Duane Jackson

Duane Jackson, aged 33, is an Internet entrepreneur best known for founding KashFlow.

Personal life
Duane’s interest in IT started at the age of 14. He was living in a children’s home in Newham, East London and was suspended from school. The staff at the children’s home were left to teach him. As they weren’t teachers they didn’t know what to do so they left him with a ZX Spectrum and a book on how to program it.

After spending his late teens contracting for organisations such as the CBI, the BBC, Procter & Gamble, Eidos and Reuters he found himself at aged 19 between contracts and out of cash.

He made some very bad decisions that would change his life forever. His peers from his upbringing in care were involved in criminal activities and he got involved in a bid to earn some fast money. This ultimately resulted in him being arrested and spending time in prison in the US and the UK.

KashFlow
In 2005, Duane founded a software company named KashFlow and marketed it to members of the Federation of Small Businesses and The Prince’s Trust. Since then, the company has grown considerably and is now of one the market leaders for web-based accounting software in the UK. The company is chaired by Lord Young, and was the first piece of accounting software to be certified by PayPal for its integration with them.

Recognition
In the two and a half years he served in prison in the UK he spent his time teaching basic IT skills to other inmates and received a Millennium Volunteers Award from the then home secretary, David Blunkett.

As well as the numerous awards KashFlow has won, Duane has also won numerous awards himself including Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He was also named as one of The Most Impressive Businessmen aged 30 or Under by Esquire Magazine in 2008.

Duane has since gone on to meet leading figures from the business and IT world, including receiving praise from Bill Gates in 2008