Kaiser Chair Talk Series Sponsored by IEEE PELS: From a Scientist to an Entrepreneur
Join Allen Lau as he shares his journey from scientist to entrepreneur, offering insights on navigating the challenges of building a transformative tech company and creating opportunities in the tech industry.
Allen Lau, Co-founder and former CEO of Wattpad, will discuss how he transformed a passion for science into leading Wattpad, a 100-million-user Al storytelling platform acquired for US$660M. Drawing from his experiences, he'll explore how scientists can navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship to chart their own path.
Date and Time
Location
Hosts
Registration
- Date: 16 Jan 2025
- Time: 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM
- All times are (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
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- 2332 Main Mall
- Vancouver, British Columbia
- Canada V6T 1Z4
- Building: Kaiser
- Room Number: KAIS 2020/2030
- Starts 09 January 2025 08:00 AM
- Ends 16 January 2025 02:00 PM
- All times are (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Allen Lau of Two Small Fish Ventures
Biography:
Allen Lau is Co-founder and Operating Partner at Two Small Fish Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on the next frontier in computing and its applications. The firm is renowned for writing the crucial ‘first cheque’ to promising startups that later became world-class companies.
He is also the Co-founder and former CEO of Wattpad, the world’s leading social storytelling platform. Allen directed a global team to leverage AI and data to disrupt the entertainment industry. Under his leadership from 2006 to 2022, Wattpad grew into a community of 100 million users, raised US$120 million from top VCs around the world, and realized a successful exit in a transaction valued at more than US$660 million in 2021.
Allen received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Toronto’s Electrical Engineering program. In 2020, he was inducted into the Engineering Alumni Hall of Distinction at the University of Toronto.