Ko serves as co-founder and CEO of Ripple Health Group, which leverages technology to make it easier for people to connect with healthcare services and community support. Through it all, he’s maintained an active role with his alma mater, establishing the NYU Stern Venture Fellows program for aspiring entrepreneurs, serving as a member of the NYU Stern Executive Board and Stern Tech MBA Advisory Board, and most recently joining the NYU Board of Trustees. He shared with us what gets him up in the morning (dogs!), what Stern students have to learn from Tisch kids, and whether or not entrepreneurship can really be taught.
David Ko (Stern, ‘93) will tell you there were many experiences at NYU that shaped the person he is today—including talking his way into Stern after initially getting rejected and being inspired by his theater friends to audition for Miss Saigon. And while he admits to having been a little “lost” about his future as an undergraduate, he quickly found his professional footing, first as COO of the now publicly traded social gaming company Zynga (makers of Words with Friends and Farmville), and later as President and COO of Rally Health, a digital health company that was acquired by United Healthcare in 2017.