Can Wattpad save reading?
A National Post article by Mark Medley:
In the fall of 2007, less than a year after Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen co-founded Wattpad, Lau sat across from his business partner and placed a cup of coffee on the table. “Last month, we earned $2 in revenue,” he told Yuen. “Just enough to buy this cup of coffee. We have to share. What are we going to do?”
Less than five years later, Wattpad is a darling of both the tech and publishing worlds, securing millions of dollars in venture funding and attracting endorsements from the likes of Margaret Atwood. It is a site where authors can share their work, encourage other writers, and potentially reach a massive audience. From the eighth floor of a nondescript office tower in north Toronto, Wattpad wants to do for writing what YouTube did for video.
“Gutenberg invented the printing press 400 years ago, and it’s about time to retire that invention,” Lau says, sitting at the Ping-Pong table in the company’s boardroom. “We want to invent something that can last that long. We want to be the next generation of the printing press.”