I’m Jan Pool. I live in the beautiful town of Stellenbosch near Cape Town in South Africa.
Stellenbosch is a wonderful place to call home. The town and surrounding area are full of life, outdoor and cultural activities, technology start-ups, great wine, coffee roasters, craft beer, and many awesome people. The lifestyle is unmatched and it is my favourite place in the world!
I build technology, software and art products. I love photography, art, good food, wine, coffee, learning, creating, and advising startups and Scottish Terriers. I’m busy learning French and playing the guitar. I’m also interested in cooking, winemaking, brewing, architecture, astronomy, software development, lean startups, agile product management, data visualisation, data processing, machine learning, cryptocurrencies, innovation, business, economics, complex systems, robotics, and artificial intelligence. I may be addicted to knowledge and sometimes I write :).
I own a technology product development company, called Actualiser, where I was primarily involved with GUST Pay, Reality Gate (also see Swirl Design), HealthQ (now LifeQ), Vertica, ICanFunction, FIRE Diabetes, Sure, Sense and a number of smaller projects. I also ran a functional art business (Facebook, Instagram) to feed my creative side. Currently rethinking the model.
Previously, I was the VP of Engineering at LifeQ, the CTO at NioCAD, and an engineering project manager at Stone Three.
At LifeQ we developed biometrics and health information derived from wearable devices and integrated them into world-leading health management solutions. At NioCAD we created specialised CAD tools for the superconductive electronics design automation industry, and at Stone Three, I was primarily involved with the company’s research and development projects in the industrial, mining, and telecommunication sectors.
I studied electronic engineering at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. I completed my master’s degree in machine learning, pattern recognition, and speech processing. Over the years I have found a passion for product development and building startup businesses. I have been actively involved with the building of the vibrant Cape Town Software Process Improvement Network (CT-SPIN) from 2006 to 2016.