# Kaori Rei > Designing high-signal AI builder platforms for founders and operators (Hackathons & Thinking Sessions) Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/kaori I am a bilingual Content and Product Strategy professional with experience supporting AI startup founders, accelerators, and global teams through research-based narrative development, case studies, and structured communication. I combine product thinking, user insight synthesis, and long-form content development to help organizations clarify complex concepts and communicate value to internal and external stakeholders. My background includes knowledge management, program support, product-adjacent collaboration, and cross-regional communication between Japan and the U.S. I have worked with innovation ecosystems and technology-driven teams, producing strategic content assets that support alignment, onboarding, user understanding, and market positioning. I am fluent in both Japanese and English business environments and often act as a bridge between teams, ensuring clarity, cultural alignment, and smooth execution for projects operating across regions and time zones. Focus Areas: • AI-aligned content and product communication • Case studies and research-driven narrative development • Knowledge management & information structure • Program delivery and stakeholder coordination • Cross-regional collaboration (Japan–US) Based between San Francisco and Tokyo | Open to hybrid roles and global collaboration ## Work Experience ### Growth Content Strategy @ BytePlus Jan 2025 – Present | Full remote • Content creation for promotion Seedance 4.0, utilize my unique storytelling, startup community builder. Understand the BytePlus AI model's function, strength • Make the proposal and presentation to the stakeholders to get their feedacks, making the timeline • Budget negotiation • Write the script, communicate with the stakeholders, presentation to them using the prototype • Storytelling skills, Prompt engineering • Video content utilized by many AI tools. Sheedream 4.0, Canva, ElvenLabs ### Head of AI Builders' Community/ A host of the podcast, AI Founders' Mindet @ AI Founders' Mindset Podcast Jan 2024 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States 📈 Community Builder & Ecosystem Connector From Tokyo to San Francisco, I’ve built trusted startup communities through grassroots events, storytelling, and podcasting. With 58K+ podcast subscribers and in-person events growing from 10 to 2,000+ attendees, I create meaningful spaces where founders, investors, and accelerators connect and thrive. 🎙️ Content Strategist for Founders & VCs I help founders and VCs clarify their narrative and communicate their vision through high-impact content — from investor-facing messaging to podcast interviews and brand storytelling. 🌍 Cross-Cultural Bridge Fluent in both Japanese and Western business styles, I translate between cultures, helping global companies enter Japan and Japanese startups expand globally. My network spans Silicon Valley, Tokyo, and Southeast Asia. 🚀 Proven Track Record of 0→1 Growth I’ve helped companies scale content and community from scratch — including award-winning podcast growth and events that attract international partners like Google, Microsoft, and government agencies. 🛠️ Hands-On in Product & Marketing Strategy My experience spans cloud computing, developer engagement, and go-to-market strategies. I collaborate with founders to refine their pitch, product positioning, and user activation flow for global expansion. 🤝 Trusted by Industry Leaders I’ve co-hosted events with global players like Google for Startups, Techstars, JETRO, and the San Francisco City Government, helping them build meaningful engagement with local and global audiences. ### Growth Content Strategist @ Reka AI Jan 2025 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area • Implementing social media marketing for B2B clients • Efficient and effective publishing of video content utilizing our company podcast • Selecting priority social media platforms and implementing multi-funnel marketing for business growth • Social media marketing for acquiring B2B clients • Effective and efficient publishing of video content utilizing our company podcast • Selecting priority social media platforms and implementing multi-funnel marketing for business growth ### Growth Content Strategy @ Alchemist Accelerator Jan 2025 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area • Implementing social media marketing for their founders • Efficient and effective publishing of video content utilizing our company podcast • Selecting priority social media platforms and implementing multi-funnel marketing for business growth • Social media marketing for acquiring potential founders • Effective and efficient publishing of video content utilizing our company podcast • Selecting priority social media platforms and implementing multi-funnel marketing for business growth • In-person events - Local community building ### Senior Product Manager/ Lead UX designer @ oVice, Inc. Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | Full remote Project • Redesign and simplify the product to be human-centered using AI Key job responsibilities • Build solutions to drive efficiency and lower builder friction, meet a high bar for UX, and enable innovation at scale • Manage and execute large projects from start to finish including project management, defining core and guardrail metrics, problem-solving, defining requirements, and managing technical execution of changes. • Engage with stakeholders and customers throughout the entire product lifecycle • Define and drive creative, detailed product definition of new capabilities • Manage prioritization and trade-offs among competing high-value opportunities • Work closely with engineering teams to deliver products to users • Partner across organizations to maximize leverage and minimize duplication of work • Lead visual and product design initiatives to create compelling AI solutions • Conduct in-depth user research and UX studies to inform design decisions and ensure alignment with user needs • Apply design thinking principles to solve complex problems and create meaningful, human-centered design solutions • Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to translate research findings into actionable design features • Prototype and iterate designs based on user feedback and data-driven insights • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of industry trends and best practices to continuously refine and enhance product designs ### Lead Product Designer @ Bite Ninja (YC S21) Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 | Memphis, Tennessee, United States Designing a Management system (Zenu) for Remote Staffing & Tech Solutions for Restaurant Build a product design system that follows Google Material Design guidelines Understand the company's business goals and product strategy from interviews with stakeholders Select and conduct appropriate user-centered design techniques throughout an iterative design process Produce, test, and iterate on experience artifacts, including user flows, interaction models, prototypes, wireframes, and lo-fi, and hi-fi mockups by Figma Usability testing, heuristic evaluation, paper prototyping, wireframing, storyboarding, sitemap creation, and card sorting Ability to conduct focus groups, design sessions, task analyses, surveys and online testing, A/B testing ### UX Designer researcher, Conversational designer @ Mastercard Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 | New York, United States Redesigning Self Service Configuration Management system (SCM) for issuer, processor, and acquirer (internal and external). Collaborate Participate in initiative-level sessions and Design Thinking activities with stakeholders to define and deliver against SCM roadmap (create by Figjam board and share it with stakeholders). Contribute to design production and research studies, and participate in product experience design workshops. Create new components to improve the existing design system by Figma. Design Select and conduct appropriate user-centered design techniques throughout an iterative design process Implement design decisions on initiatives, heavily influenced by research findings Leverage design best practices and patterns when feasible; proposing and codifying new patterns when appropriate Produce, test, and iterate on experience artifacts, including user flows, interaction models, prototypes, wireframes, lo-fi, hi-fi mockups by Figma Study and adopt the design system to deliver digital products fully aligned with Mastercard’s design standard Usability testing, heuristic evaluation, paper prototyping, wire-framing, storyboarding, sitemap creation and card sorting Conduct focus groups, design sessions, task analyses, surveys and online testing Company wide: •Conversational design-as a secondary project, I am working as a conversational designer. User interviews, User stories, Scenarios, and Usability testing for chatbot, generative AI Illustrated MC internal events, Sharepoint, providing graphical representations of speakers, topics and main points •Proposed redesigning Sharepoint, Participated in CX&Design Guild ### Visual UX Designer researcher @ Hankyu Department Store, New York Jan 2018 – Jan 2022 | Japan Assisted in planning, staging, and implementation of UI/UX improvements and anthropomorphic animation integration, motion graphic. Worked with UX team management to create user interview worksheets, personas, scenarios, user journeys, story maps, user flows, and user testing worksheets. Conducted Qualitative research and Quantitative research Designed and led user surveys, translating survey results into insights that increased understanding and empathy for target customers, contributing to a 40% increase in the number of customers on the online shopping site for the pop-up event. ### UX and Graphic Designer / CX researcher @ Freelance (Self employed) Jan 2014 – Jan 2018 | Tokyo, Japan Working as a graphic designer and branding designer for a wedding product design company, a travel agency, and a real estate company in Japan. Won 18 new accounts by wedding products design works. interviewed customers on their experience to improve net promoter scores and CX satisfaction. ## Education ### Bunka Fashion Graduate University Jan 2006 – Jan 2009 ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kaori-rei-1021a6177 - Portfolio: https://www.kaoreen.com/ --- Source: https://flows.cv/kaori JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/kaori/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-25