted to be.

In my case, I chose to be a designer. I’ve been honing my design skills since graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. Despite earning a degree in advertising, I’ve always gravitated toward the SaaS industry. Both fields require research, experimentation, and market testing. But with SaaS, I have the opportunity to interact directly with users and design iteratively. That hands-on approach is something I really value.

I also see myself as both a leader and a helper. I’m the kind of person who speaks up for others when necessary, and I find strength in being in a position to show compassion. For instance, at one HR conference, my team was asked to present our product with almost no notice and little time to prepare. Everyone was anxious. So I took it upon myself to practice repeatedly and help the team with the presentation. In the end, I presented our new design concepts in front of over 100 people—definitely the largest audience of my career at the time—and received some great feedback on my presentation style. I suppose all those TED Talks I watched paid off!

Now, let’s talk SaaS. At my first company, I had the chance to contribute to a product that raised $2.5M in its first round of funding. I was the sole UX/UI designer, responsible for creating the initial style guide and supporting early MVPs. I also helped with marketing and product management.

At my second company, which I later returned to, I was part of the team that refreshed an 18-year-old product and launched several new products that consistently drove traffic and achieved measurable success. One of these products, a mobile-friendly B2C solution, now generates over $20,000/month in revenue and continues to grow.

My third company raised $6.6M shortly after I joined. I worked closely with front-end engineers to integrate a reusable ReactJS library, speeding up design and deployment. I also introduced Design Thinking and usability testing into the product development process, helping the team better align with user needs and iterate more efficiently.

Through these experiences, I've developed a passion for creating user-centered products that solve real-world problems—and I’ve had a lot of fun doing it.
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- Kai Ho, 2020
(to be continued)