Wayne Chang Explained

Wayne Chang
Birth Date:3 August 1983
Birth Place:Taipei, Taiwan
Nationality:American
Education:University of Massachusetts Amherst (BA)
Years Active:1991–present
Known For:Startups
Awards:Honorary PhD[1]
40 under 40

Wayne Chang (born August 3, 1983) is an American entrepreneur, angel investor, film producer, and philanthropist. He is best known for founding Crashlytics, a startup acquired by Twitter in 2013. He is also known for creating a filesharing network called i2hub, making various seed investments, and his lawsuit against the Winklevoss brothers.

Early life

Chang was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and grew up extremely poor on a farm in rural Taiwan. He immigrated to the United States at age 6, still short of cash. He wrote his first software program on the Apple IIe at age 7. While attending a high school in Haverhill, Massachusetts, he was involved with Napster, the first peer-to-peer filesharing platform. In 2005, Newsweek profiled Chang for his abilities in technology.[2] [3]

Education

Chang attended University of Massachusetts Amherst for his undergraduate degree..[4]

In 2003 and 2004, i2hub, created by Wayne in his UMass dorm, became his primary focus. With rapid growth and competition from Facebook, his business overtook academics.[5]

He dropped out of UMass to develop i2hub[6] and went on to invest in and work for more than 40 internet startups, including DraftKings and JetSmarter.[7]

In 2016, Chang was awarded an honorary doctorate by University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was also the featured Commencement Speaker for the 2016 graduating class.[8]

Career

Reasoner

Chang developed Reasoner as an advanced artificial intelligence system.[9] As his third AI company following Digits and Patented.ai, Reasoner addresses critical challenges in AI, particularly the inaccuracy and "hallucinations" associated with large language models (LLMs). Reasoner builds adaptive, knowledge graphs that automatically reconfigure as information changes. Reasoner’s core technology can be described as a neuro-symbolic AI.[10] Chang plans to release Reasoner’s software development kit in Q1 2024, allowing developers to integrate it into their own applications.[11]

Digits

Chang co-founded Digits with previous Crashlytics co-founder Jeff Seibert in 2018. Digits is developing advanced, real-time technology for businesses. In November 2019, Digits announced a $10.5 million Series A from Benchmark and 72 angels including Aaron Levie, Ali Rowghani, Anthony Noto, April Underwood, Brian Lee (entrepreneur), David Cancel, Dick Costolo, Jeff Orlowski, Jordan Fliegel, Justin Kan, Katie Jacobs Stanton, Katrina Lake, Kimber Lockhart, Michelle Dipp, Nat Friedman, and Sean Christie.[12] In April 2020 Digits announced it had raised $22 million Series B from GV and Benchmark.[13] In March 2022, Digits announced the close of its $65 million of Series C funding led by SoftBank with participation from Harry Stebbings' 20VC Growth, as well as GV and Benchmark.[14]

Crashlytics

Chang co-founded Crashlytics, a mobile company building crash reporting for iOS and Android, with Jeff Seibert in 2011.[15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

Crashlytics was acquired by Twitter in 2013 and then by Google in 2017 as part of its purchase of Twitter's developer tools including Crashlytics, Fabric, and Answers, which Wayne was also part of. [20] [21] He also served as Director of Product Strategy for Twitter. [22] [23] [24]

i2hub

Chang created i2hub in his dorm room at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He had started it in February 2003 for a month but shut it down due to its unpopularity. He then restarted it in March 2004, when he was better prepared for the traffic.[2] [25] [26] Traction was low compared to i2hub, and Facebook ultimately shut it down.[27] [28]

Due to legal pressure, on November 14, 2005, i2hub was shut down.[29] [30] [31]

Facebook, ConnectU, and Winklevoss lawsuits

On December 21, 2009, Chang and The i2hub Organization launched a lawsuit against ConnectU and its founders, seeking 50% of the settlement. The complaint says, "The Winklevosses and Howard Winklevoss filed [a] patent application, U.S. Patent Application No. 20060212395, on or around March 15, 2005, but did not list Chang as a co-inventor." It also states, "Through this litigation, Chang asserts his ownership interest in The Winklevoss Chang Group and ConnectU, including the settlement proceeds." Lee Gesmer of the firm Gesmer Updegrove posted the detailed 33-page complaint online.[32]

