{{Short description|British-born venture capitalist and journalist}} {{Use British English|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 = Keble College, Oxford | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Venture Capitalist, editor, journalist, and publisher | 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 early investor in a number of life sciences, industrial, climate, and other deep tech 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.1820settlers.com/genealogy/settlerbrowsemarrs.php?name=HOWELLS|title=British 1820 Settlers to South Africa|publisher=1820settlers.com}}</ref> He was raised in Northern California and educated in England, at Harrow School<ref>{{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 }}</ref> and Oxford University.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.weforum.org/people/jason-pontin/ |title=Jason Pontin &#124; World Economic Forum |publisher=Weforum.org |access-date=1 January 2017}}</ref>

==Career== From 1996 to 2002, Pontin was the Editor of ''Red Herring'', a business and technology publication.<ref>{{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}}</ref> From 2002 to 2004, he was the Editor of ''The Acumen Journal'', a now-defunct magazine he founded about the life sciences.<ref>{{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 |work=The Edwardsville Intelligencer |publisher=Theintelligencer.com |date=13 May 2003 |access-date=1 January 2017}}</ref>

Pontin has written for many national and international magazines and newspapers, including ''The New York Times'',<ref>{{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}}</ref> ''The Economist'', ''The Financial Times'',<ref>{{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 |date=9 November 2015 |access-date=1 January 2017 }}{{subscription required|date=January 2017}}</ref> ''The Boston Globe'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://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}}</ref> ''The Believer Magazine'',<ref>{{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}}</ref> and ''Wired''.<ref>{{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}}</ref> He writes for ''Wired'' in the publication's "IDEAS" channel and contributes to the magazine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/author/jason-pontin/|title=Jason Pontin {{!}} WIRED|website=www.wired.com|access-date=2018-03-14}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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 |date=4 October 2013 |publisher=TED.com |access-date=1 January 2017}}</ref>

He was hired as the editor of ''Technology Review'' in July 2004,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Shannon |first1=Victoria |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|date=13 December 2004 |access-date=1 January 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.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}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{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}}</ref> Pontin was Chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum, MIT's global organization of technology entrepreneurs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/about/team/bio/jason-pontin/|title=MIT Technology Review|publisher=Technologyreview.com|access-date=1 January 2017}}</ref> From 2005 to 2017, he was the Editor in Chief and Publisher of MIT Technology Review.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.mit.edu/2005/techreview|title=Pontin named publisher of Technology Review|website=MIT News &#124; Massachusetts Institute of Technology |date=29 August 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref>

In 2015, he cofounded MIT Solve<ref>{{cite web|url=http://solve.mit.edu/|title=Solve|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref> the institute's open innovation platform, which deploys capital and other resources towards solutions to grand challenges.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

From 2018 to 2020, he was Senior Partner and senior advisor at Flagship Pioneering, an American life sciences venture capital company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/huawei-seeks-advisers-for-u-s-image-makeover-11582889402|title=WSJ News Exclusive &#124; Huawei Seeks Advisers for U.S. Image Makeover|first=Dan|last=Strumpf|date=28 February 2020|work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://social-impact-capital.com/|title=Social Impact Capital|website=Social Impact Capital}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/author/jason-pontin/|title=Jason Pontin|magazine=Wired}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

Pontin has been a General Partner at DCVC since March 2021.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Primack |first1=Dan |title={{as written|I|t's &#91;sic&#93;}} Personnel |url=https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-pro-rata-c640d86d-a444-4e4e-866b-050f05dd1d42.html |website=Axios Pro Rata |publisher=Axios}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== * {{Twitter|jason_pontin|name=Jason Pontin}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontin, Jason}} Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Technology writers Category:English male journalists Category:British magazine founders Category:English magazine editors Category:English publishers (people) Category:English columnists Category:Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Category:People educated at Harrow School