Leadership

Finishing my term as CEO, MaRS Discovery District

Finishing my term as CEO, MaRS Discovery District

Dear Friends … I’m now on my final countdown to completing my 6th and final year as CEO at MaRS Discovery District, and my 3rd attempt at retirement. As I reflect on my experience, I am left with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Leading MaRS has been one of the peak experiences in my life … even more enriching than […]

by × December 18, 2023 × 0 comments
Why the tech sector is key to Canada’s economic success | Toronto Star

Why the tech sector is key to Canada’s economic success | Toronto Star

By Renee TratchThursday, April 20, 2023 https://www.thestar.com/business/why-the-tech-sector-is-key-to-canada-s-economic-success/article_3676112e-fdd3-510f-90f2-1d90756c1809.html? Over his three decades as a serial entrepreneur and as the head of the MaRS Discovery District, Yung Wu has seen his fair share of economic downturns and challenges. That’s why he’s still bullish on Canada’s tech sector: some of the biggest and most valuable companies were created during hard times. And despite the […]

by × April 20, 2023 × 0 comments
Mars head Yung Wu announces plan to step down from role as tech incubator’s CEO | Canadian Press

Mars head Yung Wu announces plan to step down from role as tech incubator’s CEO | Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2023.Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press TORONTO — Yung Wu has founded, built and invested in at least seven companies, but there’s one thing that’s not his strong suit: retiring. The first time the serial entrepreneur retired was in 2007, after the sale of his first company, Castek Inc., to […]

by × April 18, 2023 × 0 comments
On Leadership and Entrepreneurship …

On Leadership and Entrepreneurship …

So … I sat down with my friend, David Kinley several months ago at his request, to do an interview for his new podcast on leadership and entrepreneurship, The Riddick Show. David has been one of the top executive search practitioners in the tech industry over several decades, and a trusted partner for many of the companies that I have founded and invested […]

by × April 11, 2023 × 0 comments
Anti-Black and Systemic racism – the need for change

Anti-Black and Systemic racism – the need for change

For weeks, we’ve been grappling with a pandemic — one of the greatest health challenges humanity has ever faced. Now we are being pulled into historic political challenges, too. Many people in our community are grappling with racism, inequality and a lack of diversity and inclusion. It’s vitally important that we raise these issues with our kids, our friends and […]

by × June 3, 2020 × 0 comments
Inertia Kills … Velocity Wins

Inertia Kills … Velocity Wins

Yung Wu is CEO at MaRS Discovery District. Under his leadership, the companies MaRS supports are advancing prosperity through entrepreneurial achievement. Located in Toronto, Canada, MaRS is the world’s largest urban innovation hub. Q1. When you reflect upon your career path, is there a defining moment that influenced where you are today?  I have been fortunate to have had more […]

by × February 7, 2019 × 0 comments
A cropped shot of hands painted to look like the earth

To actually change the world, Big Tech needs to grow up | TechCrunch

Yung Wu OpEd TechCrunch 4:00 pm EDT•October 30, 2018 Image Credits: Yuri_Arcurs “Fierce competitor” is one of the biggest, and most culturally ingrained, compliments that exists in sports. The same is true in the technology world. However, as competitors originating from outside of Silicon Valley rise, so do the stakes for previously unchallenged tech firms, like Uber,Facebook and Google, to enter new […]

by × October 30, 2018 × 0 comments
Bay Street Bull – Power 50

Bay Street Bull – Power 50

Canada: the Great White North, our home and native land. Now, more than ever, our nation stands as a beacon of progress — a trailblazer that continues to set the standard for the rest of the global community. In the fourth annual assemblage of our Power 50 guide, we gathered the major influences — the people, the companies, the ideas, […]

by × June 13, 2018 × 0 comments
Dying professor’s words to live by …

Dying professor’s words to live by …

I’m just back from dinner with three very close friends, KenP, PeterT and PeterC, in a sort of “guys night out” evening. Over drinks, we started talking about various inspiring experiences that might be relevant to entrepreneurs who are out there, fighting the good fight, and they pointed me towards this “last lecture” by Dr. Randy Pausch, a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie-Mellon, who is dying of pancreatic cancer

by × May 15, 2014 × 5 comments
Plan for the Worst … Hope for the Best !!

Plan for the Worst … Hope for the Best !!

Most entrepreneurs that I have met have the innate gift of being able to “Hope for the best”, to suspend disbelief and to trust in their personal ability to build successes out of their ideas. Their belief in their ability to turn “perceived limitations” into “enabled possibilities” is a key trait that fuels entrepreneurs to travel where others fear to […]

by × January 29, 2014 × 0 comments