On May 13, 2011, it was reported that Judge Peter Lauriat made a ruling against the Winklevosses. The Winklevosses had argued that the court lacks jurisdiction because the settlement with Facebook has not been distributed and therefore Chang hasn't suffered any injury. Chang alleges that he has received nothing in return for the substantial benefits he provided to ConnectU, including the value of his work, as well as i2hub's users and goodwill." Lauriat also wrote that, although Chang's claims to the settlement are "too speculative to confer standing, his claims with respect to an ownership in ConnectU are not. They constitute an injury separate and distinct from his possible share of the settlement proceeds. The court concludes that Chang has pled sufficient facts to confer standing with respect to his claims against the Winklevoss defendants."[33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] A settlement was reached where Facebook acquired ConnectU for 1,253,326 shares of Facebook stock and an additional $20 million in cash.[41] [42] [43] [44]

Fabric

At Fabric, Chang co-founded and developed a mobile development platform that included a modular, cross-platform development suite with unified SDKs for iOS, Android, JavaScript, and C++. Within two years, the platform scaled to 2 billion active devices and served 225,000 developers.[45]

Films

Wicked Magic Productions

In 2017, Wayne Chang teamed up with Paul English (co-founder Kayak, sold to Priceline for ~$2 billion) to start Wicked Magic Productions. Their first movie together is Dear Dictator, a film starring Katie Holmes, Michael Caine, Jason Biggs, Seth Green and Odeya Rush.[46]

Chasing Coral

Chang is also an Associate Producer for award-winning climate change documentary Chasing Coral, which won an award at Sundance Film Festival in 2017.[47] [48] Netflix announced it had acquired the film at the festival and it is now a Netflix Original. It debuted on Netflix in July 2017.[49] [50] [51] [52] Movie review site Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 100% rating.

Frame by Frame

Prior to Chasing Coral, Chang is also an Associate Producer for award-winning documentary Frame by Frame. It premiered at SXSW in 2015 and subsequently went on to win many awards. The Hollywood Reporter called Frame by Frame "a work of profound immediacy, in sync with the photographers' commitment and hope" [53] and BBC Culture proclaimed "the film features photographers passionate about telling stories of the true identity of Afghanistan – whether they are newsworthy or not."[54] In 2016, Time, Inc acquired the documentary. It has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Awards

In media

In 2001, The Boston Globe profiled Chang in "e-Files," recognizing his early technological innovations.[68] In 2005, Newsweek included him in its issue "The College Vanguard: 15 Students You Don’t Know... But Will," highlighting Chang as a prominent college innovator. The same year, USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe reported on lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against users of i2hub, a file-sharing platform Chang co-created.[69] [70] [71]

In August 2005, Chang was profiled by Boston Globe's Business section, "Software wiz follows dream out of college".[72] In October 2005, The Daily Free Press wrote an article in their business section, "Wayne's World".In November 2005, the press, including MSNBC, BBC News and Boston Business Journal reported that Wayne Chang shut down i2hub.[73] [74] [75] [76] On December 14, 2010, ABC News wrote an article reporting on The Winklevoss Chang Group dispute, "Man Says Twins Who Sued Facebook 'Backstabbed' Him, Sues for Settlement Money".[77] On December 16, 2010, Time Magazine wrote an article on The Winklevoss Chang Group dispute, "Facebook Watch: Former Business Partner Sues the Winklevi".[78] [79] In January 2011, BusinessWire and TechCrunch reported that Chang invested in OnSwipe's $1M seed round, along with Spark Capital, SV Angel, Betaworks, Eniac Ventures, Morado Ventures, Dharmesh Shah, Jennifer Lum, and Roy Rodenstein.[80] [81] [82]

