> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ceo.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Somewear Labs CEO James Kubik: Building life-saving technology - URL: https://www.ceo.com/episodes/somewear-labs-ceo-james-kubik/ - Published: 2024-04-09T12:00:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-30T01:43:39.000Z - Description: James Kubik on SmartRouting, the Alaska rescue squadron that ran 90 missions in nine months, and the professor who gave him a chance. - Author: Clint Betts # James Kubik on taking out the trash and saving lives The sailboat came back without the people. When it washed up on the shore of Lake Michigan, the EPIRB, a marine distress beacon that fires a location to rescuers, was still strapped to the side of the hull. The radios were below deck. James Kubik's friend had been out with her father and her younger sister. Somehow all three were separated from the boat, and none of them made it back. Kubik was an engineering student at Northwestern at the time. He kept returning to one fact. The boat had the right equipment. It just wasn't within reach when it mattered. "The solutions that existed just weren't accessible in that moment, and so they did no good," he said on the CEO.com Podcast. Almost everything [Somewear Labs](https://www.somewearlabs.com/?ref=ceo.com) does today is a version of that problem. Kubik is co-founder and CEO of the San Francisco company, which builds communications hardware and software for people working where cell networks don't. In May 2026, it moved into a new market with the same logic. [Horizon](https://somewearlabs.com/newsroom/somewear-labs-launches-horizon-to-unlock-long-range-attritable-drone-communications/?ref=ceo.com), a radio for military drones, exists because most unmanned aircraft still lose command and control the moment they fly out of line of sight. Horizon switches the link to satellite on its own, so an operator can keep sending waypoints and mission changes past the horizon. In the announcement, Kubik pointed to the Pentagon's Drone Dominance push toward hundreds of thousands of cheap, expendable aircraft, and to the fact that most of them still fly on communications designed for older wars. The distance between a sailboat on Lake Michigan and an attritable drone is about a decade. Here is how Kubik covered it. ## A capstone, a shelf, a second scare A Northwestern professor named Greg Holderfield opened a capstone course with a wide prompt: design anything you believe will make a difference in the world. Kubik thought of the boat. He told [Authority Magazine](https://medium.com/authority-magazine/james-kubik-of-somewear-labs-on-five-things-you-need-to-create-a-highly-successful-startup-33639b2634ec?ref=ceo.com) that he ignored his other coursework and put everything into the project, and that Holderfield then took him on for an independent study to keep building it. He worked on it for about a year and a half. Then he got a job. Kubik spent several years at Intuit as a product manager on QuickBooks Self-Employed and helped take the product to Europe and Australia. The idea went on a shelf. What brought it down was another close call, this one in Northern California. Kubik looked at the market again and saw that nothing had changed in the years he'd been away. "It was an opportunity to jump back in there and pick it back off the shelf and really go all the way," he said. ## The customers who called first Somewear launched as a consumer product for sailors, backpackers, and skiers. Kubik spends a lot of time outdoors and knew the buyer. The first rescue came when the company was four people. A backcountry skier in Rocky Mountain National Park broke a leg and pressed the SOS button on a Somewear device. The team watched the whole thing unfold with the rescue agency. When it was over, Kubik said, the reaction was not celebration. "We did what we set out to do, but doing it one time is just a point in time. Now, the only way that this makes real impact is if we scale." The people who showed them how to scale were not consumers. Search-and-rescue teams, forestry crews, and wildland firefighters started calling almost immediately. Their argument, as