My name is Zack (with a k) Gilbert. My preferred pronouns are: he, him, his. I live in Chicago, IL with my wife and 15 year old Chihuahua, May. I recently saw your job posting for a Support Engineer and it struck me as something I'd be pretty good at.
Fog Creek makes products that help people create, something I've been doing my entire life. As a child, I loved Legos. Building and then playing with things I created. Then in highschool as computers and internet grew, I started to teach myself basic web programming (HTML, CSS, Javascript) by viewing the source of websites.
Once StackOverflow came onto the scene, it quickly became my go to place for answers to my programming questions (it still is... multiple times a day). It's truly remarkable how much of an impact it has had on the myriad current and future programmers.
I see the web as magical. And being able to create things out of thin air is wizardry. I want to help more people experience the joys that I have from creating fun and useful tools on the web. What better way to do that than with a company like FogCreek?
I love solving problems (either my own or my clients'). While technical in many ways, I believe in simplicity and good experiences. I believe communication is (almost) everything. I've spent most of my career doing support for the products I've built and I pride myself in providing amazing customer support. A good day is one where a customer says "You've been beyond stellar, and I really appreciate all the help you've provided. Some of the best support I've received!" (a real WPComplete customer on Feb 12, 2018)
My uniquely broad skillset helps me be prepared for many situations and adapt as problems pop up. As Fog Creek continues to grow, I think I could be an integral part of helping them continue to succeed.
Achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.
Co-founded my first company, Adams/Gilbert Company (AGC), a small design + development shop.
Graduated from RIT with a BS in IT with a focus on Web Development (and Philosophy).
Officially launched the first version of billQ, a simple email and SMS bill reminder tool.
Helped create Flint Publisher, a custom news platform built for alt-weeklies.
Founded Technori w/ Seth Kravitz as technical co-founder (exited in 2012).
Developer and Product Manager at Cloudbot - a venture funded mobile startup that used multiple APIs to aggregate user data in one place.
Contract to hire as a Senior Software Engineer at Highrise.
Helped co-author the Independent Consulting Manual.
Co-created ofCourseBooks.com with Paul Jarvis and Jason Zook (sold in Feb 2017).
Launched v1 of WPComplete, a WordPress plugin that helps make your WordPress course fully interactive with just a few clicks.
The Cubs won the world series.
Married my best friend in Iceland
Launched Fixtail, a tool that helps put your Stripe purchases into MailChimp, so you can more accurately segment and automate your email marketing.
(More detailed demos available upon request)
Zack Gilbert is a GIANT asset to our business! He’s not an ordinary “vendor”, but more like a partner to our small company. He devotes a lot of personal attention, he values understanding our specific needs, and he give us the best solutions to fit our business and our customers. We highly recommend Zack to anyone that needs help managing their web properties.
Zack is a rare person is multiple ways. Not only is he a full stack developer that also has a strong design sense, but he is amazingly creative when it comes to thinking about the structure of systems he builds. Things that would take others weeks to build, he knocks out in a day. It was a pleasure starting Technori with him.
just saying, @zackgilbert is the best cofounder a boy could have.