Notes and References

  1. News: Twitter Executive, Internet Entrepreneur Wayne Chang to be Commencement Speaker at UMass Amherst on May 6. 'UMASS Amherst News and Media Relations'.
  2. News: The Daily Free Press. Wayne's World. October 21, 2005. Anita Davis.
  3. News: Newsweek. The College Vanguard: 15 Students You Don't Know... But Will. https://web.archive.org/web/20050416032559/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7502379/site/newsweek/. dead. April 16, 2005.
  4. News: Wayne Chang . May 6, 2016 . Wayne Chang: Commencement Featured Speaker Address, 146th Commencement of the University of Massachusetts Amherst . UMASS .
  5. Web site: A Twitter Executive's Philosophy on Entrepreneurship : Isenberg School of Management : UMass Amherst . 2024-08-30 . www.isenberg.umass.edu.
  6. Web site: i2hub Shut Down for Good . 2025-01-21 . Columbia Daily Spectator.
  7. Web site: Williams . Michelle . 2016-04-21 . Twitter executive Wayne Chang to serve as University of Massachusetts Amherst commencement speaker . 2024-08-30 . masslive . en.
  8. Web site: Ashline . Shelby . Wayne Chang announced as UMass commencement speaker . 2024-08-30 . Massachusetts Daily Collegian.
  9. Web site: Wiggers . Kyle . 2024-12-14 . 'Reasoning' AI models have become a trend, for better or worse . 2025-01-21 . TechCrunch . en-US.
  10. Web site: Meyer . David . Why neurosymbolic AI could be the next big thing . 2025-01-21 . Fortune . en.
  11. Web site: Morales . Javier . 2024-12-04 . El Reasoner de Wayne Chang afirma grandes avances en la confiabilidad de la inteligencia artificial. . 2025-01-21 . es.
  12. News: Perez . Sarah . Stealth fintech startup Digits raises $10.5 million Series A from Benchmark and others . TechCrunch . November 6, 2019.
  13. Web site: The Embroker 200 Top Startups . October 12, 2020 . Embroker.
  14. Web site: jhaxell . 2022-03-25 . Digits hits $565m valuation ahead of first major product launch . 2025-01-21 . FinTech Global . en-GB.
  15. News: Crashlytics Raises $1 Million Led by Flybridge & Boston's Top Angels. October 13, 2011. BostInnovation. Gregory Gomer.
  16. News: Crashlytics, A Crash-Reporting Solution For Mobile Developers, Raises $1 Million. October 13, 2011. TechCrunch. Sarah Perez.
  17. News: Crashlytics details backers in recent $1M round. October 13, 2011. Mass High Tech. Rodney H. Brown.
  18. News: Crashlytics, A Startup For Crash Reporting on Mobile Apps, Raises $5M From Flybridge, Baseline. April 10, 2012. TechCrunch. Sarah Perez.
  19. Web site: Twitter Fabric now installed on 2 billion active devices. April 7, 2016. VentureBeat. July 30, 2017.
  20. Web site: Meyer . David . New AI company Reasoner claims big reliability breakthroughs . Fortune . en.
  21. News: Twitter's Purchase of Crashlytics & Bluefin Labs: Prices Confirmed Xconomy. October 4, 2013. Xconomy. July 30, 2017. en-US.
  22. Web site: Google acquires Fabric developer platform and team from Twitter TechCrunch. Constine. Josh. 18 January 2017 . July 30, 2017.
  23. Web site: Google has acquired most of Twitter's developer products, including Fabric and Crashlytics. Wagner. Kurt. January 18, 2017. Recode. July 30, 2017.
  24. Web site: Fabric is Joining Google. Fabric Blog. en-US. July 30, 2017.
  25. News: Martey Dodoo. Wirehog?. August 16, 2004. Martey Dodoo.
  26. News: Harvard Crimson. Zuckerberg Programs New Website. August 13, 2004. Alan J. Tabak.
  27. News: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Chang v. Winklevoss Complaint. January 18, 2010. Lee Gesmer.
  28. News: CNET News. Fresh legal woes for ConnectU founders. January 4, 2010. Caroline McCarthy.
