The Alumni Spotlight highlights Georgetown Prep alumni making impacts all over the globe. Prep's 5,700 live and work all over the world in every field imaginable. The Alumni Spotlight series captures our graduates' stories and Georgetown Prep's impact on their lives after their four years as a student. To submit a story, email alumni@gprep.org.
My name is Daniel O'Brien. I am a member of the Georgetown Prep Class of 2008. My dad, Denis O'Brien, after having spent some time overseas as a doctor in the Navy, was stationed at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. My family has lived in Kensington, Maryland ever since. My mom, Kathy O'Brien, wanted me to have a Catholic education, so I went to Mater Dei for elementary and middle school and was fortunate enough to attend Prep for high school. I have three sisters – one older (Caitlin) and two younger (Meghan and Erin).
What have you done since graduating from Georgetown Prep?After graduating from Prep, I went to Brown University. There, I studied Business Economics and played lacrosse. I spent the winter and summer breaks of my sophomore year working at FBR, an investment bank in the DC area. During that time, a friend and classmate of mine had decided to turn the final project of a class we had together into a business.
The idea of entrepreneurship was exciting to me. So, when he asked me to join as one of the first employees my junior year, I did so enthusiastically. Over the next five years, my role at the company changed alongside the evolving needs of the fast-growing business; I performed market analysis and financial projections for our first major round of fundraising. Once we achieved "product-market fit," I was the product lead for some our most lucrative features, a digital health-risk assessment and an incentive system.
By the time I left the company, we had raised over $50 million in private capital and sold the business to United Healthcare at a valuation that made all of our investors and employees very happy. I stayed at Rally Health for a little over a year after the acquisition.
After an intense five years, I decided to take some time to explore other career opportunities. The best way to do that, in my mind, was to go to graduate school. So, I applied to and enrolled in the JD/MBA, dual-degree program at Wharton Business School and Penn Law. While there, I was a summer clerk for a federal judge, interned at the law firm White & Case in their international project finance group, and worked at a small private equity fund focused on investments in renewable energy. I also participated in a program called Philadelphia Futures, where I was a mentor and friend to a local high school student hoping to attend college (he's at Penn State now).
I graduated with both my JD and MBA in 2019 and passed the bar that summer. At the end of my graduate school experience, I came to the conclusion that entrepreneurship was still what most excited me. I explored various verticals in the software industry and came upon an idea that I both am passionate about and believe is supported by broader macro trends. So, I founded AKOS and have been building the product and business for the past 8 months. We have seen some pretty positive feedback from our closed-beta launch and are looking to raise a seed-round of capital in the near future.
I think Georgetown Prep, and more broadly my Catholic upbringing, gave me the belief that I should aim to live a life of purpose with positive intent. It also gave me a model for what friendship and brotherhood should be. My friends from Georgetown Prep still remain some of my best friends to this day. They are people I can trust as much as anyone and who I know want the best for me.
What was one of your fondest memories as a student at Prep?
That's a tough one. I'd say my fondest memory is what was practically my daily routine senior year - running down to the senior lounge to borrow a blazer from a fellow classmate so that I didn't get in trouble in the lunch line, knowing my classmates and friends would be there for me, no questions asked.
What advice would you have for current students?
Don't be afraid of failing, trying new things, or getting rejected in the process. You don't have to fit in.
Give your fellow classmates the freedom to do the same.
Send me an email if you think I can provide more specific advice or help in any way – Daniel.p.obrien89@gmail.com.