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James Chenmitnerd
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Work

Building what comes next.

I get to lead technology at companies that change how the world works — a shipment that arrives, a meal that reaches the table, a construction project that gets funded, a health protocol someone can actually follow. Then I build the teams that keep inventing, and I still get a charge out of that.

I have been programming since 1990 and leading teams since 1999. Those years are confidence, not a finish line. The industries have grown. The joy of making something work at scale has only gotten bigger.

  1. 01 · Now

    Health, designed as a system you can follow

    Immortals is the current chapter, and I am thrilled to be here. The company was Blueprint by Bryan Johnson; the mission grew with the name. We are building clear, science-backed protocols so people can live longer and healthier. I work remotely from Short Hills and Millburn, and I love shipping with this team.

  2. 02 · Food

    Great food, closer to every table

    Wonder was about making great food more accessible — kitchens, software, and a promise that dinner arrives. I was CTO from March 2024 through February 2026, and I am proud of what we built. Getting great food closer to the table is a problem I still love.

  3. 03 · Construction

    Capital that keeps pace with the jobsite

    Built Technologies sits in construction finance: draws, budgets, and the systems that help a project rise. I led technology there between Flexport and Wonder, from Nashville, remotely from Kirkland. I loved the concreteness of that work — software that helps a building actually go up.

  4. 04 · Trade

    Global trade, made clearer

    Flexport first, Amazon before that. Global trade and logistics are physical systems lifted by software — ocean, air, parcels, and the exceptions that make a network intelligent. At Amazon I led technology for Global Logistics and Amazon Shipping. At Flexport I was CTO, building toward an operating system for freight. Those years are why I speak about supply chains with such energy, and I am still proud of how much we made clearer.

  5. 05 · Commerce

    Tokyo, San Francisco, and a loyalty platform

    I joined Rakuten when they acquired FreeCause, the consumer loyalty platform I led as CTO. After August 2009 I stayed — San Francisco first as executive officer and CTO of LinkShare Labs, then Tokyo as senior executive officer. Ichiba, smart devices, core services, infrastructure, cross-border; later Digital Content and the FinTech Fund. Membership, points, payments — the layers that make a marketplace feel instant. Three patents granted in those years still live on Google Patents: a store that can counter-offer when you try to buy cheaper online, and coupons you drop on the map tiles you actually walked. Tokyo and San Francisco still light me up.

  6. 06 · Start

    A college portal, then eight years of building

    CampusCraze started in August 1999: a web portal for the 18–24 market, a product we shipped. Jenzabar acquired it in July 2000. BusinessWeek wrote it down. I stayed eight years — portal development, then new application development, then CTO and VP of Technology, with five acquired product lines and a team that grew to about a hundred. Higher education taught me how to bring many products onto one vision. Shipping that first company, then growing the craft for eight years, is a chapter I still smile about.

  7. 07 · Earlier

    The lab, then the internships

    The path began at the MIT Media Lab — Software Agents and News in the Future — Market Maker, 3-D chess, image encoding, Zwrap. Then a Microsoft test-engineering summer on Visual InterDev, Merrill Lynch, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, including Major League Baseball. Those years made me an engineer who loves to stand in front of a room and invite people into the next idea. I still love that feeling.

The full path

Immortals is the current chapter, and I am thrilled to be here. Wonder ran through February 2026. The Media Lab and internships are at the bottom.

  1. Mar 2026 – present

    Chief Technology Officer · ImmortalsNow

    Human healthLos Angeles, remote from Short Hills, NJ

    Help humans live longer and healthier. Formerly Blueprint by Bryan Johnson. Clear, science-backed protocols you can follow.

    • Product and technology for science-backed longevity protocols.

  2. Mar 2024 – Feb 2026

    Chief Technology Officer · Wonder

    FoodNew York

    Make great food more accessible. Mealtime as a system — kitchens, software, and a promise that dinner shows up. That chapter closed in February 2026.

    • Primary destination for mealtime — the systems behind a food company at scale.

  3. Jan 2023 – Mar 2024

    Chief Technology Officer · Built Technologies

    Construction financeNashville, remote from Kirkland, WA

    Improving the way the world gets built — draws, budgets, and the systems that keep construction moving.

    • Construction finance: the infrastructure that helps a building rise on time.

  4. Jul 2019 – Nov 2022

    Chief Technology Officer · Flexport

    Global tradeSan Francisco1,800+ people

    Make global trade easier for everyone. Led the Marker organization. The operating system for freight.

    • CTO of Flexport’s Marker organization at 1,800-plus people.

  5. Apr 2016 – Jul 2019

    Director of Technology, Amazon Global Logistics / Amazon Shipping · Amazon

    LogisticsSeattle340,000+ people

    Product and technology vision for global logistics and Amazon Shipping. Build the teams that execute it — large-scale movement, on the clock.

    • Product and technology vision for Amazon Global Logistics and Amazon Shipping.
    • Built and managed the product and technology teams that executed it.

  6. Sep 2011 – Mar 2016

    Senior Executive Officer · Rakuten

    Global commerceTokyo10,000+ people

    Part of the global development management team. Senior Executive Officer from January 2014. Three Japanese patents granted in those years — showrooming defense and location-based coupons.

