Our mission
Motiv8 is a digital health startup whose mission is to help people make changes in their lives that improve their health. We focus on people who live with or are at risk for developing chronic conditions such as Prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes.

 

We all know that behavior change is hard. Nothing works for everyone – we are all unique – and behavior change is an intensely personal journey. At Motiv8 we are combining clinically validated behavior change research with machine learning and AI, to choose and deliver the best approach to supporting behavior change based on what makes each of us unique. We call our approach Precision Behavior Change – using data-driven insights to tackle the who, what, where, and when of healthy behavior change.
Our team
Fulfilling this mission requires a team with an eclectic combination of skills and backgrounds, committed to the scientific approach blended with agile pragmatism, and sharing a passion for attacking the massive problem of preventable chronic diseases.

 

Founders

Eugene Lee

Eugene Lee

CEO
Bio
After 20 years in Enterprise Technology (co-founder Beyond Inc., VP/GM Banyan, VP Enterprise Marketing Cisco and Adobe, CEO Socialtext) I realized that making and selling expensive things to CIOs on the merits of productivity just didn’t get me excited any more. While searching for a big problem worth solving that would create meaning and purpose, I had the great fortune of meeting Dr. David Lawrence, former CEO of Kaiser Permanente. He infected me with a passion for tackling one of the hardest problems in healthcare – preventing and slowing the progression of chronic diseases.

I get “motiv8ed” by the how big the problem is (over 80% of the $3.5T we spend on healthcare in the US is on people with chronic diseases), by the opportunity to improve the lives (and health) of millions of people, and by the chance to contribute to the exciting science of behavior change. I get energized and humbled by the accomplished and passionate people I encounter through the cross-disciplinary work that Motiv8 is pursuing. And I’m proud of the amazing and eclectic people I work with at Motiv8.

When I’m not working, I’m usually practicing piano, reading, or trying not to lose more than 6 balls per round of golf.

Dr. David Lawrence

Dr. David Lawrence

Co-Founder
Bio
Until retiring as Chairman/CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals in 2002, I had spent my medical career inside the world of healthcare financing and delivery. For the last fifteen years, however, I have pursued an interest in healthcare innovation, specifically bringing new solutions to patients and consumers that they either don’t get now from the medical care system or get incompletely or inadequately when they do. A particular goal has long been to find ways to help consumers manage their chronic illnesses after they’ve been diagnosed and medical treatment started. That’s when the consumer becomes his or her primary provider, and needs support to make critical lifestyle changes in order to slow the course of the illness and avoid more serious complications.

When I met Eugene Lee, I was immediately struck by his intelligence, enthusiasm, willingness to consider new approaches that could build on digital technologies, and his overriding practicality in figuring out how to get there from here. The basic idea of Motiv8 grew out of our conversations. It is because of Eugene’s leadership and team he’s assembled, and the deep understanding he has developed in the field of behavior change that I am so excited about Motiv8. And the problem he’s tackling is a really big one too>

It is especially gratifying to be a part of this important effort to tackle the long-standing Gordian Knot in healthcare, encouraging people to change behaviors that contribute to their disease and prevent them from living healthy and fulfilling lives.

For relaxation I like to work in my vegetable garden and our olive orchard on our small ranch. Whenever I get the chance, you’ll find me fly fishing on some river or lake or ocean somewhere in the world I read constantly, enjoy writing, and play the piano for my own pleasure. My greatest joy is to travel with my wife, Stephanie, to visit our children (4) and grandchildren (9) throughout the year.


 

Product

Kwanghwi Kim

Kwanghwi Kim

iOS Development
Bio
I visited Silicon Valley in 2009, when I was a sophomore, and I was impressed by how many startups there are. I met one startup founder and he told me he was building a company to solve a problem that would improve the world. I was inspired to solve a problem faced by people around me with my and others’ ability. So I decided to start a company.

Eugene introduced his new idea that impacts and helps many people. I thought we can help his idea by starting from a simple app, and I and my team (Favorie) joined the Motiv8 team. When Jeonguk and I were in his incubation program session. I learned a lot from him, so Eugene is someone like teacher to me.

When I’m not working I enjoy making and fixing something. These days, I’m making small things for home.

Steve Hughey

Steve Hughey

Back End Development
Bio
I’m a jack-of-all-trades engineer with twenty years experience in travel, gaming, finance and e-com. After productive stints at companies both big and small, have been tackling big problems being a hired mercenary (consultant) for the past few years. Our own start-ups have included enterprise social media management platforms and big data driven sports analytics.

Using a science-based approach to tackling the crisis of rapidly increasing chronic disease

I enjoy cooking, retro computing and the beautiful Pacific Northwest outdoors.


Jeonguk Lee

Jeonguk Lee

iOS Development
Bio
I studied computer science at Pusan National University. As soon as I finished my master’s degree, I co-founded Favorie, an iOS app developing company, with Kwanghwi. At first, we developed a photo management app named Pictly for about 2 years and failed to achieve our targeted number of downloads. In this failure, we learned that we should implement a new idea quickly, release it, and update it based on user feedback. So, we made another app named AT. It took only 2 weeks to implement the first version. A few months later, we achieved 1st place in the app store of South Korea. And now AT is featured in the app store of many countries and hundreds of users still download it every day.

While we were working on Pictly, we met Eugene in Silicon Valley. We were participating in an incubation program and he was one of the speakers. A few years later, we met Eugene again and heard him talk about how big the U.S healthcare market is and how he was preparing t to solve a big problem. I am motiv8ed by helping people suffering from chronic diseases like my father, who was diagnosed with prediabetes a few years ago. His condition is not serious but he manages his food, physical activity, and weight. This motiv8tion helps me work as part of the Motiv8 team despite distance and language barriers. I’m glad to work with this amazing team.

