John Mannes is an investor at Basis Set Ventures, a $136 million early stage venture capital fund focused on supporting startups leveraging machine learning to address big problems across industries. Prior to Basis Set Ventures, John was a TechCrunch writer covering machine intelligence startups, machine learning research and major AI initiatives from big tech. He also wrote for CrunchReport, a humorous daily digest of tech news that airs M-F at 4pm PST, and along with his colleagues helped to evaluate applications to the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield in San Francisco, London, and New York. 

Aside from TechCrunch, John has contributed to The Washington Post and Education Week, and his work has been profiled by NBC, The Washington Post, and Al Jazeera. John has taught workshops and moderated discussions on artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship at SXSW, accelerators and universities across the country. Additionally, he has consulted startups, including FiscalNote, named to CNNs top 10 startups of 2014, and Court Innovations, named a top 100 next-wave startup by GovTech magazine, on business development, market entry, and innovative growth practices. He also worked with both the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association and the Michigan Venture Capital Association to plan and execute pitch-competitions, report on investment activity, and support community events for founders and investors.  

John understands the all encompassing nature of entrepreneurship. The late-night budget-less push to convince a team to work to meet a goal has a special meaning to him. It is a personal place he found himself countless times within his advocacy and social venture projects. In 2012, John was elected to a seat on the Montgomery County Board of Education, the nation's 17th largest school district, where he represented nearly one million students, parents, teachers, and administrators and advocated the smart-allocation of the system’s $2.2 billion dollar operating budget. He pushed for technology modernization across over 200 schools and played a key role in organizing the passage of the Takoma Park Voting Rights Charter Amendment, that allowed 16 year olds to vote in municipal elections for the first time in U.S. history. The same year, John became the youngest appointee to the National School Boards Association's Federal Relations Network. As part of the group, he advocated for the use of social media by school system leaders across the country as a means of engaging with students. 

John has been honored by members of both the U.S. Congress and Maryland State House for his public service work. In his free time, John has volunteered to judge events for the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship - bridging his interests in technology and public education to expose students to the power of entrepreneurship.

John studied Cognitive Science at the University of Michigan.