Keerthikan "Ken" Thirukkumar

Product Builder (Med → Tech)

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Keerthikan is an Oslo-based product builder relocating to the U.S. soon who brings medical thinking into product: understand the human reality, diagnose the root cause, then ship the right intervention. This approach has reduced wasted time and spending in his own startups and has helped startup clients avoid building the wrong thing.

Work Experience

Kvasir TutelageNov 2025 - Present
Founder & Product Lead (Technical PM, AI)
  • Improved speed-to-ship by building one connected pipeline across acquisition, onboarding, core product, and game delivery.
  • Defined the product backlog by designing 31 games; shipped 5 to date and set a weekly release cadence.
  • Reduced build time per new game by standardising reusable primitives (UI, scoring, difficulty scaling, timers, validation, chart rendering).
  • Collected feedback through playtests and early customer conversations; documented issues, prioritised fixes, and iterated on releases.
  • Documented requirements with PRDs, tickets, and acceptance criteria; ran QA and release coordination with tight scope control.
AI and prototyping: Used ChatGPT and OpenAI tooling to draft specs, test edge cases, and iterate content; used Figma and Inkscape to prototype flows and visuals quickly before engineering; implemented guardrails to keep generated content consistent and performant.
Akura ConsultingAug 2025 - Present
Startup and Strategy Consultant
  • Helped founders define the business outcome, identify the core constraint, and choose a small set of tests to validate direction.
  • Produced market and competitor research that clarified positioning options, distribution risks, and what to test next.
  • Turned strategy into execution plans founders can run without heavy dependencies (ICP, positioning, offer, milestones, roadmap).
  • Wrote short briefs that make trade-offs explicit and translate ambiguity into decisions.
AI and prototyping: Used ChatGPT and OpenAI tooling for fast desk research, source gathering, and synthesis; built quick Figma one-pagers and landing-page drafts to test messaging and offers; used AI as a first pass, then rewrote into client-ready outputs.
ContraryOct 2025 - Dec 2025
Research Fellow
  • Mapped markets and competitors; documented “why now” theses for early-stage companies.
  • Wrote concise memos that clarified wedge, risks, and what would need to be true for success.
AI and prototyping: Used LLMs to accelerate category learning, structured comparisons, and risk checklists; validated the final narrative with primary sources and consistent frameworks.
DNVJan 2025 - Apr 2025
Innovation Product Intern
  • Supported early-stage discovery for B2B AI tools in regulated contexts, focused on improving engagement and product–market alignment.
  • Identified 50+ high-value leads through list analysis to support market-entry prioritisation.
  • Built personas and messaging tied to stakeholder incentives; documented pitch narratives for internal use.
  • Designed a data-driven event selection process used as an input to planning and prioritisation.
AI and prototyping: Used LLMs to draft interview guides, refine personas, and iterate pitch content quickly; used Figma to make concepts and stakeholder flows concrete; combined AI-assisted drafting with spreadsheet-based prioritisation.
16VCDec 2024 - Jan 2025
Winter Venture Fellow
  • Conducted venture research and category learning; wrote short memos on markets, comps, GTM patterns, and key risks.
  • Built comparable sets and extracted repeatable patterns in positioning and distribution.
AI and prototyping: Used LLMs to structure research, generate counterarguments, and surface missing questions; rewrote outputs into clean memos with my own judgment.
AccessiNor ASSep 2024 - Dec 2024
Fractional Product Manager
  • Delivered an internal MVP by defining scope, prioritising features, and iterating with user feedback on short cycles.
  • Documented accessibility requirements and applied WCAG practices to improve usability and compliance.
  • Scoped and prioritised features with the team to ship within internship timelines.
AI and prototyping: Used LLMs to speed up requirement writing and acceptance criteria, including WCAG mapping; used Figma to validate flows with stakeholders before build; confirmed decisions through manual review and testing.
Exam Bytes AcademyNov 2020 - Jul 2023
Founder and Educator
  • Improved student outcomes by building a structured learning system, including onboarding, curriculum, progress tracking, and parent reporting.
  • Iterated materials based on student performance and parent feedback; documented learning plans and delivery standards.
  • Ran operations end-to-end, including scheduling, retention, and ongoing communication.
AI and prototyping: Used Inkscape to produce scalable learning assets quickly; used AI later to generate variations and examples for practice materials, then reviewed and edited to match exam standards.
Medical University – PlevenMar 2018 - Jun 2023
Medical Intern (Clinical Rotations)
  • Applied structured, evidence-based decision-making in clinical rotations across multiple departments.
  • Worked in multidisciplinary teams with high standards for documentation and communication.
AI and prototyping: No clinical AI usage in placement settings; used digital tools to organise study notes and learning resources.

Studies

BI Norwegian Business School
Product, Strategy & Analytics Focus
Hyperion Dev in partnership with University of Nottingham
Software Development Certificate Program: Maintained 98%
Full-Stack Software Development (Python/JS, SQL, Git; Agile Delivery)
Medical University - Pleven
Academic Leave - Completed 5 out of 6 years
Medicine (MD program): Clinical Rraining; Evidence-based, Structured Problem Solving

Technical skills

Product discovery & delivery
Led discovery and validation to define business outcomes, customer problems, and solution scope. Partnered with design and engineering to deliver continuous value through PRDs, prioritisation, and iteration.
User interviewsInsights synthesisPRDs & user storiesPrioritisation & Jira
Design & prototyping
Designed user journeys, flows, and clickable prototypes to validate solutions and align stakeholders early. Produced dev-ready specs and assets to accelerate build cycles and reduce rework across releases.
Figma flows & wireframesRapid UX iterationInkscape SVG assets
Full-stack build
Built end-to-end product features across UI, API, and database to ship MVPs and internal tools. Implemented reusable components and production patterns to improve maintainability and delivery speed.
Next.js (React)TypeScript / JavaScriptSupabase (Postgres)Reusable components
Product analytics & measurement
Defined event taxonomies and metrics to standardize measurement of product performance and user behavior. Built funnel, retention, and cohort analyses to evaluate outcomes and prioritize iterations with confidence.
Event taxonomyFunnels & cohortsActivation & retention
AI-assisted execution
Built practical LLM prototypes and workflows to accelerate research, synthesis, and product delivery. Established lightweight evaluation and guardrails to manage quality, cost, latency, and privacy risk.
ChatGPT & OpenAIOpen-source LLMsAgentic DevelopmentRAGPrompt evaluation
Scripting & automation
Built scripts and lightweight tools to automate workflows, clean data, and generate faster insights. Streamlined repeatable operational tasks to improve team throughput and reduce manual overhead.
Python scriptingData wranglingWorkflow automation