  29. News: CNET News. Supercharged college P2P network closes. November 4, 2005. John Borland.
  30. News: Slyck. i2hub Shuts Down. November 15, 2005. Thomas Mennecke.
  31. News: All Business. File-Trading Network i2Hub Shuts Down. November 15, 2005. Antony Bruno.
  32. News: Mass Law Blog. The Road Goes on Forever, But the Lawsuits Never End: ConnectU, Facebook, Their Entourages. January 18, 2010. Lee Gesmer.
  33. News: Huffington Post. Wayne Chang's Suit Against Winklevoss Twins Can Proceed, Judge Rules. May 13, 2011. Bianca Bosker.
  34. News: The National Law Journal. May 13, 2011. Winklevoss Twins Loses Again in Court. Sheri Qualters.
  35. News: Winklevoss Twins Sued For Part Of Their Facebook Fortunes. https://web.archive.org/web/20110516051459/http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/05/13/winklevoss-twins-sued-facebook-fortunes/. dead. May 16, 2011. Fox News. May 13, 2011.
  36. News: Developer Sues Winklevoss Twins, Everybody Cheers. AllFacebook. May 13, 2011. Nick O'Neill. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120108050044/http://www.allfacebook.com/developer-sues-winklevoss-twins-everybody-cheers-2011-05. January 8, 2012.
  37. News: PC Magazine. Winklevoss Twins Face Lawsuit Over Facebook Funds. May 13, 2011. Chloe Albanesius.
  38. News: Bloomberg L.P.. Winklevoss Twins Face Suit Over Failed Alliance, Judge Says. Sophia Pearson. May 13, 2011.
  39. News: The Harvard Crimson. Lawsuit Threatens To Close Facebook. September 13, 2004. Timothy J. McGinn.
  40. News: Justia. The Facebook, Inc. v. Connectu, LLC et al. March 9, 2007. California Northern District Court.
  41. News: Business Insider. Facebook Paid ConnectU Founders $65 Million Settlement. February 10, 2009. Dan Frommer.
  42. News: The New York Times. ConnectU's 'Secret' $65 Million Settlement With Facebook. February 10, 2009. Brad Stone.
  43. Web site: Winklevoss twins prevail on summary judgment in Facebook suit – Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. masslawyersweekly.com. January 13, 2015 . September 16, 2017.
  44. New England In-House. 13. 1. Brandon Gee. Winklevoss double cross. February 20, 2015. 2. September 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170212164812/https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pageturnpro.com/Publications/201502/2399/62718/PDF/130692993820840000_neih2015.pdf. February 12, 2017.
  45. Web site: Wagner . Kurt . Google has acquired most of Twitter’s developer products, including Fabric and Crashlytics . Vox . 18 January 2017.
  46. News: Tech Titans Wayne Chang & Paul English Launch Wicked Magic Film Shingle. Fleming. Mike Jr.. April 6, 2017. Deadline. July 29, 2017. en-US.
  47. News: Sundance 2017 Awards: 'Dina' & 'Chasing Coral' Are Big Doc Winners. FirstShowing.net. July 29, 2017. en.
  48. Web site: Chasing Coral Trailer: Sundance Winner IndieWire. Sharf. Zack. www.indiewire.com. June 8, 2017 . en. July 29, 2017.
  49. News: Netflix Acquires Environmental Documentary 'Chasing Coral'. Lincoln. Ross A.. January 21, 2017. Deadline. July 29, 2017. en-US.
  50. Web site: Netflix Acquires Worldwide Rights to Chasing Coral at Sundance. Netflix Media Center. en. July 29, 2017.
  51. News: Sundance: Netflix Buys Global-Warming Doc 'Chasing Coral' (EXCLUSIVE). Lang. Ramin Setoodeh, Brent. January 21, 2017. Variety. July 29, 2017. en-US.
  52. News: Sundance: Netflix Takes 'Chasing Coral' Doc About the World's Coral Reefs. The Hollywood Reporter. July 29, 2017. en.
  53. News: 'Frame by Frame': SXSW Review. The Hollywood Reporter. July 29, 2017. en.
  54. Web site: Frame by Frame: Unseen Afghanistan. July 29, 2017.
