About
Jack Phan
Jack Phan is an American entrepreneur and technologist: refugee, self-taught coder, serial founder, and Founding Director of the Google-backed Oregon AI Accelerator.
Portland, Oregon
Jack's life reads as a series of crossings. He came to the United States as an infant Vietnamese boat refugee. He taught himself to code at the dawn of the web and built the first algorithm to match homeowners with contractors online — work that became part of Angi. He co-founded and exited ReliableRemodeler.com to QuinStreet, then spent years deliberately reinventing his own role — engineering, marketing, operations, the CEO seat — across Digital Trends, Money Crashers, AGEIST, AirDeck AI, and PhanZu.
In 2019 a single keynote tweet made him #ONCEUncle to the global TWICE fandom — an accidental lesson in how one small signal can resonate across a worldwide community. Today he is Founding Director of the Oregon AI Accelerator, a Google-backed program championing human-centered, responsible AI and underrepresented founders.
Ferrari brain, bicycle brakes
Jack describes his mind as a Ferrari brain with bicycle brakes — a late-recognized neurodivergent lens that reframes the whole arc: the restless reinvention and relentless pattern-hunting are features of the same engine. (The framing traces to Hallowell & Ratey's ADHD 2.0; Jack uses it as personal narrative.)
The Divergence — a life in six branches
- 01
The Crossing
Jack Phan came to the United States as an infant, a Vietnamese boat refugee. The crossing is where his story starts — a hook, not the whole of him.
Travel the branch - 02
First Light
At the dawn of the web, Jack Phan built the first algorithm to match homeowners with contractors online — a breakthrough that helped make the Yellow Pages obsolete for home services.
Travel the branch - 03
The Exits
Jack Phan co-founded ReliableRemodeler.com, grew it onto the Inc. 500, and exited to QuinStreet (NASDAQ: QNST) in a deal valued at more than $25 million — then kept reinventing his own role across a string of companies.
Travel the branch - 04
#ONCEUncle
On September 10, 2019, a single tweet during an Apple keynote made Jack Phan an unofficial mascot of the global TWICE fandom — known affectionately as #ONCEUncle.
Travel the branch - 05
The Accelerator
Today Jack Phan is Founding Director of the Oregon AI Accelerator, a Google-backed program that gives 20 startups up to $50,000 in equity-free grants — and he uses that platform to champion underrepresented founders.
Travel the branch - 06
Ferrari Brain, Bicycle Brakes
The throughline connecting every branch is a late-recognized neurodivergent mind — what Jack Phan calls a Ferrari brain with bicycle brakes: enormous horsepower, hard to slow down.
Travel the branch
Looking for something specific? See the FAQ or get in touch.