OUR TEAM
Jade Vinson, Ph.D., CFA
Founder & CEO
Experience:
Jade has 18 years of experience in quantitative trading: 9 years advancing all aspects of world-best trading systems at Renaissance Technologies and 5 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 he 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.