Zak Cole
Co-Founder & Managing Partner at NUMBER GROUP
Nashville-Davidson, Tennessee, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolZak Cole is a systems architect and protocol engineer with eight years in Web3 who co-founded multiple ventures including Number Group, 0xbow, and Code4rena, focusing on DeFi infrastructure, privacy, and competitive smart-contract security. He combines hands-on protocol design and product leadership—previously as Slingshot CTO and Whiteblock founder—with a track record of scaling projects that have helped secure and launch protocols representing billions in value. Zak’s approach emphasizes rapid, practical security (Code4rena’s competitive audits and 48-hour launch cadence) and privacy-first middleware for regulated DeFi. His background includes technical advisory roles for DeFi analytics and blockchain platforms and an atypical mix of military communications engineering and wildland firefighting certifications, which inform his discipline and risk-aware engineering. Based in Nashville, he pairs entrepreneurial instincts with deep technical chops in distributed systems and smart-contract security. The stringy Github bio (“01110111 01101001 01100101 01101110 01100101 01110010”) hints at a playful, tech-native personality behind his pragmatic leadership.
8 years of coding experience
13 years of employment as a software developer
Otis College of Art and DesignAssociates of Science in Information Technology Web & Mobile Development, Associates of Science in Information Technology Web & Mobile Development at Liberty UniversityAssociate of Arts (A.A.) Philosophy, Associate of Arts (A.A.) Philosophy at Pellissippi State Community CollegeS-130/190 Firefighter & S-212 Certified Sawyer Wildland Fire Behavior & Chainsaws, S-130/190 Firefighter & S-212 Certified Sawyer Wildland Fire Behavior & Chainsaws at Colorado FirecampAssociate of Arts - AA Philosophy, Associate of Arts - AA Philosophy at University of Maryland Global Campus
English, Spanish, German
Stackoverflow
21reputation
1kreached
2answers
0questions
Github Skills (129)
geth10
cryptocurrency10
abi10
smart-contracts10
p2p10
solidity10
golang10
bitcoin10
go10
ethereum10
blockchain10
paper9
eip9
eosio9
ethereum-dapp9
Programming languages (18)
Github contributions (5)
code-423n4/code-contests
Feb 2021 - Mar 2021
C4 code contest details, guidelines, and criteria for participation.
Contributions:13 reviews, 71 commits, 9 PRs in 27 days
detailscriteriaparticipationguidelines
zscole/rotten.com
Aug 2018 - Jan 2023
Contributions:7 pushes, 1 branch in 4 years 5 months
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