Brian Wong Explained

Brian Wong
Birth Date:14 April 1991
Occupation:Founder and former CEO of Kiip

Brian Wong (born April 14, 1991) is a Canadian Internet entrepreneur. In 2010, Wong co-founded Kiip (pronounced "keep"), a company offering a mobile app rewards platform through which computer game players would receive real-world rewards from brands and companies for in-game achievements.

He was replaced as Kiip CEO in March 2019 after being indicted for sexual assault.[1]

Early life and education

Wong was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, to parents of Hong Kong descent. His father was an accountant and his mother was a nurse.[2] He received his high school diploma at the age of 14, after twice skipping two grades at the University Transition Program at the University of British Columbia (UBC).[3] Wong received a bachelor's degree from UBC at the age of 18.[4] While at university, Wong launched his first company, FollowFormation, which Mashable called "the easiest way to follow the top Twitterers by subject matter or topic."[5] [6] [7] One of his most recent ventures, Kiip, made him one of the youngest internet entrepreneurs to raise venture capital.[8]

In 2010, Wong worked in business development for the news aggregator Digg, leading the development and release of the Digg Android Mobile App. Soon after a joining and after a disastrous redesign, Digg had a round of corporate layoffs. Wong was let go after five months, an experience that eventually led to him opening his own business.

Kiip

Wong received the initial inspiration for Kiip on an airplane at age 19 as he observed his fellow passengers interacting with their iPads.[9] [10] He noticed that many passengers were playing games, and felt that the games' advertisements took up screen space without adding any real value.[10] Because he perceived that games are a "holy grail of achievement", Wong wanted to leverage key moments of achievement—such as level ups and high scores—with a targeted, relevant rewards program that enabled brands to reach consumers when they were most engaged.[3] [4] [11]

In July 2010, Wong teamed with his fellow former Digg employees Courtney Guertin and their mutual friend Amadeus Demarzi to found Kiip.[12] As of 2017, Kiip was sending achievement-based rewards such as coupons to 100 million consumers per month,[13] and had raised more than $32 million of venture capital from various sources, including Relay Ventures, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, True Ventures, Verizon Ventures, and Crosslink Capital.[14] Kiip has offices in San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Tokyo and London.[15] The company established strategic partnerships with more than 40 major brands, including 1-800-Flowers, Amazon.com, American Apparel, Best Buy, Carl's Jr., Disney, Dr. Pepper, GNC, KY Jelly, Pepsi, Playboy, Popchips, Sephora, Victoria's Secret, and Vitamin Water.[16] [17] [18] Kiip was on track to do more than $20 million in revenue in 2017.[19]

In March 2019, after Wong was accused of sexual assault, Kiip replaced Wong as CEO.[20] His removal came after an indefinite leave of absence, with Kiip CRO Bill Alena serving as interim CEO in his stead.[21]

Recognitions

In 2010, Wong became one of the youngest company leaders to ever receive funding from a venture capital firm.[22] [23] He was called a self-made millionaire by the time he was 20 years old.[24] By 2012 he had spoken at several popular conferences, including TEDx and South by Southwest.[25] [26] Wong and Kiip were profiled in such global publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Inc. Magazine,[22] [16] [27] [28] [29] and he was on the cover of the September 2014 issue of Entrepreneur as one of the young millionaires changing the world.[30] Wong was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Social/Mobile list in 2011.[31]

