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). [10] Reasoner builds adaptive, knowledge graphs that automatically reconfigure as information changes. Reasoner’s core technology can be described as a neuro-symbolic AI. [11] Chang plans to release Reasoner’s software development kit in Q1 2024, allowing developers to integrate it into their own applications. [12]
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. [13] In April 2020 Digits announced it had raised $22 million Series B from GV and Benchmark. [14] 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. [15]
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." [30] Lee Gesmer of the firm Gesmer Updegrove posted the detailed 33-page complaint online. [29] [34]
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." [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] A settlement was reached where Facebook acquired ConnectU for 1,253,326 shares of Facebook stock and an additional $20 million in cash. [43] [44] [45] [46]
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. [47]
Films
Frame by Frame
Prior to Chasing Coral, Chang is also an Associate Producer for award-winning documentary Frame by Frame. [57] 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" [58] and BBC Culture proclaimed "the film features photographers passionate about telling stories of the true identity of Afghanistan – whether they are newsworthy or not." [59] In 2016, Time, Inc acquired the documentary. It has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [60]
In 2001, The Boston Globe profiled Chang in "e-Files," recognizing his early technological innovations. [75] 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. [3] 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. [76] [77] [78] [75]
In August 2005, Chang was profiled by Boston Globe's Business section, "Software wiz follows dream out of college". [79] [ importance? ]In October 2005, The Daily Free Press wrote an article in their business section, "Wayne's World". [2] [ importance? ]In November 2005, the press, including MSNBC, BBC News and Boston Business Journal reported that Wayne Chang shut down i2hub. [80] [81] [82] [83] [ importance? ] 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". [84] On December 16, 2010, Time Magazine wrote an article on The Winklevoss Chang Group dispute, "Facebook Watch: Former Business Partner Sues the Winklevi". [85] [86] [ importance? ]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. [87] [88] [89]
Other activities
Chang has been involved in various technology projects and communities from a young age. [3] Using the pseudonym "ttol," he contributed to multiple hacking and software-related efforts during his pre-teen and teenage years. [90] Some of his activities include MyAdvantage for which he developed a hack for AllAdvantage, which gained widespread usage among users of the platform. [91] LanCraft; for which he created modifications for Blizzard's Battle.net platform, some of which remain in use today. [4]
Chang was also active in online communities such as EFNet, AOL Warez, and TetriNET, where he collaborated with other developers and enthusiasts on various software and gaming projects. [92]
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