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This Former Tech Executive Was Ready to Retire. Then an Obscure Molecule Gave Him a New Mission.

Jon Bier

created: June 12, 2025, 4:26 p.m. | updated: June 13, 2025, 2:42 p.m.

Joel Kocher, CEO of humann, is betting on nitric oxide to change how people think about heart health. That chance encounter launched humann, a heart health supplement brand built around nitric oxide science and is on a mission to change the trajectory of cardiovascular health in the world. Success doesn't guarantee repeat successAt Dell, Kocher helped lead the company through a period of massive growth. Ferid Murad, MD, PhD and Nobel Laureate (1936 - 2023) was among three pharmacologists who made the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of Nitric Oxide. "We did three focus groups with consumers and two with physicians… Not a single person had ever heard of nitric oxide," he says.

4 months, 3 weeks ago: Entrepreneur