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Why I Love Practicing Artificial Intelligence Law in Silicon Valley
Talks about Artificial Intelligence, AI and Silicon Valley
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Stephen Wu
Managing Partner at Carthage Capital Management
New York, New York
Overview
Stephen Wu is the Founder and Managing Partner at Carthage Capital, a venture capital firm based in New York. With a background in product management and a strong focus on early-stage startups, he has successfully led investments in sectors such as Semiconductors and AR/VR.
Having held roles at prestigious companies like Microsoft and Amazon, Stephen Wu brings a wealth of experience in program management and software engineering to his current position at Carthage Capital, where he actively invests in seed-stage startups in emerging sectors like Web3/Crypto.
Work Experience
Founder and Managing Partner
2023 - Current
• Carthage Capital employs an options trading strategy that aims to generate 30%+ profit each year, regardless of market direction. We launched in April 2023 with $10M. • www.carthagecap.com
Program Manager 2
2020 - 2023
• Designed, owned, and launched an AI translator system used by all Azure and Visual Studios. Used NLP and ML models to automatically translate text. Improved translation quality by 28%. • Responsible for growing MAU for Microsoft in Russia and Korea. Supported product launches, localization of products, and marketing promotions. Increased MAU by 60% in 2021. • Managed localization efforts across 20+ teams, planned feature roadmaps, and tracked execution timelines and impact priorities for all Azure localization features. • Ran user-studies and A/B tests to incorporate feedback into product roadmaps.
Microsoft Advertising provides digital advertising solutions.
Part-time Associate
2021 - 2023
• Conducted market research, due diligence, financial analysis, competitive analysis, and team and customer interviews for six $1M seed investments in semiconductor, VR/AR, and web 3.0 spaces. Wrote Investment Memos and presented to Investment Committee. Completed end-to-end. • Sourced deals, attended conferences, and interviewed startups for potential investment. • Supported portfolio operations, connected companies for partnerships.
BlueRun Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on opportunities across mobile software, services, and financial technology.
Software Engineer
2017 - 2020
Amazon Go: • One of the first engineers on the Amazon Go ML team. • Used computer vision, weight sensors, and motion tracking data to write probabilistic algorithms that decide what items people took from the store. • Designed, implemented, and planned rollout for a new system that catches item hand-offs – reduced item tracking error rate by 60% and monthly costs by 25%. Alexa: • Led a team of three engineers to build the Alexa Music AI recommendation system that suggests new songs by using previous song history and user profiles. • Cross-coordinated with 5+ teams and 10+ services on Bluetooth integration for Alexa for cars – successfully launched the product and had 2.3M active users in the first month.
Amazon is a tech firm with a focus on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.
Raised $8,108,000,000.00 from DBS Bank and Mizuho Bank.
A&R / Music Producer Intern
2017 - 2017
• Worked on music vision and strategy for Charlie Pluth and Kehlani. • Lead the creation and planning Warner Bro's teen version of The Voice/American Idol. • Scouted for new musical talent.
Warner Music Group is a music company with the interests of recording and publishing music and artist services.
Raised $1,739,970.00 from Tencent Music Entertainment.
Product Management Intern (Apple Music)
2016 - 2016
• Designed a ML-based smart-playlist feature. Wrote product specs, roadmap, & launch docs. • Pitched to and approved by Steve Gedikian (Tim Cook’s direct report) and Head of Product.
Software Engineering Intern (App Store)
2016 - 2016
• Created a calendar app to view App Store and iTunes releases, data analytics, and trends. • Live internal tool used by 40+ apps, games, and music editors.
Apple is a corporation that designs, manufactures, and markets consumer electronics, personal computers, and software.
Raised $1,170,230,000.00 from KB Securities, Berkshire Hathaway and Microsoft.
VC Investment Intern
2015 - 2015
• $1M Seed Investment: Conducted due diligence on Nom (founded by YouTube's Co-founder Steve Chen). Wrote investment thesis, memo, and research docs. • $3-5M Round A Investment: Conducted due diligence on Luxe (on-demand parking/vallet). • Sourced deals and interviewed 20+ startup founders for potential investment, including startups by Mozilla CTO, Taskrabbit CEO, and Bittorrent director.
WI Harper Group is a venture capital firm that focuses on early and expansion investments in Mainland China, Taiwan and Silicon Valley.
Product Management Intern
2014 - 2014
• Designed PlayStation Vue's companion app, approved by Head of Product. • Created dev backlogs (features, stories, and sprints).
Summer Analyst
2012 - 2012
• Selected by Dean of Engineering, Dr. McGourty, to participate in summer research project. • Conducted research and analysis on Accra, Ghana’s water scarcity condition.
Business Strategy Intern
2012 - 2012
• Wrote a research paper on China's startup landscape, including startups, universities, VCs, and incubators.
Plug & Play Topeka is a Venture Capital company that offers corporate Innovation, open Innovation, and accelerator Programs.
Education
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