Jason Kim

Born in Korea, raised in Vancouver, based in New York and San Francisco. YC alum. I build at the intersection of AI, cryptography, and markets, turning hard math into products people actually use.

Now

Big Whale Labs, an applied cryptography and machine learning lab. Backed by Balaji Srinivasan (ex Coinbase CTO), Samsung, Slow Ventures, M13, Road, and more.

Our current focus is pigeon.trade, a proprietary AI runtime that translates natural language into executable financial trades across 15+ venues. $111M+ in volume, 38K+ users.

Past

• TaloflowCofounder, YC W21▼

  Started as LocoNoco, building Valence, a business logic IDE for non-technical users. Pivoted to an AI agent for DevOps cloud infrastructure. Grew the company from 0 to YC to 100+ engineering teams and profitability. ~$3M raised.

• GrowHead of Product, Employee #10▼

  Built back-office automation and ML for KYC and underwriting for major banks. Grew from 0 to millions in ARR. Acquired by ATB Financial.

• WiivvFounding Team, Growth▼

  Joined pre-funding and helped grow from 0 to $250K in initial sales. Custom orthotics using computer vision and industrial 3D printing. Turned 2D images of feet into real footwear delivered to your door. Backed by Formation 8, Evonik, and more.

Writing

• 2026The Messy Middle: The AI War For Middleware
• 2025Terminal That Builds Terminals
• 2025End of Average Software
• 2025Claude Code Brood War
• 2025Code Creation Is the Interface
• 2025Everything Is Korea
• 2018Tim: Your Cloud on Autopilot

Investments

Supporting friends and smart builders with small checks. Invested in 6+ YC and VC backed startups including Gru Space, Bree, and more.