Publications

Wong is the author of The Cheat Code: Going Off Script to Get More, Go Faster, and Shortcut Your Way to Success, a book that is "aimed at helping young people just starting their careers".[32] It was published in September 2016.[33]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Schiff . Allison . Kiip Brings On New Chief In Wake Of Sexual Assault Charges Against Former CEO Brian Wong . 1 May 2020 . AdExchanger . 18 March 2019.
  2. Web site: Grasshopper . Entrepreneur Spotlight: Brian Wong . https://web.archive.org/web/20121106035940/http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/09/entrepreneur-spotlight-brian-wong/ . November 6, 2012 . dead.
  3. Web site: Rose . Kevin . Foundation 05 // Brian Wong . Foundation . April 2011.
  4. http://www.sramanamitra.com/2012/04/05/building-the-worlds-first-mobile-rewards-network-brian-wong-20-year-old-founder-of-kiip-part-1/ Building the World's First Mobile Rewards Network: Brian Wong, 20-Year-Old Founder of Kiip
  5. Web site: Newman . Kira . 20-Year-old Entrepreneur Brian Wong: 'Try to change shit up' . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120630184841/http://techcocktail.com/brian-wong-2012-03#.T_eH7ytYsUV . 2012-06-30 . TechCocktail . March 13, 2012.
  6. Web site: Van Grove . Jennifer . Followformation: Quickly Follow Dozens of Categorized Twitter Users . . July 14, 2009.
  7. Shaw, Gillian. Entrepreneur at 18: Followformation.com founder Brian Wong . The Vancouver Sun. April 12, 2010.
  8. Web site: Archived copy . 2012-11-22 . 2013-04-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130413191226/http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Alumni/~/media/4B7659214A594A42AC9A7F65CE37B5B8.ashx . dead .
  9. Web site: Newman . Kira . Brian Wong to Young Entrepreneurs: 'Assume no one gives a shit about you' . https://web.archive.org/web/20120630162601/http://techcocktail.com/brian-wong-to-young-entrepreneurs-assume-that-nobody-gives-a-shit-about-you-interview-2012-04#.T-UYrytYsUV . 2012-06-30 . Tech Cocktail . April 18, 2012.
  10. Tsotsi, Alexia. Kiip’s Brian Wong On Taking Risks As Young Entrepreneur. TechCrunch. April 12, 2011.
  11. Kim, Ryan. Kiip Pushes Real Rewards, Not Ads on Mobile Gamers. GigaOM. April 11, 2011.
  12. Tsotsis, Alexia. "19 Year Old Kiip Founder Closes 300K Angel Round For Mobile In-Game Ad Startup". TechCrunch. October 27, 2010.
  13. Web site: Game On: Lunch with Brian Wong, co-founder of online rewards platform Kiip . BCBusiness . February 27, 2017 . July 6, 2017 .
  14. Dickey Megan Rose. Kiip, a Mobile Rewards Startup, Raises $12 Million in Series C. TechCrunch. July 19, 2016.
  15. Grant, Rebecca. Kiip raises $11M to reward users for everyday life. VentureBeat. July 17, 2012.
  16. [Ryan Holiday|Holiday, Ryan]
  17. Tsotsis, Alexia. Kiip: A Win-Win for App Developers and Advertisers. Entrepreneur. March 9, 2012.
  18. Kim, Ryan. Rewards provider Kiip grabs $11M to go after consumers. GigaOM. July 17, 2012.
  19. Web site: How to find your superpower, according to a 26-year-old CEO and self-made millionaire . . May 16, 2017 . July 6, 2017 . Catherine . Clifford .
  20. Web site: Kiip Replaces CEO Brian Wong After Sexual Assault Indictment. Swant. Marty. 2019-03-20. www.adweek.com. en-US. 2020-02-11.
  21. News: Schiff . Allison . Kiip Brings On New Chief In Wake Of Sexual Assault Charges Against Former CEO Brian Wong . 1 May 2020 . AdExchanger . 18 March 2019.
  22. McMahan, Ty. Betting Venture Capital On An Unproven 19-Year-Old. Wall Street Journal. August 6, 2010.
  23. Arrington, Michael. True Ventures Invests In 19 Year Old Entrepreneur Brian Wong. TechCrunch. August 3, 2010.
  24. Web site: 26-year-old self-made millionaire: This is the one thing that people don't understand about what it takes to be successful . CNBC Make It . July 10, 2017 . July 27, 2017 .
  25. Web site: TEDxYouth@Castilleja - BRIAN WONG. Dec 10, 2010. YouTube.
  26. Web site: Brian Wong - Kiip CEO & Founder at SXSW 2012. March 12, 2012. YouTube.
  27. News: Vega. Tanzina. Tanzina Vega. Using Prizes to Reach Video Game Players on Their Phones. The New York Times. December 23, 2011.
  28. Web site: Brian Wong, founder of Kiip.me. 20 July 2011. Inc.. 29 June 2012.
  29. Takahashi, Dean. Kiip expands beyond games to rewarding fitness “moments”. Venture Beat. March 22, 2012.
  30. News: Ankeny. Jason. Young Millionaires: How These Entrepreneurs Under 30 Are Changing the World. September 2014. August 20, 2014.
  31. Web site: 30 Under 30: Social/Mobile . Forbes . December 19, 2011 . May 26, 2017 .
  32. Web site: 26-year-old CEO shares his No. 1 trick for getting noticed by the world's top companies . CNBC . June 19, 2017 . July 6, 2017 .
  33. Web site: A 25-year-old CEO shares 9 career secrets every young person should know . CNBC . September 23, 2016 . May 26, 2017 .

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