    • Technology advisor, FinTech Fund (2015–2016).
    • Head of Digital Content, Media and Marketing product and technology (2015–2016).
    • Smart Device Technologies; development-process optimization; global infrastructure and operations.
    • Group Core Services: membership, points, coupon, email, payment, data warehouse.
    • Cross-border trading. Rakuten Ichiba (ecommerce).

    Patents

    Granted work from the Rakuten years — ideas I am proud we shipped into the patent office. Each number opens Google Patents.

    1. 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

      If you photograph an item in a physical store and then try to buy it cheaper online, the store gets a chance to counter-offer — a discount, points — on your phone. Showrooming defense for real shops.

      Udana Bandara, James Chen (ジェームス チェン)Rakuten, Inc.

      US 9,898,757 B2 · granted February 20, 2018. Retail time location based bargaining system for physical stores to compete against online retailers

    2. JP 5959744 B2Granted August 2, 2016

      Advertisement system, advertisement processing device

      広告システム、広告処理装置

      Location-based electronic coupons. You drop a coupon onto real-world map tiles around where you actually are — including neighboring tiles, so you do not have to cross the intersection. Others pick it up when they are in that tile. Stops indiscriminate map-spam while keeping it convenient.

      Udana Bandara, Alex Chia, James ChenRakuten, Inc.

    3. JP 5959745 B2Granted August 2, 2016

      Advertisement system, advertisement processing device

      広告システム、広告処理装置

      Sibling of JP 5959744 B2. Coupons can only be dropped on map tiles you actually walked through — a past GPS trail — so you have to have been there. Stops pinning ads on random streets you never visited.

      Udana Bandara, Alex Chia, James ChenRakuten, Inc.

  7. Feb 2010 – Sep 2011

    Executive Officer · Rakuten

    Global commerceSan Francisco

    Joined through the FreeCause acquisition. The San Francisco side of a global internet company.

    • Executive Officer of Rakuten (2011–2013).
    • CTO of LinkShare Labs (2010–2012).
    • Technology advisor to the board (2010–2011).

  8. May 2008 – Feb 2010

    Chief Technology Officer · FreeCause

    LoyaltyBoston30 people

    Joined a small team to build the platform and grow engineering. Acquired by Rakuten USA in August 2009. Stayed through the handoff.

    • Hired the additional development staff the company needed.
    • Designed the next-generation framework for FreeCause’s web products and trained the team onto it.
    • Client implementations, enhancements, and the refactoring that follows a fast-growth product.

  9. Mar 2000 – Apr 2008

    Chief Technology Officer / VP of Technology · Jenzabar

    Higher educationBoston250 people

    Joined via CampusCraze. Eight years aligning five acquired product lines and their teams onto one vision.

    • Manager of Portal Development (2000–2001), then Director of New Application Development (2002–2003), then CTO and VP of Technology (2003–2008).
    • About a hundred people in product. A $9.8 million budget.
    • Next-generation campus portal (Jenzabar Internet Campus Solution). Java ERP and .NET portal work. Business intelligence.
    • Migrations off AS/400, OpenVMS, and UNIX. Partners included Microsoft, IBM, Cognos, Oracle, Sun.

  10. Aug 1999 – Jul 2000

    Founder & CEO · CampusCraze

    College internetCambridge, MA20 people

    Founded a web portal for the 18–24 market — ecommerce connecting students to marketers. Acquired by Jenzabar in July 2000. BusinessWeek wrote it down.

    • Vision, business plan, revenue model, and the programming itself.
    • Led the company through the Jenzabar acquisition.

  11. 1999

    Project Consultant · PricewaterhouseCoopers

    ConsultingNew YorkMajor League Baseball

    Microsoft technology specialist on the Major League Baseball project.

    • Design specs for MLB’s internal contract-management system.
    • Development environment, module conventions, and a bug-tracking process for the consulting team.

  12. 1999

    Technology Leadership Intern · Merrill Lynch

    FinanceNew York

    Technology Leadership intern. A summer building tools on Oracle inside a global bank.

    • FTP pipeline linking investment profiles to an ecommerce site.
    • A knowledge-sharing prototype after mapping how information actually moved internally.

  13. 1999

    Software Test Engineer · Microsoft

    Developer toolsRedmond

    Visual InterDev. The first big-company engineering summer.

    • Test-breakout automation for Design-Time Controls.
    • Sample InterDev 6.0 apps — runner-up in the application-building contest.
    • Moved the automation engine from Visual Basic 5 to 6. Widgets that sped up the test team.

  14. 1996 – 1999

    Software Developer and Researcher · MIT Media Laboratory

    ResearchCambridge, MA

    Software Agents and News in the Future. Research that still reads like product work.

    • Market Maker — backend algorithms for an ecommerce site.
    • A 3-D chess package tied to online newspapers.
    • Image encoding (Patchwork, texture mapping, affine invariance).
    • Zwrap — the UI for an experimental personalized newspaper. Maintained the lab’s Java DT library.