Jacob R. Darby is an AI-first product executive with 15+ years building and scaling technology across HealthTech, FinTech, EdTech, AgTech, and SaaS. Through Vela Solved, he provides fractional CPO leadership, AI automation systems, and web development — finding the gaps in your business and closing them with technology, strategy, and execution. The track record: $1B+ unicorn contributor, FDA-Cleared AI to 50+ hospitals, 40+ startups advised, and over $300M in capital raised or influenced.
Vela Solved is Jacob's operating entity and product studio — formed to find the gaps in your business and close them with technology, AI, and senior-level product leadership across every stage — from pre-formation through seed, Series A/B, growth, and Fortune 100 scale. Whether a company already has product leadership or not, Jacob plugs in as a fractional CPO, VP of Product, embedded product executive, or strategic advisor — whatever fits the org and the moment. The firm is selectively taking on new clients across all service tracks.
For 3.5 years, the flagship engagement was serving as Product Owner for AEGON U.S. Real Assets — a multi-billion-dollar FinTech SaaS platform working on complex financial environments and partner integrations. That contract has concluded and Vela Solved is selectively taking on new engagements alongside the formation of ApexTruth Health.
Idea validation, business model design, co-founder alignment, and early narrative.
MVP scoping, pitch deck, investor narrative, and first product roadmap.
0-to-1 build, GTM execution, early team hiring, and traction playbook.
Scaling product org, OKR systems, partner integrations, revenue acceleration.
Platform architecture, enterprise GTM, M&A readiness, and operational rigor.
White-label products, cloud migrations, SAFe Agile transformation, partner APIs.
Most fractional executives bring strategy decks. Jacob brings working code, shipped products, and a lean team that executes. Whether it's a Figma-to-production MVP, a full marketing website, or a 3-year roadmap — he does both the thinking and the building.
At Digital Diagnostics, he helped ship the first FDA-cleared Autonomous AI Diagnostic in U.S. history — personally supporting deployment across 50+ health systems during his tenure, with the product since expanding to hundreds of health systems and millions of clinical scans. At OpenLoop Health, he co-defined the platform strategy that became a $1B+ telehealth company. At College Raptor, he built Refi.me — a student loan refinancing platform — from zero to launch in five months, with the product's traction contributing directly to the company's acquisition.
At Launch Deck, he advised and shaped products for 30+ startups across AgTech, FinTech, and HealthTech — helping those companies secure millions in funding and turning the firm cash-flow positive.
Jacob is also deeply current on the modern AI landscape — not just as a strategist, but as a daily practitioner. He works hands-on with generative AI, agent frameworks, LLM architectures, RAG pipelines, and ML systems — fluency that directly sharpens every product decision he makes.
Jacob has been working at the intersection of AI and product since before "AI-first" was a pitch deck buzzword — shipping regulated AI into health systems, and now building with today's frontier models as a daily practitioner. His fluency is practical, not theoretical.
Daily hands-on work with GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, and open-source models including Llama and Mistral. Evaluates model tradeoffs for real product use cases — latency, cost, accuracy, and context limits. Experienced designing system prompts, evaluation frameworks, and prompt architectures for practical deployment.
Actively building with agentic tools including Claude Code and multi-step LLM workflows. Familiar with LangChain and agent pattern concepts — tool use, memory, and chained reasoning — applied with a product manager's lens on what's practical to ship versus what's still experimental.
Working knowledge of Retrieval-Augmented Generation patterns — grounding LLMs in proprietary data through vector search and embedding strategies. Applies this as a product leader evaluating architecture decisions, not as a backend engineer implementing them from scratch.
Real-world ML product delivery experience from shipping FDA-regulated AI diagnostics — including training data strategy, model evaluation criteria, and what responsible production monitoring actually looks like in a regulated environment. Brings a product owner's rigor to the full ML lifecycle.
Experienced in prompt engineering techniques — few-shot, chain-of-thought, system prompt architecture — and applying them to reduce hallucination and improve output reliability in product contexts. Familiar with fine-tuning concepts and when they're worth the investment versus prompt-only approaches.
Directly involved in shipping the first FDA-cleared Autonomous AI Diagnostic in U.S. history — now deployed across 50+ health systems, with that technology since expanding to hundreds of hospitals nationwide. Firsthand understanding of clinical validation, regulatory pathways, and what responsible AI deployment means in high-stakes environments.
Hands-on product experience navigating the compliance frameworks that govern AI, data, and healthcare technology at scale — not as a lawyer, but as the product leader responsible for shipping within them. That includes HIPAA and PHI handling in clinical environments, hospital billing systems and revenue cycle workflows, PII data architecture and privacy-by-design principles, SEC-adjacent reporting environments through the AEGON U.S. Real Assets engagement, and ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 quality management standards — both encountered directly through regulated medical device and product work at Digital Diagnostics. When compliance is the constraint, Jacob has been the person at the table figuring out what can ship and what can't.
"Most product leaders talk about AI strategy. Jacob has been inside it — shipping FDA-cleared autonomous diagnostics into hospitals, and building with frontier models every day. That combination of regulated-AI experience and current hands-on practice is genuinely rare."
