Kush is North America President and Chief Product Officer of the internet and mobile division of Paypoint, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange. Kush has been following SightLife ever since he met President and CEO Monty Montoya in 2001, when SightLife was known as the Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight and Hearing, and joined the Board of Directors in 2014. He contributes business and strategic acumen to SightLife, helping to stage growth as SightLife accelerates its mission to eliminate corneal blindness worldwide.
Kush previously worked in corporate development at Texas Instruments, where he helped apply cutting-edge semiconductor technology to various medical devices including hearing aids and portable defibrillators. More recently, he was also senior vice president and general manager of INRIX, a company he helped build from 15 employees and no customers in 2006 to one with over 300 employees and scores of customers by 2013. The growth included building a global enterprise operation at INRIX punctuated by a $60M acquisition in the UK in 2012. He has been granted two patents (with an additional five pending), and was named one of Puget Sound Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” in 2012. Kush also sits on the advisory boards of two software startup companies, Getaround and WellAware.
Kush holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University and an M.B.A. in Finance/Entrepreneurship from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. In his spare time Kush enjoys spending time with family, traveling and golf.
Which of SightLife's values resonates most with you and why?
“There is no question that the team at SightLife is extremely passionate about its mission. I see it every time I speak to an employee, as they have a glint in their eye for the world-changing work they are doing. The passion permeates across the company and, to me, is the one value that helps overcome unforeseen obstacles without ever losing energy or momentum.”
SightLife's Mission in Action:
“At the end of every Board meeting, two letters are read to the board - one donor family letter and one recipient letter. The power of what SightLife does is poignantly captured in a different way every time I hear a new story.”