Kubik relays it: it's great that a hiker can have this, but the hiker goes out three times a year, and I'm out there every day with a team to manage. Then an email arrived from a Homeland Security address that opened with "Hey, we've been following you." Kubik's first thought was that he had done something wrong. The agency was following the company. The pivot to government and enterprise customers followed. Kubik describes it as a question of leverage. One device on one hiker protects one person. One platform inside a rescue squadron protects everyone the squadron reaches. Somewear now supports all National Guard rescue squadrons in the country, including Air Force units called out for the most extreme search-and-rescue work. The one in Alaska ran more than 90 rescues on the platform in nine months. ## What the boat needed The Somewear Hotspot is a four-ounce satellite device that gives a phone two-way messaging anywhere on Earth. Node adds a local mesh radio, so a team in the field can talk among itself and still reach command. Between the hardware and the apps sits what the company calls SmartRouting. On every message, the software picks the cheapest working path, LTE or mesh or satellite, and it can change its mind every second. The operator never has to think about which radio is in range. That is the beacon on the hull, solved in software. The device is always in your pocket, and it always finds a path. Kubik thinks AI makes this more valuable, not less. Everyone in his market wants full-motion video, and full-motion video is impossible when only text can get out. If the processing happens at the edge or in a data center, only a small result has to cross the link. Low-bandwidth networks start to matter more. ## The investors Somewear's [$13.7 million Series A](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/somewear-labs-raises-13-7m-series-a-round-301630544.html?ref=ceo.com) in September 2022 did not come from a venture firm. It came from a syndicate of more than a dozen current and former Fortune 500 chief executives chaired by David Dorman, the former CEO of AT&T. Chuck Robbins of Cisco, Sam Palmisano of IBM, Egon Durban of Silver Lake, Jerry Yang, and Tom Ryan of CVS were among them. In [his own post](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jkubik%5Fsomewear-labs-raises-137m-series-a-round-activity-6979098088372105216-zIRh?ref=ceo.com), Kubik thanked Bling Capital and the Webb Investment Network for backing the company early, before the CEOs arrived. Since then, the news out of the company has been contracts and partnerships rather than new rounds. In April 2025, Somewear [announced a Defense Innovation Unit contract](https://somewearlabs.com/newsroom/somewear-labs-secures-diu-contract-for-tactical-comms/?ref=ceo.com) to field its network with the Marine Corps in the Indo-Pacific, moving years of prototype work toward full deployment. In October 2025 Uptake, a Chicago predictive maintenance company, [announced an Air Force contract](https://somewearlabs.com/newsroom/uptake-somewear-awarded-air-force-contract-for-predictive-maintenance/?ref=ceo.com) that uses Somewear's network to carry vehicle diagnostics from deployed fleets back to command over mesh and satellite. That same month, Somewear published a [case study](https://somewearlabs.com/newsroom/coconino-county-sheriffs-office-runs-150-sar-missions-per-year-with-somewear/?ref=ceo.com) on the Coconino County Sheriff's Office in Arizona, which runs more than 150 search and rescue missions a year across canyon country where radio coverage fails. In April 2026, the Dutch distributor Network Innovations B.V. [signed a reseller agreement](https://blog.networkinnovations.com/network-innovations-b.v.