Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Jack Jiajia Huang is our founder and has served as the chairman of our board of directors and chief executive officer since our inception. Prior to founding our company, he served as an operations manager at Mitsubishi Corporation (China) Co., Ltd. from 2007 to 2010. Mr. Huang founded TalkChina, an online Chinese-teaching platform targeting Japanese students, in 2007. Mr. Huang received his bachelor’s degree in Japanese language from Tsinghua University in 2007. In 2015, Mr. Huang was named a leading entrepreneur under 30 by Cyzone, an entrepreneur service platform in China.
Co-Founder, Director
Ms. Ting Shu is our co-founder and has served as our director since our inception in 2011. From 2010 to 2012, Ms. Shu worked in the enterprise risk services department of Deloitte in China. Prior to that, Ms. Shu co-founded TalkChina with Mr. Jack Jiajia Huang in 2007. Ms. Shu received her master's degree in language science from the University of Tokyo in 2010 and her bachelor's degree in Japanese language from Tsinghua University in 2007. Mr. Jack Jiajia Huang and Ms. Ting Shu are husband and wife.
Director
Mr. Frank Lin has served as our director since June 2013. Mr. Lin is a general partner of DCM, a technology venture capital firm. Prior to joining DCM in 2006, Mr. Lin was the chief operating officer of SINA Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed company. He co-founded SINA's predecessor, SinaNet, in 1995 and later guided SINA through its listing on NASDAQ. Mr. Lin had also held various marketing, engineering and managerial positions at Octel Communication Inc. and NYNEX. Mr. Lin currently serves on the board of directors of various DCM portfolio companies, including Tuniu Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed company, Vipshop Holdings Limited and 58.com, Inc., which are NYSE-listed companies. Mr. Lin received an MBA degree from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree in engineering from Dartmouth College.
Independent director
Mr. Jimmy Lai has served as our director since June 1 2024. Mr. Lai currently serves as the chief financial officer of Kneron, a leading provider of full stack edge AI solutions company. Mr. Lai also serves as an independent director of several NYSE-listed companies, including Zepp Corporation (NYSE: ZEPP) and FinVolution Group (NYSE: FINV). Mr. Lai served as the chief financial officer of 51Talk from June 2015 to December 2018. Prior to joining 51Talk in 2015, Mr. Lai served as the chief financial officer for several companies, including Chukong Technologies Corp., a leading mobile entertainment platform company in China, from 2013 to 2015, Gamewave Corporation, a leading webgame company in China, from 2011 to 2013, Daqo New Energy Corp., an NYSE-listed company and a leading polysilicon manufacturer based in China, from 2009 to 2011, Linktone Ltd., a Nasdaq-listed company and a leading provider of wireless interactive entertainment services to consumers in China, from 2008 to 2009 and Palm Commerce Holdings, a leading information technology solution provider for the China lottery industry, from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that, Mr. Lai served as an associate vice president of investor relations at Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, a company listed on the NYSE and the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, from 2002 to 2006, and as a controller and director of financial planning at AMX Corporation from 1997 to 2001. Mr. Lai received his MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas and his bachelor's degree in statistics from the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. Mr. Lai is a certified public accountant licensed in the State of Texas.
Independent director
Mr. Xiaoguang Wu has served as our independent director since June 2016. Mr. Wu is the founding partner of Welight Capital (Hong Kong) Limited. Mr. Wu joined Tencent Inc., a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in 1999 as a member of the early founding team. He worked as a project manager for the research and development team for instant messaging products, a general manager for the internet business division and later became the senior executive vice president of the internet service division and the chief executive officer of Tencent E-Commerce Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Tencent Inc. Mr. Wu has served as a senior management advisor for Tencent Inc. since June 2015. Mr. Wu has extensive experience in product research and development, product planning, product operation and marketing internet businesses. Mr. Wu currently serves as an independent director of 58.com, Inc., a NYSE-listed company. Mr. Wu received his EMBA from China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in 2008 and his bachelor of science degree in weather dynamics from Nanjing University in 1996.
