In the News, Podcasts & Published Columns.
Over 25 years of podcast interviews, keynote presentations, operator workshops, and national media coverage across Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, TechCrunch, GeekWire, Wired, Los Angeles Times, and Mashable.
Podcasts, Keynotes & Video Workshops.
Featured video interviews, conference keynotes, and podcast episodes on data-driven positioning, full-funnel GTM, customer retention, and building a high-leverage solo practice.
From Record Labels to REVgtm: Leaving the C-Suite for Hands-On Building
An in-depth conversation with TINYpulse founder David Niu on my journey from Universal Music and Harvard Business School to leading startup growth teams to IPO—and why I chose hands-on operator work over managing large corporate teams.
Top Trends in Employee Engagement & Building Values-Driven Cultures
Keynote presentation and TINYtalk interview examining data from hundreds of organizations on what actually drives employee retention, transparent leadership communication, and high-performing teams.
Startup Positioning Mistakes That Kill Growth: Harvard MBA's Data-Driven Framework
I walk through how startups and post-PMF teams can mine real customer data, win/loss interviews, and behavioral signals to build positioning that converts.
Growth Valley Community Live GTM Workshop with Kevin Nakao
Hands-on workshop session unpacking full-funnel diagnostics, Minimum Viable Experiments (MVEs), and practical frameworks for scaling B2B pipeline.
How Did You Hear About Us? Retention & Attribution in Growth Marketing
I joined host Blythe Brumleve on FreightWaves Cyberly to discuss Spire Maritime, why retention and renewal sales are the foundation of growth marketing, and how to fix broken attribution.
Using Apollo.io Employee Trends Data for Signal-Based Outbound
Step-by-step video tutorial showing how to use departmental headcount velocity in Apollo.io to spot buying intent before competitors do.
What If Small Is the New BIG in Employee Engagement?
Podcast interview with host Kevin Monroe exploring why lightweight, high-frequency feedback loops outperform annual corporate surveys.
Innovating Strategies to Predict Turnover & Retain Top Performers
Industry webinars and GeekWire video dispatches on predictive employee retention, organizational transparency, and startup team resilience.
National Media Coverage & Published Articles.
Selected press profiles, executive interviews, and award-winning guest columns written by or featuring me.
Using AIS Satellite Data to Track Russian Oil & Global Maritime Flows
Research and commentary on how satellite Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel tracking exposes dark-fleet ship-to-ship transfers and global supply chain shifts.
“From Rap Fans to Immigrant Families, Remitly’s Kevin Nakao Taps Customers for Answers”
In-depth GeekWire “Working Geek” executive profile exploring how I use direct customer interviews and rapid experimentation to scale global FinTech and SaaS growth.
WhitePages Wants To Be Your Location-Aware Mobile Address Book
Forbes interview from my time as WhitePages President & COO on scaling mobile consumer applications past 11 million downloads and monetizing local search.
Five Tips for Intrapreneurship (Winner: Guest Article of the Year)
Voted TechFlash / Puget Sound Business Journal “Guest Article of the Year” for its playbook on building $100M+ startup product lines inside large enterprises.
The Year Android Will Shake Its Money Maker
Published TechCrunch column analyzing mobile operating system unit economics, carrier distribution incentives, and app monetization models.
Startup Lessons from the “Tough Mudder” Obstacle Race & MeritShare Exit
How obstacle-course teamwork mirrors high-growth startup execution, alongside GeekWire’s coverage of my bootstrapped startup MeritShare from launch to acquisition in 17 months.
How to Reduce Bounce Rates, Mobile Advertising & Location Strategy
Four-part published column series on conversion rate optimization, reducing landing page bounce rates, mobile advertising ROI, and location-based marketing.
AT&T Wireless Mobile Innovation & Digital Media Webcasting
National coverage in The Wall Street Journal and Wired profiling wireless consumer data applications and early internet radio webcasting models.
Mobile Radio, Digital Music Marketing, Film Marketing & Entrepreneurship
Four Los Angeles Times features covering Rhapsody/RealNetworks mobile streaming radio, digital entertainment marketing, and consumer internet entrepreneurship.
Complete Media, Podcast & Press Archive (35 Direct Links)
Every podcast, video interview, webinar, keynote, published column, and press feature in one directory:
- UnLost Cause (YouTube): From Record Labels to REVgtm: Reinventing at 50+ →
- UnLost Cause (Substack): Leaving the C-Suite for Freelancing and Freedom →
- Insight7 HQ (YouTube): Startup Positioning Mistakes That Kill Growth (Harvard MBA Framework) →
- Growth Valley Community: Live GTM Workshop with Kevin Nakao →
- FreightWaves Cyberly (Spotify): How Did You Hear About Us? EP32 →
- FreightWaves Cyberly Article: Retention & Attribution in Growth Marketing →
- TINYtalk / HCI Keynote: Top 3 Trends in Employee Engagement →
- Limeade & TINYpulse Webinar: How to Use Company Values to Drive Success →
- REVgtm Video Walkthrough: Using Apollo.io Employee Trends Data →
- UnLost Cause Clip: LinkedIn Hack for Profile Views Without Posting →
- UnLost Cause Clip: Opportunistic vs. Niches When Starting a Business →
- Servant Leadership Podcast: What If Small Is the New BIG in Engagement? →
- HR Exchange Webinar: Innovating Strategies to Predict Turnover →
- GeekWire Video: GeekWire Mudders Caught On Tape →
- GeekWire: Working Geek Profile: Remitly’s Kevin Nakao Taps Customers for Answers →
- GeekWire: Startup Lessons from the “Tough Mudder” Race →
- GeekWire: Tech Moves: Remitly Taps Kevin Nakao for VP Role →
- GeekWire: Bootstrapped Startup MeritShare Acquired After 17 Months →
- GeekWire: Ex-WhitePages Execs Start MeritShare to Reward Top Performers →
- Forbes: WhitePages Wants To Be Your Location-Aware Mobile Address Book →
- TechCrunch: 2010: The Year Android Will Shake Its Money Maker →
- Puget Sound Business Journal: Five Tips for Intrapreneurship →
- PSBJ TechFlash Award: Winner of Guest Article of the Year →
- Spire Global: Using AIS Satellite Data to Track Russian Oil →
- Financial Times: Global Maritime Satellite Tracking Coverage →
- Wall Street Journal: AT&T Wireless Location-Based Mobile Matchmaking →
- Wired: Radio Webcasting Gets Heavy →
- LA Times: Mobile Streaming Radio & Carrier Distribution →
- LA Times: Digital Film & Entertainment Marketing →
- LA Times: Dot-Com Entrepreneurship & Reinvention →
- LA Times: Online Music Labels & Artist Marketing →
- Mashable: How to Reduce Website Bounce Rates →
- Mashable: Mobile Advertising Strategy & ROI →
- Mashable: Location-Based Marketing Strategy →
- Mashable: Executive Search Presence (“You Will Be Googled”) →