Who I Am
My full name is Jessie Lee C. Santiago — most people online know me as @JessieBroke. I’m based in Atlanta and I’m a builder, operator, and educator working across crypto infrastructure and decentralized storage.
I hold a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Clemson University (MS granted May 2015). My master’s thesis — Continuum Robots for Space Applications Based on Layer-Jamming Scales with Stiffness Capability — designed novel continuum robots for space inspection under Dr. Ian Walker. During grad school I was a robotics researcher, building machines with 3D-printed, CNC, and laser-cut parts plus embedded controllers. I also served as a Teaching Assistant and was active in IEEE Robotics. My research produced two peer-reviewed publications: “Continuum robots for space applications based on layer-jamming scales with stiffening capability” (IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2015) and “Soft Robots and Kangaroo Tails: Modulating Compliance in Continuum Structures Through Mechanical Layer Jamming” (Soft Robotics, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2016). I passed the FE Exam in May 2015 and worked as an EE Designer at a consultant engineering firm.
I’m an engineer at heart — I pick up whatever skills the job requires as fast as I can and get to work.
I currently serve as COO and Co-Founder of Durability Labs, alongside co-founders Mark Spanbroek and Dmitriy Ryajov. Our first project is Archivist, a decentralized storage protocol.
From April 2021 to June 2025 I was the first Logos Program Manager at the Institute of Free Technology (IFT) — the portfolio company Status created to house Waku (private messaging), Codex (private storage, originally called Dagger), and Nomos (private consensus and execution, originally also called Logos). I started on Nomos and switched to Codex around July 2021, working on a decentralized storage protocol ensuring strong data durability guarantees.
I started co-hosting The Bitcoin Podcast Network in 2017 — one of the oldest crypto podcasts — and became a part-owner in 2020. I also co-host Hashing It Out, a technical blockchain podcast running since 2018, now merged with The Bitcoin Podcast content.
Evidence
- Full name (Jessie Lee C. Santiago), BS+MS EE from Clemson, IEEE Robotics, FE Exam May 2015: SlideShare resume
- MS thesis (Continuum Robots for Space Applications…), May 2015, advisor Dr. Ian Walker: Clemson Digital Commons
- IEEE Xplore author profile: IEEE Xplore
- IEEE Aerospace Conference paper (2015): IEEE Xplore
- Soft Robotics journal paper (Vol. 3, No. 2, 2016): DOI 10.1089/soro.2015.0021
- Robotics researcher, engineering career, side projects in image-processing/ML: Bitcoin Podcast Network bio
- Location (Atlanta), Program Manager, skills (Python, JS, React, C++, Arduino), robotics background: Devfolio
- COO / Co-Founder of Durability Labs; Archivist is its first project: archivist.storage, x.com/DurabilityLabs
- Co-founders: Mark Spanbroek, Dmitriy Ryajov> - Identity mapping (Jessie Santiago → @JessieBroke → github/jessiebroke)> - Co-host of The Bitcoin Podcast Network (2017), part-owner (2020): Amazon listing
- First Logos Program Manager (Apr 2021–Jun 2025), Nomos then Codex> - Institute of Free Technology (IFT): free.technology
- Hashing It Out (2018–present, merged with The Bitcoin Podcast): thebitcoinpodcast.com, YouTube
- Career arc (ex-engineer → podcast host → co-founder): LinkedIn
What I Care About
I care about infrastructure that lasts — systems designed for durability over hype. I started in hardware and robotics, building physical machines that had to work in the real world. That instinct carried over into crypto: I’ve spent years building decentralized protocols because I believe they can create more resilient foundations for data, identity, and coordination.