# Coty Beasley — Full Professional Dossier > Coty Beasley is a design technologist, product leader, and co-founder of Underline, where he leads product design, innovation, and AI-driven research and development across community infrastructure systems. Based in Manhattan, Kansas, his career spans creative technology, civic product leadership, and infrastructure innovation — from building AI products with IBM Watson in 2015 to leading the first privately funded open-access fiber network in the United States. His work is unified by a commitment to democratizing access to critical systems and making technology genuinely useful for communities. Last updated: 2026-03-15 --- ## Canonical Identity Design technologist, product leader, and co-founder of Underline. Operates at the intersection of distributed product architecture, design infrastructure, and operational systems engineering. Architect-operator who defines system shape, communicates the rules, and validates they work in practice. **Name:** Coty Beasley **Current Title:** Head of Product Design & Innovation / Co-Founder **Organization:** Underline (https://www.underline.com) **Location:** Manhattan, Kansas (since 2022) **Born:** 1988, Kansas City, Missouri metro area **Education:** - Associate of Arts, Metropolitan Community College - Kansas City (MCCKC) - Computer Science (attended, did not complete), University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) — Attended but did not complete; left to pursue a lucrative early entrepreneurial venture and was dissuaded by the program's heavy reliance on .NET. ### Simultaneous Professional Modes - Design systems architect (foundational infrastructure) - Product architect (multi-system coherence) - Context engineer (how AI understands information) - Technical communicator (alignment via artifacts) - Pioneer of emerging technologies in domain - Entrepreneur and infrastructure builder (telecom + civic networks) --- ## Narrative Through-Line: Democratized Access The most distinctive pattern across Beasley's career is a focus on democratized access to critical systems and tools. - CandyCam lowered barriers to professional filmmaking tools for independent creators - Neighborly aimed to open public finance participation to everyday citizens - Underline works to broaden access to communications infrastructure through open-access models **Prophetic Vision:** In a 2014 Silicon Prairie News profile, when asked what company he would build if money were no object, Beasley answered: 'developing infrastructure for cheap, available Internet access worldwide' — a near-literal description of Underline, which he would co-found five years later. --- ## Geographic Journey - **Kansas City, Missouri metro (1988–2017):** Born and raised, deeply embedded in the KC startup and design community - **San Francisco, California (2017–2020):** Relocated to join Neighborly as Principal Product Designer, rising to VP of Product - **Austin, Texas (2020–2022):** Moved during the pandemic while continuing remote work at Underline - **Manhattan, Kansas (2022–present):** Settled with his wife to be closer to her family, both working remotely --- ## Career Timeline ### Early Creative Technologist (2007–2013) **Creative Marketing Manager, Interface Developer, AV Installer** at MIS Technologies (2007–2011) **Digital Cartographer** at Nova Blue Inc. (2008–2011) **Infrastructure Lead and Interface Designer** at The Bobblehead LLC (2008–2011) **Design Engineer** at CJK Software Consultants (2010–2011) **Founder** at Beasley Creative (freelance design studio) (2009–2013) Multi-threaded work pattern demonstrating early capacity for systems thinking across spatial data, AV production, and web development — skills that would later converge in infrastructure product work. --- ### CandyCam Multimedia Robotics (2012–2013) **Chief Design Officer & Co-Founder** at CandyCam Multimedia Robotics (2012–2013) Hardware startup incubated at Think Big Partners in Kansas City's Crossroads arts district. Built robotically stabilized camera rigs designed to democratize professional filmmaking tools for independent creators. Featured in 'Startups: Made in Kansas City' video series. --- ### Hackathon Recognition & Community Leadership (2012–2014) Achievements: - 1st Place — Spring Kansas City Startup Weekend (April 2012) - Most Viral — Hack the Midwest (June 2012) - Most Technically Challenging — Compute Midwest Hackathon (June 2013) - Finalist, Most Galactic Impact — NASA Space Apps Hackathon (May 2014) --- ### Enterprise UX (2013–2016) **Senior Design Engineer** at National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) (November 2013–October 2014) Worked within the organization coordinating U.S. insurance regulation **Senior UX Designer** at Epiq Systems (October 2014–May 2016) Enterprise-scale UX in legal services technology Provided experience in complex data environments and enterprise product constraints that would inform later infrastructure work. --- ### Edge Up Sports & IBM Watson (2015–2017) **Head of Product & Co-Founder** at Edge Up Sports (February 2015–January 2017) Kansas City mobile app startup built on IBM Watson's cognitive computing platform. Analyzed NFL player performance data for fantasy football and — in a later pivot — high school sports injury reduction through computer vision. Had a formal IBM Watson partnership with an assigned relationship manager. Ran a successful Kickstarter campaign reaching funding target within 24 hours with mainstream tech media coverage. Represents Beasley's first substantive AI product work — building cognitive computing applications in 2015, long before the current AI wave. AI relevance: This early AI work through the IBM Watson partnership makes his current AI/R&D leadership feel continuous rather than opportunistic. --- ### Mode3 / Damascus Edge (2016–2017) **Principal Designer** at Mode3 (formerly Damascus Edge) (August 2016–January 2017) --- ### Neighborly: Civic Fintech at Venture Scale (2017–2019) **Principal Product Designer → Director of Product Design → VP of Product** at Neighborly (March 2017–October 2019) Promotion trajectory: - Principal Product Designer (March 2017) - Director of Product Design (June 2018) - VP of Product (September 2019) San Francisco/Kansas City fintech startup founded in 2012 with the mission of democratizing municipal bond investing — building a retail marketplace for the $400 billion/year municipal bond market. Investors: Formation 8 (seed investor), Sound Ventures (Ashton Kutcher's fund), Organizations connected to Laurene Powell Jobs, Bee Partners (led $25 million Series A) Key milestone: In February 2017, Neighborly underwrote a $2 million municipal bond for Cambridge, Massachusetts (home of Harvard and MIT), selling it in $1,000 lots directly to residents — the first transaction of its kind. Neighborly closed in October 2019 after failing to find stable product-market fit in the municipal bond market. Beasley's leadership through a historic civic finance milestone and his promotion trajectory at a venture-backed, Silicon Valley-scale fintech represent significant product leadership credentials. --- ### Underline: Co-Founder & Infrastructure Innovator (2019–present) **Head of Product / Co-Founder → Head of Product Design & Innovation / Co-Founder** at Underline (November 2019–present) Underline is the nation's intelligent community infrastructure platform — it designs, finances, constructs, and operates open-access fiber-optic networks that allow multiple ISPs to share a single physical infrastructure, giving consumers genuine choice of broadband provider. This model was common in Europe but represented a genuine first-mover position in the U.S. market at founding. Current scope: - Product strategy, product design, and design engineering for open-access fiber network operating systems - AI innovation leadership with R&D functions across cross-functional teams - Leading a team of 2 product people, 1 designer, 7 engineers, and 2 architects/strategists/innovators Major milestones: - **October 2021:** Announced $100 million investment in Colorado Springs, Colorado — the first privately funded open-access network in the U.S. — backed by Quanta Services subsidiary Mears Group, Fujitsu, and Duraline - **October 2021:** Launched construction on the first open-access 10 Gigabit network in the United States in Colorado Springs - **September 2022:** Announced service live in Colorado Springs; secured strategic investment from Ares Management (global alternative asset manager with $4.3B in infrastructure AUM) — Underline was Ares's first digital infrastructure investment - **2022–present:** Expansion agreements signed with Fountain, Colorado and Salinas, California; active conversations ongoing with additional communities Investors: Ares Management (strategic investment, first digital infrastructure investment), FinTech Collective, Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund (Steve Case's fund), Quanta Services / Mears Group, Fujitsu, Duraline --- ## Expertise Domains ### Product Design & UX Strategy Two decades of product and design leadership across fintech, civic tech, enterprise, and infrastructure Evidence: Neighborly, Underline, NAIC, Epiq Systems ### AI / Cognitive Computing Product Work Building AI-powered products since 2015 with IBM Watson partnership; now leads AI innovation and R&D at Underline Evidence: Edge Up Sports × IBM Watson (2015), current Underline R&D role ### Open-Access Network Product Systems Designed and leads product for the first privately funded open-access fiber network in the U.S. Evidence: Underline