Charlie Jackson is an American computer software entrepreneur who founded

Silicon Beach Software Silicon Beach Software, Inc., was an early American developer of software products for the Macintosh personal computer. It was founded in San Diego, California in 1984 by Charlie Jackson and his wife Hallie. Jackson later co-founded FutureWave S ...

in 1984 and co-founded FutureWave Software in 1993. FutureWave created the first version of what is now

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...

. He was an early investor in

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

magazine, Outpost.com,

Streamload Nirvanix is an American-based provider of business phone systems, VoIP services, hosted PBX, SIP Trunks, and cloud storage services headquartered in San Diego, California, United States. The company offers a variety of business phone solutions ...

and Angelic Pictures. Jackson is currently founder/CEO of Silicon Beach Software, which develops and publishes application software for Windows 10.

Business life

Startups

Jackson founded

in 1984. The company developed and published Macintosh software. It was best known for its graphics editors SuperPaint,

Digital Darkroom {{More citations needed, date=May 2008 Digital "darkroom" is the hardware, software and techniques used in digital photography that replace the darkroom equivalents, such as enlarging, cropping, dodging and burning, as well as processes that don't ...

and the multimedia authoring application

SuperCard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to t ...

. Silicon Beach was acquired by

Aldus Corporation Aldus Corporation was an American software company best known for its pioneering desktop publishing (DTP) software. PageMaker, the company's most well-known product, ushered in the modern era of desktop computers such as the Macintosh seeing ...

in 1990. That year he was named Entrepreneur of the Year in San Diego for High Tec

In 1984, Jackson also founded the San Diego

Macintosh User Group A Macintosh User Group (MUG) is a users' group of people who use Macintosh computers made by Apple Inc. or other manufacturers and who use the Apple Macintosh operating system (OS). These groups are primarily locally situated and meet regularly t ...

. Jackson co-founded FutureWave Software with Jonathan Gay in 1993.MACROMEDIA FLASH BACK
Digital Archaeology FutureWave developed and published FutureSplash Animator.

Macromedia Macromedia, Inc., was an American graphics, multimedia, and web development software company (1992–2005) headquartered in San Francisco, California, that made products such as Flash and Dreamweaver. It was purchased by its rival Adobe System ...

acquired FutureWave in 1996 and renamed the product Flash 1.0, which in turn became

when Macromedia was acquired by Adobe Systems.Grandmasters of Flash: An Interview with the Creators of Flash
Cold Hard Flash Since late 2009, Jackson has been a mentor for San Diego sessions of the Founder Institute. In 2015, using the name Silicon Beach Software again, he founded a company to develop graphics software for Windows 10. The company's first product is SaviDraw.

Investments

Although no longer an active seed investor, Jackson made some notable investments in the 1990s. In 1993, he and

Nicholas Negroponte Nicholas Negroponte (born December 1, 1943) is a Greek American architect. He is the founder and chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also founded the One Laptop per Child Association (OLPC). Negroponte ...

were the two seed investors in

magazine. In 1994, Jackson loaned Wired Ventures the money that allowed the company to start up

HotWired ''Hotwired'' (1994–1999) was the first commercial online magazine, launched on October 27, 1994. Although it was part of the print magazine ''Wired'', ''Hotwired'' carried original content. History Andrew Anker, Wired's then Vice Pres ...

, the first commercial web magazine. Jackson was the seed investor in Outpost.com, an early online reseller of computer equipment. Outpost.com gained some notoriety for its TV ads in whic
gerbils were shot out of a cannon
an
wolves attacked a high school marching band
Jackson was the first investor in Angelic Pictures, Inc. Jackson was the first investor in

, an online media storage and retrieval company that was subsequently renamed Nirvanix and he was the first investor in Pacific Coast Software, publisher of WebCatalog, an e-commerce package.

Current Ventures

Jackson is a principal in Angelic Pictures, Inc., a movie production company. He has been an executive producer of Angelic's movies, ''The Month of August'', ''Hole in One: American Pie Plays Golf'', ''Beach Bar'', ''Music High'', ''La Migra'', ''Fearless'' and ''Space Samurai: Oasis'

Jackson also owns two small businesses in San Diego, CA. Epic Volleyball Club is a junior volleyball organization which trains approximately 400 athletes annually. VolleyHut.com is an online reseller of volleyball equipment. In 2000, VolleyHut challenged

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econom ...

on its use of patent

Silicon Beach Software is a developer/publisher of multimedia software for Windows 1

Early life and education

Jackson (born 1948) grew up in Imperial Beach, CA, Imperial Beach, California. As a teenager, he also spent three years in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey, where he earned a B.E.P.C. degree from a French school. Jackson earned a BA degree in Near Eastern Studies from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

in 1972, a master's degree in

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

from San Diego State in 1978 and a C.Phil. in linguistics from

UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is th ...

in 1980. He was an active duty

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

officer from 1972 to 1976 and Reserve officer from 1976 to 1989.

Sports

Jackson's sporting background is varied and extensive. While in Istanbul, he won the county youth championship in pole vault. In high school, he competed in cross country and track and field. At

, Jackson was a letter winner in soccer and

lightweight rowing Lightweight rowing (abbreviated Lwt or Lt) is a category of rowing where limits are placed on the maximum body weight of competitors. According to the International Rowing Federation (FISA), this weight category was introduced "to encourage more ...

br>
His senior year he was co-captain of the lightweight rowing team. In the Marine Corps, Jackson became a competitive rifle and pistol shooter, earning the Marine Corps' highest award for rifle shooting, the Distinguished badg

In 1978, he was the High Marine at the National Championships for Service Rifle, held at

Camp Perry Camp Perry is a National Guard training facility located on the shore of Lake Erie in northern Ohio near Port Clinton. In addition to its regular mission as a military training base, Camp Perry also boasts the second largest outdoor rifle rang ...

, Ohio. In the '90s, Jackson returned to competitive shooting. In 1993 and 1994, he earned a spot on the US National Team in Rapid Fire Pistol and competed internationally.''United States Shooting Team 1994 Media Guide''. p. 45, 132. In 1996, his three-man team won the U.S. National Championship in Rapid Fire Pistol. In 1994, Jackson attended the

World Masters Games The World Masters Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years which, in terms of competitor numbers, has developed into the largest of its kind. Governed by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), the World Mas ...

in Brisbane, Australia, where over 24,000 athletes competed for World Championship titles in their respective age groups. In the 45 - 49 age group, Jackson won Gold medals in Rapid Fire Pistol and 4-man Beach Volleyball and a Silver medal in 2-man Beach Volleyball. From 1997 to 2000, Jackson served on the board of

USA Volleyball USA Volleyball (USAV) is a non-profit organization which is recognized as the national governing body of volleyball in the United States by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). It ...

, chairing the Olympic Beach Volleyball Committee. Jackson was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team in the capacity of Assistant Team Leader, Beach Volleyball. In 2000 and 2001, Jackson owned and operated Beach Volleyball America (BVA), a U.S. professional beach volleyball tou

From 1999 to 2021, Jackson owned and operated Epic Volleyball Club, a junior club in the San Diego area.

References

External links

Silicon Beach Software (current)
*The Computer Chronicles
TV Coverage of MacWorld Boston 1988
including Silicon Beach Software's Charlie Jackson
San Diego Macintosh User GroupWired.comAngelic Pictures
*
Founder Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Charlie American computer businesspeople Wired (magazine) people American volleyball coaches People from Imperial Beach, California UCLA Bruins men's soccer players 1948 births United States Marine Corps officers Living people Military personnel from California Association footballers not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality