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A Candid Conversation with Founder of Wattpad Allen Lau
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Allen Lau of Wattpad presents the Evolution of an Entrepreneur
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Wattpad: Entertainment industry disruptor or partner? | Allen Lau (Wattpad)
Watch on YouTube ↗First seen on the TechTO stage in 2016. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Allen ↗
In their words
When you are on a rocket ship, don't ask for a seat number — just go. And you can learn so much.
If you want to invest in Wattpad, and I want you to invest in Wattpad, you come to Toronto. I'm not going to move. I want to build this company here. I believe this is the best place to build a tech company.
One of the main reasons Silicon Valley could become where they are today is because the entrepreneurs, when they're done, when they sold the last company or IPO'd, they all became venture capitalists. That's how they recycle the capital, recycle the knowledge and the know-how. And guess what — we didn't do it in Canada.
the best product that you want to build is not necessarily the product — the best product that you want to build is yourself
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Quick answers
What does Allen Lau do now?
He is co-founder and operating partner at Two Small Fish Ventures, the early-stage deep tech fund he started with his wife Eva Lau, who is its general partner. He is not Wattpad's CEO — he stepped down in May 2022, and by 2024 said publicly he was no longer involved with Wattpad at all. He also sits on the boards of MaRS Discovery District and OpenMind Research Institute.
Why did Allen Lau refuse to move Wattpad to Silicon Valley?
He told TechTO that when he raised the Series B over a decade ago, the norm was that a large round required relocating your headquarters and your life to the Valley — VCs didn't ask if he was coming, they asked when. He said no: 'you come to Toronto. I'm not going to move.' He added that as of the 2022 talk he had never had a single staff member in the Valley.
What does Two Small Fish Ventures invest in?
Early-stage deep tech — the firm frames it as the next frontier of computing and its applications, across vertical AI platforms, physical AI, AI infrastructure, advanced computing hardware, and smart energy. Portfolio names include BenchSci, Ada, SkipTheDishes, Printify, Sheertex, Ideogram, Story Protocol, Blumind, and Qubic.