Jason Kang ’12
“He was engaging, informative and funny at the right times,” [Bianca Lee] said. “He admitted that when he was young, all he wanted to be was rich and famous, but [that], through his work with disinfectants and meeting healthcare workers in Ebola-affected areas, he realized that success is defined through happiness and improving others' lives.”
On his 21st birthday, Jason Kang ’12 reluctantly entered the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Fighting Ebola Grand Challenge and began developing a color additive that would make decontamination more effective. Four years later, Kang is the CEO and co-founder of Kinnos, a startup whose flagship technology, officially named “Highlight”, has been used in Liberian, Guinean, Haitian and United States hospital systems.
Kang attributes his success to the team behind Kinnos, noting how it was started by himself and his friends. “I'm really proud that our team at Kinnos has developed a mindset that we're capable of learning anything,” he said. “There hasn't been a challenge that we've come across where we haven't figured out a way to solve it.”
Since starting Kinnos, Highlight has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal, NPR and PBS NewsHour as well as rewarded with the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize and by the Collegiate Inventors Competition. Kang was invited to Exeter by the co-heads of Exeter Launch Club, Alan and Ryan Xie.
Senior Alan Xie described how he and his brother discovered Kang. “We've had the opportunity to meet many alumni from years ago through our clubs and older friends,” Xie said. “After learning about him, I thought that Jason would be a good assembly speaker because he had created something great as an entrepreneur.”
Alan Xie added that he thought Exonians, regardless of their interest in entrepreneurship, would appreciate Kang’s words. “I think that Jason was able to inspire Exonians to innovate and be entrepreneurs, as many aspiring students may feel incompetent as a high schooler,” he said. “He was really able to inspire people to be more innovative and open to new experiences and to just try things out.”
The assembly was met with a standing ovation—perhaps, as senior Sebastian Bango pointed out, because students could relate to Kang’s message. “I really enjoyed having a relatively recent Exeter alumnus speak whose experience more closely reflected our own,” Bango said. Compared to many of the assembly speakers Exeter has had in the past, Kang possessed a much more unconventional path to success.
Bango added that Kang’s work inspired him by proving entrepreneurship is more complicated and human than a string of successes. “For me, Kang demystified the entrepreneurial process,” he said. “His honest presentation of his trials and errors made me feel that, as long as I believed in an idea, I could push it to success.”
Lower Bianca Lee affirmed Kang’s impact. “He was engaging, informative and funny at the right times,” she said. “He admitted that when he was young, all he wanted to be was rich and famous, but [that], through his work with disinfectants and meeting healthcare workers in Ebola-affected areas, he realized that success is defined through happiness and improving others' lives.”
Ryan Xie echoed Lee’s sentiments and described how Kang’s assembly will motivate students, especially the members of his club. “I think many students, myself included, tend to think that building a company is hard to do without help,” he said. “While this is sometimes true, Jason showed that it is still doable with the right attitude and effort, since he was not an expert in his company’s field when it first started.”
Kang’s value of hard work will aid budding Exeter entrepreneurs, according to Ryan Xie. “The amount of hard work Jason put into the company when it first launched is also very inspiring,” he said. “Jason had a great point about not necessarily needing to be the best in certain field, and that there are always other opportunities and niches that you can find.”
In addition to students, faculty, such as Science Instructor Townley Chisholm, noted the value of Kang’s message. “I thought his message was perfect for PEA,” he said. “He wasn’t saying to his students to be like him. He was suggesting to them that they be open to following their paths and not worry.”
Chisholm described Kang’s career in biology as unsurprising, noting Kang’s engagement in his advanced biology class when Kang attended PEA. “He came to class prepared every day, always eager to talk about what was going on, always kind and considerate to other people around the table and very interested in all aspects of biology,” Chisholm said.
After Kang flies back to New York, he will return to Kinnos. He reflected on his time working since Exeter, realizing that the next seven years will probably be just as unpredictable. “In the future, my only real criteria for myself is that I'm still working on something that I find meaningful and that it impacts people in a positive way,” he said.