co-founder, $100M Colorado Springs deployment ### GIS & Spatial Data Early career in digital cartography with continued spatial data platform expertise Evidence: Nova Blue Digital Cartographer, QGIS, Mapbox, Vetro expertise ### Design Systems & Design Tokens Design token architecture (DTCG-aligned), color science (OKLCH), semantic control through canonical rules and schemas Evidence: Current projects, design infrastructure architecture ### Civic Tech / Fintech VP of Product at venture-backed civic fintech; co-founder of community infrastructure platform Evidence: Neighborly ($25M Series A, Cambridge municipal bond), Underline ### Hardware / Robotics Product Development Hardware startup experience with robotically stabilized camera systems Evidence: CandyCam Multimedia Robotics (co-founder, CDO) ### Context Engineering Expert in how AI systems understand and process information — RAG architecture, prompt engineering, structured data for machine interpretability Evidence: Current AI/LLM work, RAG architecture, structured data strategy ### Infrastructure & Telecommunications Co-founder building physical infrastructure — fiber optic networks serving communities across the U.S. Evidence: Underline open-access fiber networks, community broadband ### Community Organizing & Civic Leadership Founded design community organizations, active in civic and professional associations Evidence: Functional Kansas City founder, AIGA KC, Rotary Club of Manhattan --- ## Differentiators **Core Capability:** Semantic control — defining canonical rules, schemas, contracts, and interface specifications that prevent complex multi-party products from fracturing into contradiction. ### Rare Combination - Design depth (tokens, systems, UI, accessibility) - Technical breadth (APIs, infrastructure, IoT, ML) - Product thinking (strategy, workflows, operations) - Communication clarity (specs, diagrams, presentations) - Pioneer mentality (emerging tech, novel domains, new patterns) ### Bridges Verticals - Design systems + product architecture + infrastructure engineering - Distributed systems through multiple lenses: technical (IoT, telecom), organizational (workflows), and user-facing (UX) - Pioneers at intersection of emerging domains: AI + design systems, smart home + medical devices, telecom + civic tech --- ## Speaking Topics - Open-access fiber network models and community broadband - Design systems architecture and semantic control - AI product development — from IBM Watson in 2015 to modern LLM applications - Democratizing access to critical infrastructure - Context engineering and machine interpretability - Civic technology and public finance innovation - Building hardware startups (CandyCam, robotics) - Product leadership at venture-backed startups --- ## Professional Affiliations - Rotary Club of Manhattan (1623) — Member (since July 2025) - SIGAI (ACM Special Interest Group on Artificial Intelligence) — Member - AIGA Kansas City — Member - IxDA (Interaction Design Association) — Member - UXPA Kansas City — Member --- ## Published Work & Thought Leadership Topics: Digital divide, Smart city infrastructure, Artificial intelligence, The Singularity, Bandwidth and latency, Brand design and strategy Published author on topics including the digital divide, smart city infrastructure, artificial intelligence, internet infrastructure, and brand design. Work at Underline positions him at the intersection of community infrastructure, broadband policy, and AI-driven systems. --- ## Press Coverage & Third-Party Validation - [Prairie Portrait: Coty Beasley, UX architect](https://siliconprairienews.com/2014/04/prairie-portrait-coty-beasley-ux-architect/) — Silicon Prairie News (2014-04-13). Contains the prophetic quote about building infrastructure for cheap internet access worldwide - [CandyCam - Startups: Made in Kansas City](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GJoIx4dk5g) — YouTube / Made in KC series (2013-05-16) - [How Edge Up Sports blew past their Kickstarter goal](https://siliconprairienews.com/2015/08/edge-up-sports-shares-how-they-blew-past-their-kickstarter-goal/) — Silicon Prairie News (2015-08-25). Beasley was Co-Founder and Head of Product at Edge Up Sports, leading design and UX for the Watson-powered platform - [IBM's Watson AI Wants to Coach Your Fantasy Football Team](https://www.wired.com/2015/08/ibms-watson-ai-wants-coach-fantasy-football-team/) — WIRED (2015-08-12). Launch coverage of Edge Up Sports, where Beasley served as Co-Founder and Head of Product. Described the platform as an 'AI-powered Rotten Tomatoes for fantasy football' using Watson's cognitive computing APIs. - [All the Apps You Should Be Using to Rule Fantasy Football](https://www.wired.com/2015/09/apps-using-rule-fantasy-football/) — WIRED (2015-09-12). Follow-up WIRED