When I get to rest, I’m learning and playing badminton & guitar.

Jaemyung Jin

Jaemyung Jin

iOS Development
Bio
I was deeply impressed when the iPhone first came out and started developing apps, and since that time I’ve been learning Objective-C and Swift. I started my first job at Favorie and I am still developing apps. I always like new things, and I’m learning a lot working on Vivace. I enjoy collecting electronics or learning new skills.
Sangkon Han

Sangkon Han

Back End Development
Bio
I started working at a small IT team in Busan. I learned C/C ++ from the IT team. At that time, I became interested in firmware and game development. So I started my career as a developer, starting with the game development. Since then I have been working as a server-side ERP company, and I am still doing server-side work.

I was about to go to graduate school. I became interested in joining the Favorie/Motiv8 team and joined them. At that time, I was interested in techniques related to data analysis. I decided to join the project because I thought that I could challenge various technologies and statements necessary for analyzing the data in the project.

I like to relax while making small programs. I have a Python development group in Busan and we meet regularly. I enjoy chatting with various developers and listening to trivial technology stories. Nowadays I am interested in deciphering a book on Egyptian hieroglyphs from the British Museum.


Kyunghwan Lee

Kyunghwan Lee

Visual Designer
Bio
I am in charge of mobile UI design at Favorie. Before joining the Vivace project, I participated in various app designs including ‘AT’, ‘Tasking’ and others developed by my team, and I am getting more and more experienced in mobile UI design. The most memorable moment in my career at a startup was when AT took the top spot in the Korean app store. I was very happy when users used our app and left positive feedback about the design. Besides app design, I am interested in interior design, so I go to a nice cafe when I am not working.
Donmin Choi

Donmin Choi

UX Designer
Bio
I am interested in solving various problems faced in everyday life with good design.
People’s reaction and response to the solution I proposed is a great motivation for me.
While I was in college, the design that I proposed in the contest was awarded and I started work related to design.
I am currently working on mobile app UX design, but I am interested in various design areas and want to study. The Vivace project is a very challenging task, but I think it is an attractive project to try to solve health problems that are close to everyday life.

 

Advisors

Dr. Suneil Koliwad, PhD

Dr. Suneil Koliwad, PhD

Advisor
Marta Marques, PhD

Marta Marques, PhD

Advisor / Consultant
Khanderao Kand

Khanderao Kand

Advisors
Bio
I am an entrepreneurial technologist with 25+ years’ experience serving various roles as CTO, Chief Architect, Senior Engineer Leader both in startups (GloMantra, AdMaxim, Guavus) and large enterprises (Oracle, now Amazon) in Silicon Valley. Personally, I am expert in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data and middleware technologies. I am passionate in mastering, developing and evangelizing emerging technologies and using it to solve real world problems. I founded GITPRO, a platform for technology professionals and entrepreneurs, and mentor entrepreneurs and startups (Qwardo, Sparkflow, ViridiusChem to name few).

Four years back, I was introduced to Eugene at Artiman Ventures. His child-like enthusiasm and professor-like deep instantly started our friendship journey. I share his contagious passion for using technology and algorithms to serve humanity to solve life style diseases. It has been motiv8ting to work with Eugene, Dr. Lawrence and Motiv8t’s expert team.

I make time to get engaged in community/social service organizations, professional networking organization of technology professionals and entrepreneurs, reading technology/self-development/geopolitical books, and hiking (Climbed Half Dome twice and now planning Mount Whitney, Killamanjaro).


Kate DCamp

Kate DCamp

Advisor / Investor
Bio
After a long career in Human Resources, I left the rat race and went to Law School, a long delayed goal based on my love of the complexity of tax and legal structures I had worked with throughout my career. I also joined several Boards; taught at the University of Michigan in a Human Resources Executive Program and presented for an International MBA Program of Rutgers University. I also invested very selectively in a couple of start-up companies whose purpose sparked my interest, and where I felt I could add some value. At Cisco I had worked with Eugene Lee, Motiv8’s CEO and Founder, and was happy he reconnected with me. I am inspired by the mission of the company and see the power of using a personalized and scientific approach to improving employee health. Having managed many health and wellness offerings that did not seem to deliver in a measurable way, I am thrilled to see a unique approach which I think has far more potential than any program I’ve ever seen as a customer of this type of program. I am also personally invested in conquering the chronic diseases affecting my generation and the next, having lost both parents and many other friends and relatives to complications of Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease and Cancers which early detection and prevention might have allowed a cure.

When I’m not advising and mentoring business colleagues or managing investment properties, I enjoy reading, cooking and being “MomStar” and Grandma.

Korey Hood, PhD

Korey Hood, PhD

Advisor / Consultant
Mary Cain

Mary Cain

Advisor / Consultant
Bio
My career has been all about helping people improve their health and I’ve been lucky to work on this every day for the past 20 years. As a Director at Institute for the Future, I studied the effect of consumer behavior, technological innovation and information technology on health and healthcare. Wanting a more applied role, I built disease management coaching programs at LifeMasters and StayWell. In program development, I learned as much as I could about behavior change, motivation and the importance of respecting one’s values to help make changes stick. These past 5 years at Jiff and Castlight Health, I’ve been translating my work to new digital health platforms for employers.

I’ve long been motivated by big, complicated problems and being in the service of others. The state of the art in healthcare delivery doesn’t do a good job of helping people make changes that stick. The adventure of Motiv8 is attacking this head on.

In my free time, I dance and sing as much as possible with my kids and try to help with homework when appropriate.