Michael Cheng

Michael Cheng
Born Hong Kong, China
Residence Vancouver, Canada
Nationality Chinese Canadian
Alma mater Simon Fraser University
Occupation Entrepreneur

Michael Cheng is a Canadian entrepreneur.[1] Cheng co-founded Sniply, Beta Collective, Covr, Needle HR, WittyCookie, TEDxSFU, and 12 other ventures.[2][3]

Early life and education

Cheng was born an only child in Hong Kong and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia at the age of 7.[1][4] While in high school Cheng started a business called Auto Quick Trade.[1] Cheng studied Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and was "offered a lecturer’s position, teaching digital design" during his freshman year.[1]

Career

In 2009, Cheng co-founded International Student Connection, an international student agency that was named "Best New Student Business of the Year".[5]

In 2011, Cheng launched TEDxSFU, an annual TEDx event at Simon Fraser University which featured John Furlong (CEO), Jim Chu and Ryan Holmes.[6] The event was named "one of the greatest TEDx events of 2012” at TEDActive 2013 in Long Beach, California.[7] That year, Cheng also co-founded WittyCookie which offers website creation and maintenance to small businesses.[8] As of 2013, WittyCookie employed 40 people and serviced more than 600 clients.[2]

In 2012, Cheng was selected by the Surrey Board of Trade as one of the "Top 25 Under 25" entrepreneurs.[5] He was also given the "SFU Entrepreneur of the Year" award[1][9] and the "Surrey Business Excellence Award".[10]

In 2013, Cheng co-founded Needle HR, an Internet marketplace for web designers and other creative services.[11] The company featured 120,000 designers and 2,500,000 design projects.[4] Cheng received "The Satchu Prize" and "Outstanding Venture Award" from educational organization, The Next 36[12][13] and spoke at Canada’s First Thiel Fellowship Event in Toronto.[14] That year Cheng received the "Coast Capital Venture Prize" from Venture Connection[15] and was selected by Maclean's Magazine as one of the "Future Leaders of Canada".[1] He was also selected by 24 Hours (newspaper) as one of "Top 24 Under 24".[16][17]

In 2014, Cheng co-founded Covr,[18] a music discovery platform,[19] and was selected by BCBusiness as one of "Top 30 Under 30".[20] That year, Cheng also co-founded Sniply,[21] an online marketing tool,[22] as well as Beta Collective,[23] the first Coworking space in Surrey, British Columbia.[24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 MacDonald, Nancy. Canada’s Future Leaders Under 25. Maclean’s. April 12, 2013.
  2. 1 2 Conner, Shawn. 11 startups and counting for 23-year-old Michael Cheng. Vancouver Sun.
  3. ↑ Czikk, Joseph. Both Failure and Success Define Entrepreneurs Like Snip.ly's Michael Cheng. Betakit.
  4. 1 2 Scott, Alec. Where Canada’s next billion-dollar idea is being hatched. The Globe and Mail.
  5. 1 2 Diakiw, Kevin. Surrey’s Top 25 Under 25 honoured. Surrey Leader.
  6. ↑ SFU Surrey student hosts local TED Conference. The Now (newspaper).
  7. ↑ Gray, John. Building a Global Village Takes Work. The Huffington Post.
  8. ↑ Meadahl, Marianne. WittyCookie founder nets fourth award. SFU.
  9. ↑ Toth, Spencer. SFU Entrepreneur of the Year 2012. Enactus.
  10. ↑ Surrey Business Excellence Award Winners. The Now (newspaper).
  11. ↑ Czikk, Joseph. How The Next 36’s Needle HR is Changing the Creative Industry. Techvibes.
  12. ↑ Maimona, Mashoka. The Next 36 venture day: Program adds 36 new graduates. Financial Post.
  13. ↑ Poon, Christopher. Young entrepreneur noticed nationally. The Now (newspaper).
  14. ↑ Czikk, Joseph. Project RHINO to Welcome Canada’s First Thiel Fellowship Event. Techvibes.
  15. ↑ Meadahl, Marianne. Trio of Winners at Coast Capital Savings Venture Prize Competition. Venture Connection.
  16. ↑ Ball, David. Top 24 Under 24: Michael Cheng — The Web Entrepreneur. 24 Hours (newspaper).
  17. ↑ Czikk, Joseph. Next 36 Alum Named Among Top 24 Under 24. Betakit.
  18. ↑ Czikk, Joseph. Next 36 Grad Michael Cheng Launches Platform for Discovering the Greatest Musicians You've Never Heard Of. Betakit.
  19. ↑ Woods, Ben. If you love cover versions, check out Covr’s music discovery platform. The Next Web.
  20. ↑ Czikk, Joseph. BC Business Releases Inaugural 30 Under 30 List. Betakit.
  21. ↑ Ali, Anwar. Are incubators relevant to all startups? How Snip.ly profited from not making the cut. Financial Post.
  22. ↑ Michael Stelzner. Blogger Outreach: How to Build Relationships With Bloggers. Social Media Examiner.
  23. ↑ Czikk, Joseph. SFU Alumni Launch Surrey Coworking Space, Beta Collective. Betakit.
  24. ↑ Bjornson, Leah. Alumni make space for Surrey entrepreneurs. The Peak (newspaper).
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