kelvin chen ~/nyc

product manager · builder · new york

A life designed to feel alive — not just accomplished.

I'm Kelvin. Principal PM at US Mobile by day. The rest of the time: building small AI systems that run my life, chasing shuttlecocks, and answering to a miniature poodle.

Kelvin smiling at an outdoor festival at golden hour

about

More than the day job.

By day I'm a Principal PM at US Mobile, building the unglamorous plumbing behind "it just works" — multi-network infrastructure, international connectivity, and the activation systems that make a new phone feel instant.

I've sat on the other side of the table too: I founded RizzPolicy, a licensed insurance agency, to learn first-hand what owning a business takes. And when a process annoys me, I build the tool — a habit that has shipped internal apps at work and the personal OS that actually runs my life.

Off the clock: weekend badminton and pickleball, more gatherings than my calendar approves of, and answering to Yumi, a miniature poodle with strong opinions.

The throughline: design the system, then actually live in it.

selected work

Things I've shipped.

The day-job flagships and the after-hours builds.

us mobile

Multi-network

One line, all three major US networks. My pod builds the infrastructure behind Teleport and shared roaming — switching carriers as easily as switching Wi-Fi.

featured: android authority ↗

us mobile

Starlink One

Cellular on every major network plus Starlink home internet, bundled into one plan — coverage from the ground and from space.

covered: yahoo finance ↗

us mobile

eSIM instant activation

From "wait for a SIM kit" to connected in two minutes — instant activation grew from 8% to half of a million-plus activations.

how it changed the game ↗

founder

RizzPolicy

AI-powered insurance comparison and policy review. Founded it, got licensed, shipped it — the whole arc of owning a product.

rizzpolicy.com ↗

four ways I spend myself

Build · Move · Yumi · Host

4 boarding passes
this year — amsterdam · barcelona · hawaii · coachella
128 bpm
default operating tempo — EDM, took the lessons
1 organ
under factory spec (gallbladder) — zero slowdown

soundEDM first, everything else after — Coachella attended, lessons taken seriously

speedF1 race weekends watched religiously · a long-standing love of driving

seasonsskiing in winter · cycling the rest — currently benched by a cracked elbow, surgically rebuilt in May, back on the road by winter

resilienceone gallbladder lighter and bounced back fast — same plan for the elbow, but stronger than before

Kelvin at a desk with a laptop while Yumi the miniature poodle supervises
build

Small tools, shipped fast

A personal OS of agents that write my briefs, watch my goals, and keep life legible. Supervisor pictured.

Kelvin sitting courtside at an international badminton tournament with his gear
move

Badminton & pickleball

Weekend courts, the occasional tournament, strength classes around the city. Currently rebuilding — the goal is stronger than before, not back to baseline.

Yumi, a white miniature poodle with a pink collar, looking at the camera
yumi

Chief Wellness Officer

Miniature poodle with strong opinions. Supervises build sessions from the desk, commutes by sling, photographed more than I am.

A room of people watching live demos at an AI show-and-tell gathering
gather

Out most weeks

Demo nights, PM meetups, dinners that run long — fifteen gatherings since May, and a standing goal of pulling one together myself each month.

the system

I run my life on software I wrote.

Every morning at 7:00, an agent has already read my data, written my brief, updated my dashboards, and nagged me about the task board. The de-identified version is public — clone it and make it yours.

my datahealth · money · people · notesagent fleetcrons + skillsoutputsmorning brief · dashboards · task board
starter
kit →
featured — free, no signup, no tracking

Personal OS starter kit

A file-based knowledgebase, agent task prompts, and daily report generators. A walkthrough plus a downloadable kit.

field notes

Out in the world.

open road — canada, en route to montréal
Walking through New York on the way to the dog Halloween parade
to the dog halloween parade, via bubble tea
sharks, actually — hawaii
Kelvin standing in a golden field at sunset in Hawaii, holding a hat
golden hour, hawaii — no agenda
Kelvin jumping with both arms raised on the yellow centerline of an empty foggy road
feeling alive — vancouver
Kelvin mid-game at pickleball
pickleball night
Kelvin with a camera among autumn foliage in Newport, Rhode Island
leaf season — newport, rhode island
yumi ear-tracking study, n=1
rainbow, mid-ocean — hawaii
Kelvin in the crowd at sunset at Coachella
sunset at coachella

← scroll →

now

Current status.

  • runningDaily life on the personal OS — automated briefs, reports, and a task board the agents keep honest
  • rebuildingPost cycling-crash elbow surgery (May) — strength and sport, with a target of better than before by 2027
  • exploringAI tools and productivity hacks
  • buildingThis site, and sharing the personal OS publicly — say hi if you're building too