Wesley Chan
Encyclopedia
Wesley Chan is an early employee at Google Inc. and is currently an investment partner at Google Ventures
, the financial investment fund of the global search company. He has led investments in and sits on the Board of Directors
of software/web startups, cleantech companies, and biotech firms.
and completed his graduate research in the Personal Information Architecture group at the MIT Media Lab
.
and Google Voice
. Chan led and managed the acquisitions of Urchin Software Corporation
and GrandCentral
Communications which became the foundation and inspiration for the Google Analytics and Google Voice services.
Among the projects he has led or founded while at Google include:
Chan was also a research lead at HP Labs
in Palo Alto, CA and was a software engineer at Microsoft
and Fujitsu
.
for his work on building the Google Toolbar
and growing it into one of the most installed client products in the world.
He was selected by Technology Review
Magazine as one of their top "35 under 35" TR35
innovators in 2010 for his work on starting and building Google Voice and Google Analytics.
Chan also holds five US patents from his work on developing display advertising products and designing public WiFi access points for Google.
Google Ventures
Google Ventures is the venture capital investment arm of Google Inc. that makes financially driven investments in technology companies. Google Ventures seeks to invest in start-up companies in a variety of fields ranging from Internet, software, and hardware to clean-tech, bio-tech, and health...
, the financial investment fund of the global search company. He has led investments in and sits on the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of software/web startups, cleantech companies, and biotech firms.
Early life and education
Chan holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in computer science and electronic engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and completed his graduate research in the Personal Information Architecture group at the MIT Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
.
Career
He also founded and launched Google AnalyticsGoogle Analytics
Google Analytics is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. The product is aimed at marketers as opposed to webmasters and technologists from which the industry of web analytics originally grew. It is the most widely used website...
and Google Voice
Google voice
Search by voice is a branded name for a technology to "search by voice on your [digital device]", such as a mobile phone or PC, i.e. have the device search for data upon entering information on what to search into the device by speaking....
. Chan led and managed the acquisitions of Urchin Software Corporation
Urchin Software Corporation
Urchin Software Corporation was a web analytics company based in Southern California. In April 2005, the company was purchased by Google.-Corporate history:Urchin was founded by Paul Muret and Scott Crosby in December 1995 in San Diego, California...
and GrandCentral
GrandCentral
Google Voice is a telecommunications service by Google launched on March 11, 2009. Google Voice had some 1.4 million users in October 2009, 570,000 of whom used the service 7 days a week...
Communications which became the foundation and inspiration for the Google Analytics and Google Voice services.
Among the projects he has led or founded while at Google include:
- The acquisitions of Urchin Software CorporationUrchin Software CorporationUrchin Software Corporation was a web analytics company based in Southern California. In April 2005, the company was purchased by Google.-Corporate history:Urchin was founded by Paul Muret and Scott Crosby in December 1995 in San Diego, California...
and Measure Map which became the Google AnalyticsGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Analytics is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. The product is aimed at marketers as opposed to webmasters and technologists from which the industry of web analytics originally grew. It is the most widely used website...
service. - Google ToolbarGoogle ToolbarGoogle Toolbar is an Internet browser toolbar only available for Internet Explorer and Firefox .-Google Toolbar 1.0 December 11, 2000:New features:*Direct access to the Google search functionality from any web page*Web Site search...
2.0 and led the design of Google's popup ads blocker. - The acquisition of GrandCentralGrandCentralGoogle Voice is a telecommunications service by Google launched on March 11, 2009. Google Voice had some 1.4 million users in October 2009, 570,000 of whom used the service 7 days a week...
Communications, a web telephony service that became the foundation and inspiration for Google VoiceGoogle voiceSearch by voice is a branded name for a technology to "search by voice on your [digital device]", such as a mobile phone or PC, i.e. have the device search for data upon entering information on what to search into the device by speaking....
. - The acquisition of Gizmo5Gizmo5Gizmo5 was a Voice over Internet Protocol communications network and a proprietary freeware soft phone for that network. On November 12, 2009, Google announced that it had acquired Gizmo5...
, which also became part of Google VoiceGoogle voiceSearch by voice is a branded name for a technology to "search by voice on your [digital device]", such as a mobile phone or PC, i.e. have the device search for data upon entering information on what to search into the device by speaking....
. - Numerous features and improvements to Google AdWordsAdWordsGoogle AdWords is Google's main advertising product and main source of revenue. Google's total advertising revenues were USD$28 billion in 2010. AdWords offers pay-per-click advertising, cost-per-thousand advertising, and site-targeted advertising for text, banner, and rich-media ads. The AdWords...
and Google AdSenseAdSenseGoogle AdSense which is a program run by Google Inc. allows publishers in the Google Network of content sites to automatically serve text, image, video, and rich media adverts that are targeted to site content and audience. These adverts are administered, sorted, and maintained by Google, and they...
, including Google's first display advertising serving system. - Google TalkGoogle TalkGoogle Talk is a freeware voice over Internet protocol client application offered by Google Inc. The first beta version of the program was released on August 24, 2005...
instant messaging service - Google WiFi access points
Chan was also a research lead at HP Labs
HP Labs
HP Labs is the exploratory and advanced research group for Hewlett-Packard. The lab has some 600 researchersin seven locations throughout the world....
in Palo Alto, CA and was a software engineer at Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and Fujitsu
Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....
.
Awards and recognition
Chan is a recipient of a Google Founders' AwardGoogle Founders' Award
The Google Founders' Award is a special award for extraordinary entrepreneurial achievement, and the highest employee award at Google Inc.The awards are given in the form of stock grants, and the program was initiated in 2004 by Google founders Sergey Brin and Lawrence E. Page to reward and retain...
for his work on building the Google Toolbar
Google Toolbar
Google Toolbar is an Internet browser toolbar only available for Internet Explorer and Firefox .-Google Toolbar 1.0 December 11, 2000:New features:*Direct access to the Google search functionality from any web page*Web Site search...
and growing it into one of the most installed client products in the world.
He was selected by Technology Review
Technology Review
Technology Review is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as "The Technology Review", and was re-launched without the "The" in its name on April 23, 1998 under then publisher R. Bruce Journey...
Magazine as one of their top "35 under 35" TR35
TR35
The TR35 is an annual list published by MIT Technology Review magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.Some of the most famous winners of the award include Larry Page and Sergey Brin , Linus Torvalds , Jerry Yang , Jonathan Ive , Mark Zuckerberg...
innovators in 2010 for his work on starting and building Google Voice and Google Analytics.
Chan also holds five US patents from his work on developing display advertising products and designing public WiFi access points for Google.