The Story of Wattpad
October 31, 2024

The Story of Wattpad

Featuring:

From the wild west of user generated content to a global entertainment company.

“I would absolutely attribute some of our successes to like building this company in Canada and not anywhere else.”

On this episode in the Pender Ventures series on great Canadian technology companies, Maria Pacella, Managing Partner, hosts Co-Founder and Operating Partner of Two Small Fish Ventures, Allen Lau. In 2006, Allen co-founded Wattpad, a technology company for storytellers and their stories, which went on to be acquired by South Korean internet giant, Naver in 2021.  

Wattpad provided a platform where creators could access and receive real time feedback from millions of users and build large follower bases.  

Maria and Allen have a fantastic conversation about the evolution of digital storytelling, from launching during the “wild wild west of the early years of user generated content”, to fighting off the competition and capitalizing on technological shifts to build a global entertainment platform that people not only wanted to pay to use but loved to use.

Key Takeaways

[02:26] Evolving from a simple storytelling platform to a global entertainment company – what were some of the pivotal moments along the way?
[06:46] Growing the commercial engine while maintaining the user authenticity – “how we can monetize natively without sacrificing the high engagement”.
[13:05] Are we close to storytelling influencing social movements and cultural change?
[16:10] Why being based in Canada has been key to Wattpad being able to build a global business.
[19:15] The rise of the creative economy – “we are only seeing the beginning…”.
[21:16] AI: The good and the bad – helping creative people to become more creative.
[24:36] An investor’s perspective: With the rise of new technologies, how does Wattpad see the future of storytelling?
[26:52] Lessons learned along the way to acquisition.
[31:14] Key takeaways and lessons for founders today – the “many scars”, the “third act”, being “unrecognizable to yourself”.
[34:55] Other advantages and trade-offs to building your company in Canada.
[38:22] Navigating the Canadian VC ecosystem for financing and the psychology of catching up to US VCs.
[42:44] Adopting the learning at Two Small Fish Ventures.
[48:06] Closing content recommendation.

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