John Harthorne

An innovative and results-oriented entrepreneur, John Harthorne is the co-founder and CEO of MassChallenge, the largest and most startup-friendly non-profit accelerator on the planet. He is on a mission to catalyze a startup renaissance by restoring creativity to the soul of the economy, and he has more than a decade of experience with top-tier strategy, technology, and startups to back him up in his goal. As of early 2019, MassChallenge’s 1,975+ startups have raised $4.3B+ in funding, generated $2.5B+ in revenue and created more than 121,000 jobs. John has a track record of successfully leading teams, empowering his colleagues to achieve their full potential, solving problems, developing services, driving sales growth, and pioneering leading-edge ideas. He holds a BA in German literature and chemistry from Bowdoin, an MA in European Political Culture from the Humboldt University Berlin, and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.