Former Xbox Director Launches Korean Skincare Startup ViaJiin After Microsoft Layoffs

Agnes Kim, an eight-year veteran of Microsoft's Xbox division, has launched boutique Korean skincare startup ViaJiin following her departure during corporate downsizing in July 2026. Prior to leaving the tech giant, Kim served as a director leading market expansion for Xbox across Asia. Having anticipated potential job cuts amid recurring workforce reductions at Microsoft since early 2023, Kim spent nights and weekends developing her business model before receiving notice of her layoff, as first reported by GeekWire.

Kim officially registered ViaJiin as a limited liability company in March 2026 and began conducting consumer focus groups by May while maintaining her executive role. When Microsoft executed job cuts in July affecting 1,600 employees across its gaming division, Kim publicly introduced her startup on LinkedIn two days later. The business began shipping its first orders to customers in August 2026.

Reflecting on the environment at Microsoft prior to her exit, Kim noted that ongoing corporate restructuring had weighed on staff morale. "You have a sense of impending doom," Kim told GeekWire. "There’s a shadow lurking. I felt like every six months we were waiting for the next round. I just didn’t feel like I was in an upswing anymore." Kim joined Microsoft in 2018 after earlier career stints at Sony Pictures Entertainment and Deloitte Consulting.

ViaJiin aims to streamline consumer access to South Korean cosmetics, a global export industry exceeding $10 billion where the U.S. recently surpassed China as the primary market. Drawing from her childhood spent in South Korea between ages eight and 15, Kim designed a simplified four-item system comprising a cleanser, toner, serum, and cream derived from an interactive digital skin questionnaire. The company avoids mainstream mass-market labels, choosing instead to source exclusively from boutique South Korean manufacturers.

"The products I carry, you can only get through me," Kim told GeekWire. "I find boutique products that are filled with good ingredients, come to the U.S. compliantly, and turn it into a kit." ViaJiin sells its comprehensive kits for $179 and duo packages for $99. Operating out of Renton, Washington, Kim fulfills orders manually and hosts regional testing events called "ViaJiin Nights," while also securing local retail placement at Renton-based boutique K-Beauty & Skin.

Operating without a co-founder, Kim utilized generative artificial intelligence to handle software development and technical workflows. She relied on Anthropic’s Claude as an operational advisor and utilized no-code platform Lovable to develop ViaJiin’s website and digital skin quiz using natural-language prompts. "I don’t have a co-founder… I’m delegating to Claude and GPT," Kim told GeekWire. "People are very surprised by my website or the skin quiz. I’m not an engineer, but it looks like I hired a web designer."

Despite AI automating digital tasks, Kim noted that managing a physical goods business requires handling non-automated operations, including U.S. Food and Drug Administration labeling standards, customs declarations, and ingredient verification. Kim acknowledged the sharp contrast between corporate infrastructure and solo founding. "I think I understand why some people just work for the man," Kim joked. "When you work for Microsoft, certainty and structure are more there. There are definitely moments where I’m like, ‘What the f*ck am I doing? What is today’s goal?'"

Despite those operational hurdles, Kim expressed enthusiasm for building the venture independently and stated she has no plans to return to corporate tech. "I’m 1,000% energized. I absolutely would not trade it," Kim said. "This is allowing me to be truly the version of Agnes that I thought I would be when I was 12, and I want to keep going at it."