Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to Wattpad cutc feb_4_2012
Similar to Wattpad cutc feb_4_2012 (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Wattpad cutc feb_4_2012
- 1. Entrepreneur? Me? Allen Lau allen@wattpad.com wattpad.com/allenlau @allenlau Unlimited Stories
- 2. LET ME FIRST INTRODUCE MYSELF
- 3. LET ME FIRST INTRODUCE MYSELF • My name is Allen Lau • I am a serial entrepreneur • Currently CEO and co-founder, Wattpad • Before Wattpad, I was CEO and co-founder, FeedM8 – Mobile advertising company, acquired by Upstream Systems • Before FeedM8, I was CTO and co-founder, Tira Wireless – Leading mobile content publishing and deployment company – Raised $30M from Venture Capital – Grew from 2 co-founders to 200+ employees – 4th fastest growing wireless company, Deloitte Fast 50
- 5. WHAT IS WATTPAD? The largest online community of readers and writers Our investors: • Union Square Ventures • Golden Venture Partners Recent Awards: • Deloitte Impact Infused Top Entrepreneur • #1 amongst digital media companies in the Canadian Innovation Exchange • Best Overall Canadian Startup of 2011
- 6. OUR GOAL
- 7. OUR GOAL It’s a new form of entertainment
- 8. Video Photos Sound 140 Images Stories characters (and other (and other short-form long-form content) content) Social Media / User Generated Content
- 9. KEY METRICS
- 10. KEY METRICS • 2.6 billion minutes time spent by Time Spent (million minutes) users Q4 2011 3000 • Usage doubles every 6 months • 7M monthly unique users 2500 • 30 minutes per visit (US, UK, CA, AU, etc.) 2000 • 300,000 monthly uploads 1500 • 3M cumulative uploads 1000 • 3M monthly comments and votes • Top ranked eReading app in all 500 major app stores (#1 in App World, Top 10 in App Store, etc.) 0 Web Mobile
- 12. ENTREPRENEUR? ME? – You are likely to fail, and it’s okay – Think big – Make the world a better place – Start young
- 13. YOU ARE LIKELY TO FAIL, AND THAT’S OKAY
- 14. YOU ARE LIKELY TO FAIL, AND THAT’S OKAY • Over 90% of startups fail • The journey is as important as the destiny • My companies – Tira Wireless (burnt $30M) – FeedM8 (almost ran out of $ before being acquired) – Wattpad (with no traction, we almost pulled the plug) • You can learn a lot in a very short period of time – Not possible if you work for a large company
- 15. THINK BIG
- 16. THINK BIG • Internet is a volume game – 4 billion mobile phones • Big market – Don’t create an app for Toronto Mongolian food lovers • Disruptive ideas – New business model? New process? New technology? – Education, transportation, clean tech etc. – Wattpad vs traditional publishing
- 17. MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
- 18. MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE • Think big ≠ Megaupload • Possible to maintain a balance between doing social good and making a dime • The Wattpad story – Improve literacy rate in Africa – Help students to improve their writing skill – Encourage young people to read more
- 19. START YOUNG
- 20. START YOUNG • My own mistake • Easier to innovate – No preconception of how things work • If it fails, you can always go back to your parents! • But don’t be a dropout
- 21. IF YOU CAN ONLY REMEMBER ONE THING
- 22. IF YOU CAN ONLY REMEMBER ONE THING • Start your own company • If not feasible, the next best thing is to work for a great startup – Work for a single startup might be risky, work in the “startup” industry is not risky • Experience you won’t regret
- 23. Thank You! allen@wattpad.com wattpad.com/allenlau @allenlau BTW, we are hiring Allen Lau CEO and co-founder