Article Tools
Albert Lai is only 28, but he knows startups. The Toronto entrepreneur has either founded, invested in or consulted with dozens of them over the past decade. Notably, there was MyDesktop—a company he founded when he was 18—which was the largest technology-focused media network in Canada when he sold it for seven figures in 1999. His next project, BuyBuddy, was one of the first comparison-shopping sites online. And, he sold his most recent, photo networking site BubbleShare, in January, to Kaboose Inc. for US$2.25 million. “I've done more startups than most people I know in Toronto,” he says. “I get a huge amount of satisfaction building great teams to build great products that people love.”
It's only fitting, then, that Lai, having integrated BubbleShare into Kaboose ahead of schedule, is returning to what he does best—starting a new company. What this unnamed enterprise will exactly produce remains under wraps, but it will capitalize on what Lai says is the industry's next wave—bridging the gap between hardware devices and the web. That's a little something Lai expects will be called Web 3.0. “People joke about an Internet-enabled toaster, or an Internet-enabled chair,” Lai says. “But it's evolving to the point where the sorts of things we used to joke about are actually more practical.”
Lai believes the current generation of Internet-enabled devices, which include the BlackBerry, iPhone, Nintendo DS and Nokia tablets, will take greater advantage of open Wi-Fi networks, as well as incorporate global positioning systems to make use of rich Internet applications similar to Google Maps, which give users the type of interactivity they'd get from a desktop application. These devices will emerge with bigger screens, broadband connections and the ability to run more data-driven applications. “And they're going to have a much richer user experience, because Flash is maturing and enabling developers to quickly create really neat applications that were too difficult to create before,” Lai says.
This next wave builds on the Web 2.0 idea of user-generated content on sites such as YouTube and Facebook, with users sending content from broadband devices to the web, and vice versa. Armed with digital cameras, home stereo equipment and MP3 players with built-in web servers, users will log in to customize their devices online and communicate with others. “Right now, watching TV on your cellphone is sort of getting there, but that's still an old-school way of looking at media consumption through mobile devices,” Lai says. “We're still in the horseless carriage era of mobile computing, but that's going to start changing in the next 12 to 18 months.”
Like most entrepreneurs, Lai is certain his new project will be a hit, but the company is only beginning to evaluate financing opportunities, and the current web boom might just be another tech bubble waiting to be popped. Then again, startups are something Lai's good at, says industry veteran Paul Kedrosky, venture partner at Vancouver-based Ventures West. “He's a really creative guy, but he knows how to focus and get things done. And he's a good salesman, which is crucial, because you want to have investors feel like they're signing on to an adventure.”
Creativity and salesmanship are attributes many believe Canadians are lacking, but Lai believes there's plenty of entrepreneurial talent at home. He hosted the first meeting for DemoCamp, a grassroots organization that holds monthly get-togethers where Toronto geeks display their work-in-progress. Innovative 3-D desktop organizer BumpTop debuted at DemoCamp, as did Rmail, a subscription service for RSS (really simple syndication) news feeds that has since been bought by NBC. Lai would love to invest significantly in Canadian startups someday—but there's a good chance he'll start a few more of his own first. “It's more than likely my current company won't be my last, but it's not like I plan these things.”
Rate this article
|
Rated
by 0 people
Rate This
Not rated
|