-announces-reseller-agreement-with-somewear-labs-to-expand-access-to-resilient-edge-networking?ref=ceo.com) to carry the Hotspot and Node into European government, public safety, and defense markets. Somewear was [on the exhibitor list](https://xponential.org/exhibitor%5Flist.cfm?ref=ceo.com) at XPONENTIAL, the autonomy industry's main trade show, held in [Detroit](https://www.auvsi.org/event/xponential-2026/?ref=ceo.com) the week after Horizon launched. Kubik said on the podcast that the company still sells to individual outdoor users, though the company's public face is now almost entirely defense and government. ## Running it Kubik started as a product person and says the job kept changing underneath him: first to building a sales operation, now to hiring people who can run the business without him. "I'm trying every day to work myself out of some element of my job," he said. He travels almost every week, so there is no routine to speak of. He runs on two principles instead: customers and team, and does strategic work early in the morning or late at night because the days belong to meetings. He and co-founder Alan Besquin wrote the company's three values before the first hire. Default to Action came from watching people at big companies sit on decisions they were qualified to make. Be Aggressively Curious. Experience Above All, meaning the way a customer feels dealing with the company, from a support call to a trade show booth, is the whole product. The company is hybrid, with offices in San Francisco and Chicago and staff across 12 states. Kubik's rule is that creative work happens in a room. The team flies people in for two or three days of strategy and then goes home to execute. "If we do those days right," he said, the rest of the month is about execution. On the economy, Kubik's word is uncertainty. His answer is fundamentals: a conservative plan, close attention to cash, a strong balance sheet. Somewear is growing through the uncertainty, he said, because uncertainty is what its product was built for. The team has a mantra for it, brought in by someone on the mission operations side: Stay neutral, but believe. ## The letter When Kubik turned 16, his grandfather, a former insurance executive, wrote him a letter with three lessons. One stayed with him. Do the right thing even when you know no one is looking. Kubik notes that a CEO's decisions touch the team, the customers, the partners, and his own family, and almost none of them can see how those decisions get made day to day. Every CEO.com Podcast conversation ends on the same question, built on the idea that the chances one gives are as important as the chances one takes. Kubik credited his co-founder, his family, his investors, and his mentors. Then he named Holderfield, who wrote a prompt broad enough for a student to bring a sailboat to class. ```chapters 00:00:00 Introduction to Somewear Labs and James Kubik 00:01:17 James Kubik's Path to CEO 00:02:09 The Technology Behind Somewear's Platforms 00:05:33 Transition From Consumer to Enterprise Focus 00:05:51 Understanding Smart Routing 00:07:17 Deciding Where to Focus as CEO 00:09:02 Managing Culture and Hybrid Work 00:15:46 James Kubik's Reading Habits 00:17:00 Defining Somewear Labs' Core Values 00:18:42 The Personal Impact of Saving Lives 00:20:17 Leadership Lessons From His Grandfather 00:22:04 Leading Through Economic Uncertainty ``` ```vtt WEBVTT 00:00:00.192 --> 00:00:02.004 Hi<00:00:00.416> there,<00:00:00.994> my<00:00:01.154> name<00:00:01.330> is<00:00:01.459> Clint<00:00:01.699> Betts. 00:00:02.260 --> 00:00:04.409 Welcome<00:00:02.918> to<00:00:03.014> the<00:00:03.094> CEO.com<00:00:04.120> Show. 00:00:05.242 --> 00:00:10.501 I<00:00:05.306> had<00:00:05.403> 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a<00:06:08.331> mobile<00:06:08.637> application,<00:06:09.841> our<00:06:09.938> software<00:06:10.323> will<00:06:10.468> look<00:06:10.644> at<00:06:10.725> that<00:06:10.885> and<00:06:10.982> say,<00:06:11.367> you<00:06:11.447> know<00:06:11.608> what,<00:06:12.154> this<00:06:12.331> is<00:06:12.395> the<00:06:12.427> most<00:06:12.716> efficient<00:06:13.037> path<00:06:13.246> to<00:06:13.439> take<00:06:13.696> this<00:06:13.921> pathway. 00:06:14.884 --> 00:06:22.642 So<00:06:14.965> if<00:06:15.045> you<00:06:15.125> take<00:06:15.366> the<00:06:15.447> example<00:06:15.848> with<00:06:16.025> Node<00:06:16.346> and<00:06:16.426> let's<00:06:16.635> say<00:06:16.732> you<00:06:16.812> have<00:06:16.989> a<00:06:17.053> customer<00:06:17.535> that<00:06:17.695> is<00:06:17.776> using<00:06:18.033> a<00:06:18.113> phone<00:06:18.418> that<00:06:18.579> has<00:06:19.237> traditional<00:06:19.703> LTE,<00:06:20.602> they<00:06:20.747> also<00:06:20.924> have<00:06:21.020> a<00:06:21.100> mesh<00:06:21.341> network,<00:06:21.727> they<00:06:21.871> also<00:06:22.048> have<00:06:22.209> SATCOM. 