Vela Solved finds the gaps in your business and closes them. Strategy, execution, AI automation, and web builds — from startup to small business, in weeks not quarters.
For pre-seed and early-stage founders who need serious product thinking without a full retainer. Monthly strategy, async feedback, and introductions when you need them. All engagements are scoped to fit.
Embedded product executive. Own the roadmap, lead the team, align stakeholders, and drive measurable outcomes — without the full-time cost. Scope and depth adapt to what the company actually needs.
For startups and small businesses ready to stop leaving money on the table. Sites built to convert, AI systems that capture leads and book jobs automatically, and the product strategy to make it all compound. Every project scoped honestly upfront.
Strategic co-pilot for early-stage founders — from pre-formation through Series B. The playbook that's helped 40+ companies and $300M+ in capital raised. Structured around what you actually need.
Most small businesses leave six figures on the table every year — missed calls, dead leads, no follow-up, no online presence. The Web, Product & AI service fixes that: a site that converts, automation that captures leads 24/7, and a CRM that never lets a job slip through.
Bringing preventive healthcare back — through the apex of truth in health and fitness.
Jacob is currently forming ApexTruth Health — a preventive health platform combining independent, science-backed editorial content with a rigorously verified clean product marketplace. The vision: make prevention automatic by building it directly into the everyday purchases people already make.
The platform covers eight categories of daily life — water, food, home & cookware, personal care, clothing, fitness, supplements, and children's products — each with its own editorial voice, verification standard, and curated marketplace section. Every product listed passes the ApexTruth Health Verification System: ingredient audits, third-party testing, sourcing reviews, and claims verification. No advertising from listed brands. No pay-to-play.
There is no single trusted destination on the internet where you can get the honest truth on health and fitness — and then simply buy the products that actually work, without having to do your own research. That gap is exactly what ApexTruth Health is built to close.
Currently in formation. Seeking early partners, seed investors, and specialist advisors across dietetics, toxicology, fitness, and materials science.
Early product executive contributor at OpenLoop Health — co-defined platform strategy through $1B+ valuation.
Including 30+ at Launch Deck across HealthTech, FinTech, AgTech, EdTech, construction, and SaaS — all at various stages from pre-seed to growth.
Across portfolio companies, fundraise narratives, and strategic positioning that unlocked institutional investment.
Built Higher Learning Technologies from $0 to $5–6M ARR across 100+ EdTech SaaS products on iOS, Android, and web.
Helped ship the U.S.'s first FDA-cleared Autonomous AI Diagnostic for diabetic retinopathy. Personally supported deployment across 50+ health systems during tenure — product has since expanded to hundreds of health systems and millions of clinical scans.
First FDA-Cleared Autonomous AICo-defined the foundational B2B hospital and B2C physician platform strategy. GTM vision secured 30 hospitals and 700+ physicians beyond seed round.
Now valued $1B+Built the product organization from the ground up — scaling from zero to $5–6M ARR across a portfolio of 100+ professional exam prep apps. Drove a 22% increase in user retention and 36% improvement in crash-free rates. Partnered with McGraw Hill, Wiley, Manhattan Prep, Barron's, and PPI to digitize high-stakes certification content at scale.
$0 → $5–6M ARRBuilt Refi.me, a student loan refinancing platform, from zero to launch in five months. Owned the full product lifecycle — strategy, UX, build, and GTM. The platform's traction and strategic positioning contributed directly to College Raptor's acquisition.
AcquiredA focused 60-minute session to understand your stage, goals, and exactly what will move the needle fastest. No charge.
A clear, fixed-scope engagement plan — you know exactly what you're getting, when, and at what cost.
Week one starts with a sprint plan and real deliverables — not onboarding theater.
Monthly targets with hard accountability. Extend, scale the team, or hand off cleanly.
Not every engagement fits a fixed tier — and that's intentional. If you're a founder who needs serious product thinking but can't commit to a full retainer yet, reach out anyway. Custom packages are available for the right fit.
At OpenLoop Health — a company that reached a billion-dollar valuation — I was an early contributor in a contracted or early-hire capacity. At Digital Diagnostics, I helped ship the first FDA-cleared Autonomous AI in U.S. history and supported deployment across 50+ health systems. I took no equity at either company. At other startups along the way, whatever minimal equity existed was forfeited or lost upon departure under standard vesting terms.
That's the reality of how early-stage product work often gets structured — and it's exactly why I think carefully about equity now. For the right founding team, the right market, and the right fit, I'm open to structuring engagements that include equity — either as a partial offset to cash, or in rare cases, as the primary structure. Not as a discount. As a signal that I know what early-stage upside looks like from the inside, and I'm willing to bet on it again when the conviction is there.
Whether you need a strategic product partner, a team to ship your MVP, or a trusted operator who's shipped FDA-cleared AI into 50+ hospitals and helped build a $1B+ company from the inside — the first call is always free. 60 minutes, no pitch, no pressure.
Or reach out directly: [email protected] · (319) 404-0737