An entrepreneurial spirit powered by people
At Empire Scottsdale, community is everything. For Ed Wu '06, the boutique coworking space is as much about people and purpose as it is about business.
The boutique coworking space is the latest venture from Ed Wu '06, whose entrepreneurial spirit began as an information systems science major with a love for computers and a willingness to work hard and take risks.
Empire is a project that combines Wu's knack for connecting people, his passion for design and a fundamental belief in the power of giving back to his community.
"I believe we were put on this earth to make connections with other people and to help one another," said Wu. "I don't think there's any other greater thing we can do with our time. Empire gives me a conduit in which to do that. It gives me space in a town that I absolutely love and the ability to bring people together for good causes."
Though it may be "business as usual" throughout the work week, on Friday evenings, Empire becomes a place where members can relax, have a beer, get to know one another and play a game of pool or ping pong. And, at least once a month, Wu goes one step further by bringing people together to support a local nonprofit.
"It's an excuse to get everyone together, support a good cause and have some fun in the process," said Wu. "We've done some pretty crazy things to get people to come out for these events. For example, there's a local farm where you can rent animals for your event. Women will be dressed in the nicest outfits, holding a glass of wine in one hand and a chicken in the other."
Wu has also hosted fundraisers for breast cancer awareness month, Make-a-Wish and local animal shelters such as Arf-anage, a family-run nonprofit that delivered 50 puppies to Empire for an event that raised more than $5,000 and ended with several on-the-spot adoptions.
From Newport to Silicon Valley
Wu's undergraduate journey featured one of the things that Salve does best – an experiential learning opportunity that prepared him well for life after graduation. After being connected by a professor with a local manufacturing firm for an internship, Wu built software systems for the company and stayed on as an employee until he graduated.
"I gained so much working experience," said Wu, "learning what it was like to talk to somebody 20 years my senior and to interact with them; it was a challenge. There was a steep learning curve. By the time I graduated, though, I felt so confident that I could work anywhere and do well."
After Salve, Wu packed his bags and moved to Silicon Valley, where he worked at a high-tech company, lived frugally and managed to save $100,000 over the course of the next three years. "It was the largest sum of money I'd ever seen in my life, by far," he shared, and a sum that allowed him to quit his job and start his first company, Vidyard, which he co-founded with a friend.
"I didn't know what the heck I was doing," Wu admitted. "I was making everything up as I went, trying to figure it out on the fly."
During that time, he learned how to build a product that people wanted, raise funds from venture capitalists, hire talented people, and grow the online video platform into a successful company generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue.
Those lessons provided the foundation for his next venture, Side, an online real estate brokerage platform that Wu co-founded in 2016. Partnering with independent agents, the company provides behind-the-scenes support in an innovative business model.
"The software I've built makes it so that agents don't really have to worry about the weeds of their business," said Wu, who serves as Side's chief innovation officer. "It's a transaction management platform that takes care of everything from contracts and audit to payment, commission disbursements and closing.
"Every real estate agent who has joined us has seen tremendous growth, and instantly becomes an advocate for us, bringing in more real estate agents," he continued. "It's grown organically at a fast rate, and we now do $30 billion worth of home sales per year."
A glimpse at what it takes
Being a successful entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart and Wu offered some advice for those willing to give it a go.
"Pushing yourself into a state of extreme discomfort, as crazy as that may sound, is necessary if this is the journey you're about to embark on," he cautioned. "If you want comfort, if you want ease, work for a big company. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you do want to take the path of entrepreneurship, working for yourself, you should know what you're signing up for."
"I like to describe starting a business as smashing a boulder with a giant sledgehammer," he continued. "You never know when that boulder's going to split in half. You might be one more stroke away, you might be 1,000 strokes away. The boulder does not tell you at all, there are no hints. There's never a point in time where you're just like, oh, now I can kick back and relax and do nothing."
For Wu, it is the people he surrounds himself with that "make all the difference in the world. It makes it not even a job – it becomes something that you want to be doing, that you feel."
"I would say, if you spend time with me, I can guarantee you, no two days will be the same, you will never be bored, you will never be able to predict what's going to happen next," he shared. "I promise you I'll always have your back. I will always do whatever I can to take care of you, as I expect you to do the same for me."