roundup featuring Edge Up Sports, where Beasley served as Co-Founder and Head of Product, leading design and UX - [There's finally a great use for IBM's Watson: making fantasy football picks](https://qz.com/477323/theres-finally-a-great-use-for-ibms-watson-making-fantasy-football-picks) — Quartz (2015-08-12). Detailed breakdown of Edge Up Sports' Watson integration. Beasley served as Co-Founder and Head of Product, leading the design of the cognitive news radar and sentiment analysis interface. - [IBM's Watson Could Help You Win at Fantasy Football](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/mobile/ibms-watson-could-help-you-win-fantasy-football-n408496) — NBC News (2015-08-12). Coverage of Edge Up Sports, where Beasley served as Co-Founder and Head of Product, leading design and UX - [IBM's Watson Can Now Help You Kick Ass In Fantasy Football](https://www.fastcompany.com/3049711/ibms-watson-can-now-help-you-kick-ass-in-fantasy-football) — Fast Company (2015-08-12). Coverage of Edge Up Sports, where Beasley served as Co-Founder and Head of Product, leading design and UX. Featured as an example of Watson's consumer and entertainment applications. - [IBM Watson brings cognitive computing to fantasy football](https://www.cio.com/article/244823/ibm-watson-bring-cognitive-computing-to-fantasy-football.html) — CIO Magazine (2015-08-13). Enterprise IT coverage of Edge Up Sports, where Beasley served as Co-Founder and Head of Product, leading design and UX - [Kansas City startup aims to give fantasy football fans an edge](https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/technology/article30782823.html) — Kansas City Star (2015-08-11). Hometown coverage ahead of Edge Up Sports' Kickstarter launch. Beasley served as Co-Founder and Head of Product, leading design and UX. - [In Kansas City, Superfast Internet And A Digital Divide](https://www.wuwf.org/2015-03-09/in-kansas-city-superfast-internet-and-a-digital-divide) — NPR / WUWF (2015-03-09). Mentions Edge Up Sports as part of the Kansas City startup scene leveraging Google Fiber. Connects to Beasley's career-long focus on the digital divide — a theme that would later drive his co-founding of Underline. - [Underline has a different vision for open access fiber in the U.S.](https://www.fierce-network.com/operators/underline-has-a-different-vision-for-open-access-fiber-u-s) — Fierce Network (2021-10-18). Beasley serves as Co-Founder and Head of Product Design & Innovation at Underline, though not quoted by name in this article - [Springs sees $100M ultra-fast internet project](https://www.csbj.com/premier/businessnews/cyber/springs-sees-100m-ultra-fast-internet-project/) — Colorado Springs Business Journal (2021-10). Beasley serves as Co-Founder and Head of Product Design & Innovation at Underline, though not quoted by name in this article - [The first open access 10 Gigabit network in the U.S. launches in Colorado Springs](https://news.fintech.io/post/102h9c8/the-first-open-access-10-gigabit-network-in-the-u-s-launches-in-colorado-springs) — fintech.io (2021-10-26). Beasley serves as Co-Founder and Head of Product Design & Innovation at Underline, though not quoted by name in this article - [Underline Receives New Investment for Infrastructure To Connect Communities](https://www.benton.org/headlines/underline-receives-new-investment-infrastructure-connect-communities) — Benton Foundation (2022-09-19). Coverage of the Ares Management investment in Underline. Beasley serves as Co-Founder and Head of Product Design & Innovation, though not quoted by name in this article. - [Underline looks beyond Colorado Springs with new PE backing from Ares](https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/underline-looks-beyond-colorado-springs-new-pe-backing-ares) — Fierce Network (2022-09-19). Coverage of Ares Management's strategic investment in Underline — their first digital infrastructure investment. Beasley serves as Co-Founder and Head of Product Design & Innovation, though not quoted by name. - [The Fall of the Muni Startup That Wanted to Upend Wall Street](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-16/the-fall-of-the-muni-startup-that-wanted-to-upend-wall-street) — Bloomberg (2019-10-16). Coverage of Neighborly, where Beasley served as VP of Product - [Municipal Bonds For The Rest Of Us](https://www.forbes.com/sites/annefield/2016/04/30/municipal-bonds-for-the-rest-of-us-a-startup-seeks-to-democratize-public-finance) — Forbes (2016-04-29). Coverage of Neighborly's mission to democratize municipal bond investing --- ## Contact & Discovery - Website: https://coty.design - AI Chatbot: undefined - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/cbeasley0 - GitHub: https://github.com/beacrea - Underline Profile: https://www.underline.com/underliners/coty-beasley