Jason Pontin
{{Short description|British-born venture capitalist and journalist}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jason Pontin
| image = Jason Pontin.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1967|5|11}}
| birth_place = London, England
| education = Harrow School
Keble College, Oxford
| nationality = British
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Venture Capitalist, editor, journalist, and publisher
| years active = 1996 - present
| parents =
}}
Jason Matthew Daniel Pontin (born 11 May 1967) is a British-born venture capitalist and journalist. He is a General Partner at the venture capital firm of DCVC in Palo Alto, California, and is a board member and seed investor in a number of life sciences companies. He is the former editor in chief and publisher of MIT Technology Review.
Early life and education
Pontin was born on 11 May 1967 in London, to a British father, Anthony Charles Pontin, a businessman, and a South African mother, Elaine Howells, an actress.{{cite web|url=http://www.1820settlers.com/genealogy/settlerbrowsemarrs.php?name=HOWELLS|title=British 1820 Settlers to South Africa|publisher=1820settlers.com}} He was raised in Northern California and educated in England, at Harrow School{{cite web |url=http://www.harrowassociation.com/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=459 |title=Directory profile |publisher=Harrow Association |access-date=1 January 2017 |archive-date=18 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718174555/http://www.harrowassociation.com/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=459 |url-status=dead }} and Oxford University.{{cite web|url=https://www.weforum.org/people/jason-pontin/ |title=Jason Pontin | World Economic Forum |publisher=Weforum.org |access-date=1 January 2017}}
Career
From 1996 to 2002, Pontin was the Editor of Red Herring, a business and technology publication.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/05/18/for-the-press-too-a-fall-from-the-hypes/f84698a2-bd08-4434-8fb0-6f931fc387e7/|title=For the Press, Too, a Fall From the Hypes|first=Howard|last=Kurtz|date=18 May 2001|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=1 January 2017}} From 2002 to 2004, he was the Editor of The Acumen Journal, a now-defunct magazine he founded about the life sciences.{{cite web|author=Michael Liedtke |url=http://www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/Ex-Red-Herring-Editor-Set-to-Launch-Mag-10496224.php |title=Ex-Red Herring Editor Set to Launch Mag – The Edwardsville Intelligencer |publisher=Theintelligencer.com |date=13 May 2003 |access-date=1 January 2017}}
Pontin has written for many national and international magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/business/yourmoney/22stream.html|title=From Many Tweets, One Loud Voice on the Internet|date=22 April 2007|newspaper=The New York Times}} The Economist, The Financial Times,{{cite web |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3a55dafa-86e1-11e5-90de-f44762bf9896 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211231209/https://www.ft.com/content/3a55dafa-86e1-11e5-90de-f44762bf9896 |archive-date=11 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Imitators take note – Steve Jobs was more than a showman |website=Financial Times |access-date=1 January 2017 }}{{subscription required|date=January 2017}} The Boston Globe,{{cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2010/04/14/a_good_meal_unexpected_in_addis_ababa_ethiopia/|title=A good meal, unexpected, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |newspaper=The Boston Globe|access-date=1 January 2017}} The Believer Magazine,{{cite web|url=http://www.believermag.com/issues/200405/?read=interview_georgis |title=The Believer – Dawit Giorgis: An Oral History |website=The Believer |access-date=1 January 2017}} and Wired.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2004/07/the-micro-multinational/ |title=The Micro-Multinational |magazine=Wired |date=1 July 2004 |access-date=1 January 2017}} He writes for Wired in the publication's "IDEAS" channel and contributes to the magazine.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/author/jason-pontin/|title=Jason Pontin {{!}} WIRED|website=www.wired.com|access-date=2018-03-14}} In February 2013, he delivered a TED Talk in Long Beach, California, "Can Technology solve our big problems?" that has been seen more than 1.6 million times.{{cite web|url=https://www.ted.com/talks/jason_pontin_can_technology_solve_our_big_problems |title=Jason Pontin: Can technology solve our big problems? {{!}} TED Talk |publisher=TED.com |access-date=1 January 2017}}