  55. Web site: 40 Under 40: Wayne Chang of Twitter. www.bizjournals.com. December 19, 2016.
  56. Web site: Great Catches Improper Bostonian. www.improper.com. December 19, 2016.
  57. News: College dropout Twitter exec to speak at school's graduation. The Big Story. en-US. December 19, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160421202107/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/94e2a3136b024b17a10541e76ba69db0/college-dropout-twitter-exec-speak-schools-graduation. April 21, 2016. dead.
  58. News: College dropout from Haverhill UMass keynote speaker. Eagle-Tribune. December 19, 2016.
  59. News: Twitter exec tells UMass Amherst grads to 'hack the system' - The Boston Globe. BostonGlobe.com. December 19, 2016.
  60. News: Twitter executive Wayne Chang tells UMass graduates to 'hack the system'. masslive.com. December 19, 2016.
  61. News: Twitter Executive Wayne Chang Addresses 5,500 Graduates at UMass Amherst Commencement (with video). Office of News & Media Relations UMass Amherst. December 19, 2016.
  62. News: UMass grads told to 'make your own rules'. Goldscheider. Eric. May 6, 2016.
  63. Web site: Inspirational Quotes From 2016 Commencement Speakers. www.msn.com. December 19, 2016.
  64. News: The Boston Tech 30. Boston Magazine. en-US. December 19, 2016.
  65. Web site: The Top Entrepreneurs and VC's in Boston: NEVCA Names Award Finalists. BostInno. December 19, 2016.
  66. News: Meet the 2016 NEVYs Nominees: Angel of the Year - New England Venture Capital Association. May 17, 2016. New England Venture Capital Association. en-US. December 19, 2016.
  67. News: And the NEVYs Nominees Are... Angel of the Year - New England Venture Capital Association. May 8, 2015. New England Venture Capital Association. en-US. December 19, 2016.
  68. Web site: Wayne LinkedIn .
  69. News: Jefferson Graham . April 12, 2005 . College students face lawsuits on file sharing . USA Today.
  70. News: Frank Ahrens . April 13, 2005 . Music Industry Sues Hundreds of File Sharers at Colleges . The Washington Post.
  71. News: Hiawatha Bray . April 13, 2005 . Music Suits Hit Use of Fast Network . dead . https://archive.today/20130131204022/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/821029871.html?dids=821029871:821029871&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+13,+2005&author=Hiawatha+Bray,+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=MUSIC+SUITS+HIT+USE+OF+FAST+NETWORK&pqatl=google . January 31, 2013 . Boston Globe.
  72. News: Boston Globe. Software wiz follows dream out of college. Erika Lovely. August 25, 2005.
  73. News: NBC News. University file-sharing network shuts down. November 16, 2005.
  74. News: BBC News. High-speed college network closes. November 15, 2005 .
  75. News: Boston Business Journal. I2Hub shuts down after lawsuit threat. November 16, 2005 .
  76. News: August 19, 2009 . Entrepreneurial Spirit - Do you have it? . NAAAP.
  77. News: ABC News. Man Says Twins Who Sued Facebook 'Backstabbed' Him, Sues for Settlement Money. Ki Mae Heussner. December 14, 2010.
  78. News: Time Magazine. Facebook Watch: Former Business Partner Sues the Winklevi. December 16, 2010.
  79. News: New York Times. Winklevosses' Carry On Crusade Against Facebook. December 31, 2010. Miguel Heft.
  80. News: BusinessWire. OnSwipe Raises $1M for Insanely Simple Tablet Publishing Platform. January 13, 2011.
  81. News: TechCrunch. OnSwipe Raises, Like, A Million Dollars. Tsotsis. Alexia. Alexia Tsotsis. January 12, 2011.
  82. News: Onswipe. 9 Reasons Why You Need to Work At Onswipe.

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