Kent Mori

Spotlight on the one and only Kent Mori, the guy’s a straight-up startup machine. This dude jumped into the game with no bullshit, already crushing it by the time he co-founded Maderight back in S15 with YC. That’s the summer batch of 2015, so the guy’s been in the trenches for a hot minute, learning the ropes, failing, winning, and leveling up.

Before all that, he was doing the finance thing at Deloitte, which is basically the startup bootcamp for understanding money and operations. That gave him the foundation, the nuts and bolts of how big companies run. But he didn’t stop there. He was also into apparel, founded ASPECD Apparel, and served as CEO, pushing into new markets. That shows he’s not afraid to jump into industries that aren’t his original turf, he’s all about building stuff that scales and solving real problems.

Then, with Maderight, he pivoted into the manufacturing world, but not just any manufacturing, the kinda stuff that’s complicated as hell, especially for fashion brands trying to get stuff made globally without losing their mind. He co-founded it with Kevin Chan and Shuo Yang, and they scaled that thing to a team of 51 in San Mateo. That’s no small feat, it’s about taking a crazy complex idea and turning it into something people actually wanna buy and use.

What does that tell us about Kent? The guy’s got a real motivation for building stuff that matters. He’s not just in it for the quick wins, he’s about solving big, messy problems and making them simple. That’s why he talks about testing hypotheses and building good frameworks for product-market fit, he knows startups are all about failing fast and learning fast.

He’s also been involved in other leadership roles, co-founder at Paperclip Tech, Chief of Staff at The/Studio, so he’s not just about the start, he’s about the system, the strategy, making sure everything runs smooth as hell.

Bottom line? Kent Mori is that rare mix of a guy who’s got the street smarts from finance, the hustle from apparel, and the grit to scale a complex manufacturing platform. He’s all about making big ideas real, pushing through the bullshit, and building companies that actually change the game. No Cap, this dude’s the real deal, a legit startup vet who’s been through the grind and keeps coming out on top.