# Dr. William R. Polkinghorn

> William R. Polkinghorn is a San Francisco-based entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Need, and former co-founder and CEO of Driver. A Colby College graduate and Rhodes Scholar, he attended Oxford and Harvard Medical School. His public career includes Driver’s 2018 closure and subsequent company building with Need.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Need
- **Organizations:** Need, Driver, Colby College, University of Oxford, Harvard Medical School, The Taft School
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Postgraduate school year, The Taft School, B.A.; chemistry and religious studies, Colby College, University of Oxford, Brasenose College, M.D., Harvard Medical School
- **Known for:** Rhodes Scholarship, 1999 cohort., Phi Beta Kappa, Colby College, class of 1999., Co-founded Driver.

## Career timeline

- **1995** — Completed a postgraduate year at The Taft School; played varsity baseball.
- **1998** — Named among the American Rhodes Scholars selected for 1999.
- **1999** — Graduated from Colby; listed as a Phi Beta Kappa member with chemistry and religious studies majors.
- **2006** — Graduated from Harvard Medical School.
- **2015** — Co-founded Driver with Petros Giannikopoulos.
- **2018-09** — Driver launched publicly in the United States and China.
- **2018-10** — Driver ceased operations and laid off approximately 85 employees.
- **2023-07** — Appeared in Japan-U.S. Research Collaboration Week materials as Need co-founder and CEO.
- **2024-10** — Listed with Need in the UnlockJAPAN program in Tokyo.

## Achievements

- Rhodes Scholarship, 1999 cohort.
- Phi Beta Kappa, Colby College, class of 1999.
- Co-founded Driver.
- Co-founder and CEO of Need.

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — A published account of Nisha Shariff’s LinkedIn post described a visit by Polkinghorn and a Need colleague to discuss potential collaboration.
- **2024-10** — The UnlockJAPAN agenda listed him in a session about launching a global company in Asia.

## Links

- Website: https://www.need.ai/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willpolkinghorn

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/william-polkinghorn
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23