Jeff
Smith

It started in Hong Kong. I was a junior at Brown studying International Relations, interning in investment banking at Prudential Asia during the Asian economic crisis. I loved the energy but realized I wanted to build things, not just analyze them. That same year I met Jamie Murray, and we co-founded SoulGear.com — an extreme sports eCommerce startup. We raised a million dollars, moved to San Francisco, and then the dot-com bubble burst. We laid off ourselves.

I walked into a career fair in a borrowed suit and started over in pharmaceutical sales at AstraZeneca. From there I moved into medical devices at Cardinal Health, then spent years at Kyphon learning spine surgery from the inside — first as a consultant, then running sales operations. I took a 50% pay cut to get inside the business and understand how it really worked.

From there I founded Providence Medical Technology and over two decades invented 12+ novel medical device systems that have been used in more than 100,000 patients worldwide. I co-founded Pacific Surgical with Will Steedman (acquired by Transmedic), GreenLight Medical with Co-Founder & CEO Austin Dirks (acquired by symplr, 2022), and sold a spinal implant business called Kolum to SpineWave. More recently I co-founded Kairos HR with Co-Founder & CEO Rebecca Chung and made a seed investment in Apollo OR, where I sit on the board.

Helping entrepreneurs navigate company building doesn't feel like work to me. I enjoy matching great founders with supportive investors and working with teams to solve real problems. What I'm building next starts in healthcare but extends into every part of who I am.

I have four sons — Gio, Tommy, Brady, and Parker. I've coached youth lacrosse for 21 years and make solid pancakes. My wife Kelly is my favorite person on the planet. I make music as STORREUS. I create illustrated stories through Allium. The best companies are built by whole people, and I try to bring my whole self to everything I do.