EVERYTHING CAN BE OPTIMIZED.

Powerful Trading Model with Other Applications

The Talking Leaves framework was developed for quantitative trading and is actively running our quant hedge fund. The abstract time-series / simulation layer would also add value in adjacent industries.

FRAMEWORK HIGHLIGHTS

Time-Tested

Our framework is backed by 18+ person-years of focused development and four years of production trading.

Clean Design

Our proprietary framework is comprised of a mathematically abstract layer and a finance specific layer.

Smart Collaboration

Innovative distributed caching accelerates research by streamlining reproducibility and shared experimentation.

We model everything end-to-end—from raw inputs to outgoing orders—in an optimized, automated framework. Built-in reproducibility, time-aware design, and distributed caching streamline collaboration, allowing the team to focus on true innovation: new markets, new data, new signals, and cutting-edge AI techniques.

LEADERSHIP

Jade Vinson, Ph.D., CFA

Founder & CEO

Experience:

Jade has 17 years of experience in quantitative trading: 9 years advancing all aspects of world-best trading systems at Renaissance Technologies and 8 years assembling a team and building an all-new trading system at Talking Leaves.

Prior to quantitative trading, Jade had a successful academic career in Mathematics, Genome Assembly, and Comparative Genomics.

Career Highlight:

Jade was co–first author on a pilot study that helped guide genome sequencing priorities after human and mouse. His team’s approach—widely adopted—included using low rather than high coverage to accelerate results, and selecting species that maximized evolutionary diversity to improve comparative analysis.

Fun Facts:

Jade has served as a Trustee of the National Museum of Mathematics since 2013.

In recreational mathematics, he is known for unique jewelry design of “Pythagorean Earrings”.

Jeff Lee

Experience:

Jeff was the first hire at Talking Leaves, with a background in software consulting and a focus on computer vision and machine learning. He met Jade through Deep Learning RTP, where they both led technical study groups. Jeff holds a degree in Economics from UNC Chapel Hill.

Career Highlight:

Jeff was the go-to software generalist for the North Carolina Medicaid intake pipeline. Through bug fixes and automation, he helped deliver about $10M in annual time savings for case workers, along with harder-to-quantify gains like reduced liability. His proudest moments came from untangling thorny, manual cases—tracing issues to specific bugs and resolving them so people could receive the correct benefits quickly.

Fun Fact:

Jeff is an avid track enthusiast who competes in NASA Time Trials, driving a 1999 Mazda Miata. He currently holds the NASA TT6 track record at Summit Point Main and previously held the record at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), where he remains within a second of reclaiming the title.

Jason Blackerby

Experience:

Jason is a former IBM Managing Consultant with over 15 years of experience in software development and technical consulting. While at IBM, he contributed to the integration of a platform that unified public benefit programs—such as Medicaid and food assistance—into a streamlined system for government agencies. He holds an M.B.A. from the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and dual bachelor’s degrees in Computer Engineering and East Asian Languages and Literatures (Mandarin Chinese).

Career Highlight:

Played a key role in the successful expansion of Medicaid services in the state of Missouri, enhancing access to healthcare for thousands of residents.

Fun Fact:

Jason took up learning Chinese in college—and it sparked a decades-long fascination. Over the past 20 years, he’s traveled extensively through China, living in several cities and exploring everything from the Great Wall to hidden local gems. Along the way, he’s developed a deep appreciation for the language, culture, and history.

CONTACT US

Get in touch to learn more about the Talking Leaves framework.

“Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.”

– Edsger Dijkstra