About
Taiwan. Naperville. MIT. A life I love building.
I was born in Tainan, Taiwan. The early years were across Taiwan — dirt lots, marbles, pickup baseball, and school rankings in first grade. I love to compete, and I still bring that energy to everything I build.
Who is James Chen?
I am James Chen — people still call me mitnerd. I am Chief Technology Officer at Immortals, an MIT Course 6 graduate (B.S. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1996–2000), and a happy builder. I love shipping technology that helps people live longer and healthier, and I am a supporter of Bryan Johnson, Blueprint, and science-backed longevity.
The family moved to the United States when I was eight. Dad took the chance in a week. He was the only one who spoke English. We bounced through Lodi, California and South Bend, Indiana, then four more times between fifth and sixth grade, and landed in Naperville — the Chicago suburb he chose as the right place to raise us. He made that future happen.
Naperville North is where I found my people: computer club, chess, math team. The math team threepeated as Illinois ICTM AA state champion from 1994 to 1996. In 1996 I won the ICTM Individual Senior State Championship — written precalculus, a perfect 40. I set my sights on MIT after watching the robot competition on television. I got there, and it still feels like the right door.
I arrived intending to be a chemical engineer. One night in a lounge that path opened wider. I did research in the Media Lab, TA'd organic chemistry, and started CampusCraze before the diploma was warm. Fluent in English and Mandarin. Native of Taiwan.
What followed has been a life I love: founder, then CTO, then larger stages — Jenzabar, FreeCause, Rakuten, Amazon, Flexport, Built, Wonder, Immortals. I am also an angel investor and an MIT class officer. People still call me mitnerd. Some still say chenman.
Facts
A few numbers I am proud of.
- Managing teams
- 27 years
- Since 1999.
- Programming
- 36 years
- Since 1990.
- B.S. EECS
- MIT Course 6
- 1996–2000. Minor in Chemistry. Concentration in Chinese.
Patents
Granted at Rakuten.
Receipts I am proud of. Three Japanese patents, plus a U.S. family member. Showrooming defense and coupons you drop on the map tiles you actually walked. The numbers open Google Patents. The full gist is on Work.
JP 5235043 B2Granted July 10, 2013
Purchase support server, purchase support method, purchase support program, and computer-readable recording medium for recording the program
購入支援サーバ、購入支援方法、購入支援プログラム、及びそのプログラムを記録するコンピュータ読取可能な記録媒体
JP 5959744 B2Granted August 2, 2016
Advertisement system, advertisement processing device
広告システム、広告処理装置
JP 5959745 B2Granted August 2, 2016
Advertisement system, advertisement processing device
広告システム、広告処理装置
Press
Work that made the page.
It was a joy to be featured in Business Week magazine before I graduated from MIT. In Japan the Nikkei wrote about the Rakuten years — cool technology, a billion lives, a name in world history. Beacon Reports told the CampusCraze and FreeCause story.
June 4, 2013
Nikkei xTECH
The column is titled with that line. Cool technology, at the scale of a billion lives.
February 15, 2013
Nikkei xTECH
James Chen, then 34 and a Rakuten executive officer, is named as the commander leading Rakuten globalization and high-speed development. His line: he wants to develop cool technology and engrave his name in world history.
January 11, 2013
No growth without IT: conditions of a new-era ace
Nikkei
Lede describes a Rakuten executive officer in his 30s who wants to engrave his name in world history — it matches Chen. The body is paywalled.
January 2013
How to build & sell an Internet startup to Japan’s biggest web merchant, Rakuten
Beacon Reports
A short history of CampusCraze and FreeCause.
Education
The MIT degree I am proud of.
1996 – 2000
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- Minor in Chemistry
- Concentration in Chinese
The full transcript lives on Education.
Timeline
Life milestones.
Taiwan, then the Midwest, then MIT — the dates I still tell with a smile.
1977
Born in Tainan, Taiwan.
1982
First video game — Atari, at a street fair.
1983
A Casio watch racing game from Dad.
1985
Moved to the United States.
1988
First programs: Applesoft BASIC on an Apple IIe. Ten years old.
1989
1990
Built a PONG game with a friend in QuickBASIC.
1991–1993
1992–1996
Calculator programming — Casio, Sharp, HP-48, TI-81 through TI-85 — including assembly. The HP-48 programs are still shared.
1996
Accolades
Honors that opened the door.
1994 through 1996. The ICTM senior title with a perfect 40, a three-year state championship at Naperville North, the five-person calculator contest, chemistry, the scholarships that carried me to MIT, and programs that are still hosted.
1996
ICTM Individual Senior State Champion — written precalculus, a perfect 40. Christopher Malon won oral. Naperville North won the precalculus team event; Jason Bau, Walter Kim, and Malon joined me. Malon and I were second in the junior-senior two-person.
1994–1996
Naperville North math team — ICTM AA state champions three years running. Coaches Martin, Morse, and Petersen.
ilmathcontest.comChicago Tribune, May 2, 1994Chicago Tribune, May 7, 1996Chicago Tribune, Jan. 18, 1995
1995
ICTM five-person calculator contest. Naperville North — Yi Tang, Andrew Smolik, Suneel Udani, Sameer Sundresh, and I, then a junior — tied Homewood-Flossmoor for first at 85, 17 of 20. I programmed three calculators differently. “Six questions took only two seconds each.”
1992–1996
Calculator programming — Casio, Sharp, HP-48, and TI. The HP-48 programs are still shared, including Radicals (quad.zip).
1995–1996
Chicago All-Star Math Team and ARML.
1995–1996
Triple honors on the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad.
1996
Captain of the JETS team, state champions.
1995–1996
President of National Honor Society.
1995–1996
Navy ROTC scholarship to MIT.
1995–1996
Charles “Chick” Evans Scholar.
1996
AP Scholar.
Interests
Campus, community, and what I still love.
Class officer, the $50K, a 5.12 TA section, and two volunteer webmaster desks. The organizations below are still going strong.
MIT class officer, 2005–present.
MIT $50K Business Competition and the SUMA Case Competition.
Teacher’s assistant in organic chemistry (5.12). SAT teacher.
National Collegiate Table Tennis Association.
nctta.orgNational Association of Asian American Professionals.
naaap.orgVolunteer webmaster for an MIT Sloan Finance Theory class.
Volunteer webmaster for Sampan Newspaper at the Asian American Civic Association.
sampan.orgBasketball, volleyball, golf, mathematics, teaching. Reading business books. Still programming.
Vision
Then, and still.
1996
To achieve the highest standard in the integration of Chemistry and Computer Design and to better understand the world around us.
2001 – Present
Create a next generation product or company that will revolutionize the way people communicate, think, and live their lives.