# Jackson M. > Forbes 30 Under 30 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/jacksonm I really enjoy helping people get started. At my startup Zero Experience Inc, I have the privilege to help students kickstart passion projects & figure out their careers from scratch. Helping them figure out the puzzles that everyone solves at some point - just usually after years of experience. There's so many moments where people get stuck, but they don't have to be. (Ex. "How do I get the confidence to reach out to people?" -> That's backwards. It's utterly terrifying and awkward, and then you use bravery to do it anyway - the confidence comes afterwards.) At work, I always find myself in the trenches with the onboarding team before too long. Noticing the little things and bringing them forward. Introducing the new product manager to one of our customers. Teaching our marketing team how to read GitHub. My hope is that wherever I go I get to keep on doing that - helping people start awesome things, regardless of their prior experience. ## Work Experience ### Software Engineer @ Ripple Jan 2021 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States * Implemented xrpl.js, a rewrite of the main developer library for interacting with the XRP Ledger (https://github.com/XRPLF/xrpl.js) * Used Vue.js and Tailwind CSS to update xrplgrants.org * Wrote entry-level tutorials to help explain how crypto works to beginners (Specifically Course 1 & 2 here: https://learn.xrpl.org/) * Co-authored RippleX 101, an internal onboarding presentation offered to every new hire. * Managed logistics for a bounty program for developers in the XRPL community (https://xrplbounties.org/) * Created a command line tool in Python to help folks running a validator debug their setup (https://github.com/mvadari/xrpl-node-detective) ### Co-Founder of Zero Experience Inc. @ The Zero Experience Jan 2020 – Present You don't need experience to make an impact. The Zero Experience is a program that uses entrepreneurship as a way to let undergrads differentiate themselves, build an online community, and solve important problems. Building the program has included scripting a team formation tool, marketing to students from admin and grassroots channels, and simplifying problem solving so any student can understand and try it out. Check out our website here: https://velocityincubator.com/programs/students/thezeroexperience/ Additionally, we started a program called "Zero Work" to help students bootstrap a career they'll love and find a job they like quickly. Over a single weekend they get all they need to know to start noticing the career options available to them, network without feeling like a fraud, and a practice with the core skills of building a resume that tells your story and showing all your soft skills during interviews. You can learn more about that on it's website here: https://velocityincubator.com/programs/students/zerowork/ ### Product Manager Coop @ Alarm.com Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 Alarm is making home security smart. My part in that is helping teams communicate to create a single vision that everyone can work towards. I designed a detailed spec for Android and iOS devices that was being developed as I left. I also helped implement a training program for new PMs to directly learn end user needs. ### Student Program Ambassador for ECoop Stream 2 @ Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Writing and teaching a curriculum to take people from "I am a student with a project" to "I am an entrepreneur with a product." By working with exceptional entrepreneurs from the Waterloo community and building upon experiences with multiple incubators, we've created a program to teach people entrepreneurship from the ground up, rather than waiting for them to become one on their own. ### CEO of eLuminate @ eLuminate Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | Waterloo, Ontario eLuminate.io tackled the problem of how can anyone interview candidates well, regardless of their experience interviewing new hires? We tackled this by using an app to listen and provide real-time feedback to interviewers on whether their question was biased, then offering directions to get back on track. ### Software Engineer @ Alarm.com Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Tysons, Virginia Built a load test tool for DDNS requests. Delivered a presentation on initiative in the workplace. Analyzed new hire dilemmas from several perspectives. ### Automation Test Analyst @ CaseBank Technologies Inc., A Division of ATP Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 I design automated test scripts for the Quality Assurance department. This involves creating a test framework, and finding common workflows to automate. This helps the rest of the team focus on difficult and complex test cases. ### Software Quality Assurance Intern @ CaseBank Technologies Inc., A Division of ATP Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Toronto, Canada Area I performed manual testing on various established applications, developing critical thinking skills and time management. The environment was extremely supportive. Working there for a co op term allowed me to see how product maintenance occurs with inter-team cooperation. ### Sailing Instructor @ Vashon Park District Jan 2016 – Jan 2016 | Vashon As an instructor, I created an atmosphere of learning, cooperation, and enjoyment for all campers in the sailing program. In addition, I kept the kids safe and comfortable with the sail boats on the water. ### Store Assistant @ Leschi Food Mart Inc Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 ## Education ### Bachelor's degree in Computer Science University of Waterloo ### Garfield High School ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jacksonmills6 --- Source: https://flows.cv/jacksonm JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/jacksonm/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-29