allen lau

Imagine moving to a new country at 19 years old and going right into university, without being fully fluent in the language. That’s what Allen Lau did when his family moved to Canada from Hong Kong. He not only thrived in school, he went on to launch a company, Wattpad, that has millions of users all over the world and was sold in 2021 for a reported $750 million. In this episode, Allen tells us about a love of building things that started as a child with a pile of Lego, and his dream of becoming a rocket scientist. We learn that every overnight success story is actually a long, complicated journey with lots of ups and downs, trial and error, and many different iterations to get it right. Allen also explains how to go against conventional wisdom, why you shouldn't simply follow your passion and why the most important thing in life is finding joy on your terms.

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Since the dawn of humanity, humans have been enchanted and spellbound by the art of storytelling. Today, in a time characterized by the democratization of media, our ability to share stories has never been more powerful thanks to technology.

Leading the charge of the next generation of storytellers is Wattpad, led by co-founder Allen Lau. They’ve helped launch writing careers and have adapted user-generated stories into hit movies and TV shows. Needless to say, they know what it takes to tell a great story.

In today’s episode, Lance speaks with Allen about how (and why) he created Wattpad, the importance of telling diverse stories, and how they're using technology to unearth the next big thing.