He was hired as the editor of Technology Review in July 2004,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/business/media/mit-technology-review-adopts-more-serious-tone.html|title=M.I.T. Technology Review Adopts More Serious Tone|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=1 January 2017}} and in August 2005 was named publisher. Pontin engaged in what The Boston Globe has described as a "strategic overhaul" of Technology Review, whose goal is to make the magazine into a largely electronic publishing company.{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/08/30/mit_tech_journal_getting_new_publisher_overhaul/ |title=MIT tech journal getting new publisher, overhaul |website=Boston Globe |date=30 August 2005 |access-date=1 January 2017}} In October 2012, he renamed the organization MIT Technology Review and relaunched it as a "digital-first enterprise". AdWeek commented that "Pontin and MIT Technology Review could set the standard for the transition to a digital future for legacy media."{{cite web|last=Warzel |first=Charlie |url=http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/mit-technology-review-relaunches-digital-first-144734 |title=MIT Technology Review Relaunches 'Digital-First' |publisher=Adweek.com |date=24 October 2012 |access-date=1 January 2017}} Pontin was Chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum, MIT's global organization of technology entrepreneurs.{{cite web|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/about/team/bio/jason-pontin/|title=MIT Technology Review|publisher=Technologyreview.com|access-date=1 January 2017}}
From 2005 to 2017, he was the Editor in Chief and Publisher of MIT Technology Review.{{Cite web|url=https://news.mit.edu/2005/techreview|title=Pontin named publisher of Technology Review|website=MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}{{cite web |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/about/team/ |title=Our Team |work=MIT Technology Review |publisher=Technologyreview.com |access-date=4 July 2017 |archive-date=17 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317144118/https://www.technologyreview.com/about/team/ |url-status=dead }}
In 2015, he cofounded MIT Solve{{cite web|url=http://solve.mit.edu/|title=Solve|access-date=17 January 2017}} the institute's open innovation platform, which deploys capital and other resources towards solutions to grand challenges.{{cite news|url=https://news.mit.edu/2015/solve-conference-concludes-1015|title=Solving the world's great challenges|date=15 October 2015|website=news.mit.edu|access-date=17 January 2017}}
From 2018 to 2020, he was Senior Partner and senior advisor at Flagship Pioneering, an American life sciences venture capital company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/31/magazine/what-us-will-be-like-after-we-conquer-coronavirus/|title=What the US will be like after we conquer the coronavirus |website=The Boston Globe}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/huawei-seeks-advisers-for-u-s-image-makeover-11582889402|title=WSJ News Exclusive | Huawei Seeks Advisers for U.S. Image Makeover|first=Dan|last=Strumpf|date=28 February 2020|work=The Wall Street Journal}}{{Cite web|url=http://social-impact-capital.com/|title=Social Impact Capital|website=Social Impact Capital}}{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/author/jason-pontin/|title=Jason Pontin|magazine=Wired}}
In 2019, with CEO Neil Dhawan, he cofounded Totus Medicines, a chemical biology company whose drug discovery platform uses structure-based design, combinatorial chemistry, and automated biophysics to rapidly identify oncology therapies. Pontin is a board member of Totus Medicines.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2021/12/09/this-biotech-company-raised-40-million-to-develop-treatments-for-undruggable-diseases/?sh=723cadbb3be7 |title=This Biotech Company Raised $40 Million To Develop Treatments For 'Undruggable' Diseases|website=Forbes|date=9 December 2021}}
Pontin has been a General Partner at DCVC since March 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/vc-daily-biotech-startups-take-aim-at-fibrotic-disease-treatments-11616073820|title=VC Daily: Biotech Startups Take Aim at Fibrotic Disease Treatments|date=18 March 2021|work=The Wall Street Journal}}{{cite web |last1=Primack |first1=Dan |title=It's Personnel |url=https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-pro-rata-c640d86d-a444-4e4e-866b-050f05dd1d42.html |website=Axios Pro Rata |publisher=Axios}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.exponentialview.co/p/ev-314|title=🎉 Politics in the anthropocene; NFTs; Uber's retreat; The next pandemic & Oumuama ++ #314|first=Azeem|last=Azhar|website=www.exponentialview.co}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Twitter|jason_pontin|name=Jason Pontin}}
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Category:English male journalists
Category:British magazine founders
Category:English magazine editors
Category:English publishers (people)