00:06:23.093 --> 00:06:24.518 Let's<00:06:23.239> look<00:06:23.352> at<00:06:23.401> those<00:06:23.579> 3<00:06:23.757> modalities. 00:06:24.955 --> 00:06:34.871 And<00:06:25.117> for<00:06:25.344> anything<00:06:25.684> that<00:06:25.830> that<00:06:26.154> operator<00:06:26.494> is<00:06:26.720> doing,<00:06:27.449> we<00:06:27.546> can<00:06:27.870> use<00:06:28.178> one<00:06:28.291> of<00:06:28.421> those<00:06:28.664> 3<00:06:28.777> modalities<00:06:29.975> and<00:06:30.040> we<00:06:30.137> can<00:06:30.218> be,<00:06:30.526> you<00:06:30.558> know,<00:06:30.704> changing<00:06:30.963> that<00:06:31.174> up<00:06:31.352> on<00:06:31.496> a,<00:06:31.737> you<00:06:31.769> know,<00:06:32.621> every,<00:06:32.959> every<00:06:33.119> second,<00:06:33.441> every<00:06:33.601> transaction,<00:06:34.148> whatever<00:06:34.341> it<00:06:34.405> 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mission<00:24:35.228> operations<00:24:36.304> folks<00:24:36.673> brought,<00:24:37.331> and<00:24:37.412> it's<00:24:37.652> stay<00:24:37.893> neutral<00:24:38.359> but<00:24:38.455> believe. 00:24:38.921 --> 00:24:46.805 And<00:24:39.001> I<00:24:39.017> think<00:24:39.242> that's<00:24:39.676> a<00:24:39.820> good<00:24:40.045> message<00:24:40.462> for<00:24:40.848> our<00:24:41.008> current<00:24:41.265> macroeconomic<00:24:42.469> environment<00:24:42.871> as<00:24:42.951> well,<00:24:43.353> where<00:24:44.637> there's<00:24:44.862> no<00:24:45.039> reason<00:24:45.344> to<00:24:45.376> be<00:24:45.520> pessimistic<00:24:46.323> or<00:24:46.355> negative. 00:24:46.965 --> 00:24:51.381 We<00:24:47.046> can<00:24:47.206> stay<00:24:47.367> neutral<00:24:48.651> and<00:24:48.876> believe<00:24:49.229> and<00:24:49.358> have<00:24:49.518> hope<00:24:49.920> that<00:24:50.080> there'll<00:24:50.257> be<00:24:50.401> a<00:24:50.482> brighter<00:24:50.723> future,<00:24:51.124> right? 00:24:51.879 --> 00:24:54.175 So<00:24:52.344> that's<00:24:52.569> another<00:24:52.826> thing<00:24:52.987> that<00:24:53.131> we<00:24:53.452> espouse<00:24:53.805> at<00:24:53.886> Somaer. 00:24:54.840 --> 00:24:55.839 Stay<00:24:55.081> neutral<00:24:55.533> and<00:24:55.613> believe. 00:24:55.936 --> 00:24:56.403 I<00:24:55.952> love<00:24:56.193> that. 00:24:56.580 --> 00:24:57.015 That's<00:24:56.822> great. 00:24:57.305 --> 00:25:05.508 Um,<00:24:58.047> James,<00:24:58.224> I<00:24:58.289> can't<00:24:58.450> thank<00:24:58.611> you<00:24:58.675> enough<00:24:58.853> for<00:24:59.175> coming<00:24:59.401> on<00:24:59.481> the<00:24:59.562> show<00:25:00.045> and,<00:25:00.384> and<00:25:00.625> sharing,<00:25:01.254> uh,<00:25:01.415> your<00:25:01.512> wisdom<00:25:01.834> with<00:25:02.012> us<00:25:02.237> and<00:25:02.463> your<00:25:02.543> experience<00:25:03.043> as<00:25:03.833> a<00:25:03.913> leader<00:25:04.252> and<00:25:04.397> building<00:25:04.719> Somewhere<00:25:05.121> Labs. 00:25:05.765 --> 00:25:07.456 Uh,<00:25:05.926> we<00:25:06.023> end<00:25:06.168> every<00:25:06.329> interview<00:25:06.587> the<00:25:06.651> exact<00:25:06.925> same<00:25:07.150> way. 00:25:07.955 --> 00:25:12.384 That<00:25:08.116> is,<00:25:08.261> at<00:25:08.342> CEO.com,<00:25:09.163> we<00:25:09.244> believe<00:25:09.485> the<00:25:09.630> chances<00:25:09.968> one<00:25:10.129> gives<00:25:10.451> is<00:25:10.516> just<00:25:10.661> as<00:25:10.773> important<00:25:11.111> as<00:25:11.240> the<00:25:11.321> chances<00:25:11.723> one<00:25:11.900> takes. 00:25:12.867 --> 00:25:17.225 And<00:25:13.012> I<00:25:13.092> wonder,<00:25:13.334> when<00:25:13.511> you<00:25:13.672> hear<00:25:14.078> that,<00:25:14.629> who<00:25:14.791> gave<00:25:15.051> you<00:25:15.230> a<00:25:15.294> chance<00:25:15.716> to<00:25:15.862> get<00:25:16.089> you<00:25:16.349> to<00:25:16.495> where<00:25:16.657> you<00:25:16.836> are<00:25:16.917> today? 00:25:18.783 --> 00:25:19.805 Yeah,<00:25:19.269> absolutely. 00:25:19.983 --> 00:25:24.177 Um,<00:25:20.405> there's<00:25:20.713> a<00:25:21.018> specific<00:25:21.467> one<00:25:21.563> that<00:25:21.643> comes<00:25:21.820> to<00:25:21.900> mind<00:25:22.285> that<00:25:22.670> really<00:25:23.006> helped<00:25:23.311> kick<00:25:23.488> off<00:25:23.648> this<00:25:23.808> company. 00:25:25.557 --> 00:25:35.981 And<00:25:25.973> I<00:25:26.118> do<00:25:26.262> have<00:25:26.358> to<00:25:26.439> say,<00:25:26.840> I<00:25:26.856> mean,<00:25:27.481> my<00:25:27.577> co-founder,<00:25:27.978> my<00:25:28.139> family,<00:25:28.475> my<00:25:28.684> investors,<00:25:29.422> you<00:25:29.518> know,<00:25:29.758> my<00:25:29.839> mentors<00:25:30.384> have<00:25:30.769> all<00:25:31.491> absolutely<00:25:32.068> enabled<00:25:32.533> every<00:25:32.709> step<00:25:33.014> of<00:25:33.046> this<00:25:33.255> business<00:25:33.591> and<00:25:33.656> taken<00:25:34.297> massive<00:25:34.634> chances<00:25:35.019> on<00:25:35.115> me<00:25:35.500> and<00:25:35.580> the<00:25:35.676> business. 00:25:36.639 --> 00:25:40.969 But<00:25:36.783> there's<00:25:37.024> one<00:25:37.585> that<00:25:38.307> also<00:25:38.643> just<00:25:38.868> kind<00:25:38.964> of<00:25:38.996> stands<00:25:39.349> out,<00:25:39.590> which<00:25:39.766> is<00:25:40.023> my<00:25:40.167> college<00:25:40.488> professor. 00:25:41.498 --> 00:25:45.187 His<00:25:41.755> name's<00:25:42.492> Greg<00:25:42.717> Holderfield,<00:25:43.134> Professor<00:25:43.455> Greg<00:25:43.615> Holderfield<00:25:44.032> at<00:25:44.096> Northwestern<00:25:44.593> University. 00:25:46.101 --> 00:25:54.911 He<00:25:46.726> had<00:25:46.903> the<00:25:46.983> foresight<00:25:47.625> to,<00:25:48.170> to<00:25:48.346> really<00:25:48.731> open<00:25:48.972> up<00:25:49.084> a<00:25:49.132> capstone<00:25:49.693> project<00:25:50.736> And<00:25:50.832> he<00:25:50.977> came<00:25:51.154> to<00:25:51.234> us<00:25:51.475> and<00:25:51.555> said,<00:25:52.840> design<00:25:53.321> anything<00:25:53.723> that<00:25:53.867> you<00:25:53.964> think<00:25:54.188> would<00:25:54.285> make<00:25:54.461> a<00:25:54.509> difference. 00:25:55.569 --> 00:26:01.109 And<00:25:55.730> that<00:25:56.051> broad<00:25:56.372> prompt<00:25:57.078> really<00:25:57.335> enabled<00:25:57.817> me<00:25:58.122> to<00:25:58.363> work<00:25:58.604> on,<00:25:59.005> on<00:25:59.102> the<00:25:59.182> beginning<00:25:59.583> of<00:25:59.728> what<00:25:59.840> eventually<00:26:00.226> became<00:26:00.627> Somewhere. 00:26:01.912 --> 00:26:15.849 But,<00:26:02.136> you<00:26:02.168> know,<00:26:02.474> I,<00:26:03.276> I<00:26:03.357> can't<00:26:03.581> thank<00:26:03.742> him<00:26:03.854> enough<00:26:04.240> for<00:26:04.561> kind<00:26:04.705> of<00:26:04.786> taking<00:26:05.524> that<00:26:05.685> chance<00:26:06.006> and<00:26:06.054> having<00:26:06.247> a<00:26:06.327> very<00:26:06.568> broad<00:26:06.825> scope<00:26:07.290> in<00:26:07.371> his<00:26:07.531> capstone<00:26:08.013> project<00:26:08.431> and<00:26:08.511> then<00:26:08.992> supporting<00:26:09.458> me<00:26:09.635> for<00:26:09.876> many<00:26:10.165> years<00:26:10.662> on<00:26:10.903> independent<00:26:11.289> studies<00:26:11.706> and<00:26:11.851> whatnot<00:26:12.653> as<00:26:12.894> we<00:26:12.991> worked<00:26:13.231> through<00:26:13.537> kind<00:26:13.649> of<00:26:13.713> the,<00:26:14.677> the<00:26:14.757> seedlings<00:26:15.239> of<00:26:15.383> this<00:26:15.544> business. 00:26:17.040 --> 00:26:18.085 James,<00:26:17.313> thank<00:26:17.490> you<00:26:17.570> so<00:26:17.795> much. 00:26:18.262 --> 00:26:19.017 Really<00:26:18.503> appreciate<00:26:18.985> it. 00:26:19.066 --> 00:26:19.612 Absolutely. 00:26:19.886 --> 00:26:20.143 Thank<00:26:20.111> you. 00:26:20.288 --> 00:26:21.430 We'll<00:26:20.851> talk<00:26:21.156> again<00:26:21.317> soon. 00:26:21.558 --> 00:26:22.008 Have<00:26:21.719> a<00:26:21.751> good<00:26:21.880> one. 00:26:22.764 --> 00:26:22.957 All<00:26:22.796> right. 00:26:23.086 --> 00:26:23.375 You<00:26:23.182> as<00:26:23.263> well. 00:26:23.584 --> 00:26:23.842 Thank<00:26:23.745> you. 00:26:23.922 --> 00:26:24.051 Okay. 00:26:24.388 --> 00:26:24.694 See<00:26:24.549> ya. ```