My protocol
The subset of Bryan Johnson's Blueprint I actually live, with results as of Oct 1, 2026.
See my protocol →
About
Taiwan. Naperville. MIT. Now Immortals.
I was born in Tainan, Taiwan. The early years were across Taiwan — dirt lots, marbles, pickup baseball, and school rankings in first grade.
We moved to the United States when I was eight and landed in Naperville, outside Chicago.
I started writing code in 1988, on an Apple IIe, when I was ten. Naperville North is where I found my people: computer club, chess, math team. I set my sights on MIT after watching the robot competition on television. I got in. Still the best decision I've made.
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 I do now.
I run technology at Immortals (formerly Blueprint by Bryan Johnson). I also follow part of the protocol myself and post my numbers.
How I lost the fat
Zone 2 at about 120 bpm, protein and lifting, and a deficit I could keep.
Read the fat-loss write-up →
Where I've worked.
After that: founder, then CTO, then bigger companies — Jenzabar, FreeCause, Rakuten, Amazon, Flexport, Built, Wonder, and now Immortals. I am also an angel investor and an MIT class officer. People still call me mitnerd. Some still say chenman.
The full history, with dates, is on Work.
Facts
A few numbers.
- Managing teams
- 27 years
- Since 1999.
- Programming
- 38 years
- Since 1988.
- B.S. EECS
- MIT Course 6
- 1996–2000. Minor in Chemistry. Concentration in Chinese.
Education
My MIT degree.
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.
Patents
Granted at Rakuten.
Three Japanese patents, plus a related U.S. one. 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.
BusinessWeek wrote about CampusCraze 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.
In the press
May 2020
Jul 2019
Flexport welcomes new CTO James
Flexport blog
Jun 2013
Feb 2013
Nikkei xTECH
January 11, 2013
January 2013
How to build & sell an Internet startup to Japan’s biggest web merchant, Rakuten
Beacon Reports
November 29, 1999
Business Week
Timeline
Life milestones.
Taiwan, then the Midwest, then MIT.
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 and community.
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.
FAQ
- Who is the CTO of Immortals?
- I am. I'm James Chen, CTO at Immortals. Before that, I was CTO at Wonder and Flexport.
- Is James Chen the CTO the same person as James Chen the actor?
- No. I'm the technology one: CTO at Immortals, MIT EECS, writing code since 1988. Not the actor from The Walking Dead and Iron Fist.
- Did James Chen found CampusCraze?
- Yes. I started CampusCraze in 1999 while at MIT. Jenzabar acquired it in March 2000.
- Where did James Chen go to school?
- MIT, B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (1996–2000).