The Story
Built by a builder,
not a consultant
I'm Ken Jackson — a product and engineering executive based in Austin, TX. Texas A&M, Electronics Engineering Technology. 20+ years of building real software systems inside real companies with real stakes.
At Volusion I owned the product roadmap for a $4B GMV ecommerce platform with 50,000+ merchants — full P&L, full accountability. At Camp Gladiator I led the engineering team that launched an entirely new virtual product in under 60 days, going from 12 states to all 50 states and 15 countries during COVID while handling a 400% surge in user activity.
I've co-founded companies, built 30-engineer consultancies, taught full-stack engineering bootcamps, and shipped AI products for AdTech, fintech, and PropTech clients. I know what it takes to get a system to actually work — past the demo, into the daily operation that people depend on.
LvlUp is where all of that meets the businesses that need it most. Field service and trades companies are running complex operations with almost zero access to the AI capability that enterprise companies take for granted. That gap is where I work.
"I started this business to do the work I'm good at. The work I've been doing for 20 years. Helping people build things that actually work."
— Ken Jackson, Founder · LvlUp Agency
Current stack
Career Timeline
The track record
2021–Present
Lvl Up Agency LLC
Founder & Principal PM
Consulting agency providing product and engineering leadership to early-stage and growth-stage companies — AI/AdTech, fintech, PropTech, and SaaS. Shipped production MVPs in 8–12 week cycles. Now applying that same rigor to field service businesses through LvlUp.
2019–2021
Camp Gladiator
VP of Engineering
Led 18 engineers through a COVID-driven pivot from in-person to virtual fitness. Launched a brand new virtual product in under 60 days — expanding from 12 states to all 50 states and 15 countries. Managed a 400% surge in user activity while maintaining platform stability. Led Salesforce CRM implementation and full CI/CD modernization.
2017–2019
Inventive Group Inc.
Co-Founder & CPO
Built a 30-engineer software consultancy, a TWC-certified coding academy, and a product incubator from the ground up. Took 5 early-stage products to market in year one. Served as lead instructor for 6-month full-stack engineering bootcamps.
2012–2017
Volusion
VP of Product
Full P&L ownership of a $5M product and engineering organization. Owned the roadmap for an ecommerce SaaS platform serving 50,000+ merchants and processing over $4 billion in GMV annually. Incubated a cloud-native, API-first platform modernization from the ground up.
2007–2012
Invodo · Headspring · Catapult Systems · Dell · AMD
VP of Technology & Senior Engineering Roles
VP of Technology at Invodo — brought the company to Austin as their first strategic hire, built the team, won first national contracts. Senior engineering consultant roles across public-sector, enterprise, and startup environments throughout Austin.
2000–2012
Various — Austin, TX
Entrepreneur & Engineer
Co-founder and early-stage key hire across multiple Austin startups spanning REO services, fitness ecommerce, local search, and family social platforms. Built full-stack platforms, IT infrastructure, and company operations from zero.
How We Work
Four things that
don't change
Audit before implementation
The worst outcome is building the wrong automation beautifully. Every engagement starts with a structured diagnostic to find the highest-impact opportunities first.
You talk to the builder
No account managers. No handoffs. Ken designs it, Ken builds it, Ken delivers it. That's not a limitation — it's the advantage.
Results over complexity
The best automation is the one your team actually uses. Simple, reliable workflows beat sophisticated systems that require a manual.
Your operation, your voice
Automated follow-ups sound like you. Reports use your language. Nothing feels robotic or off-brand.