SW

Stephen Wu

Founder and Managing Partner at Carthage Capital

New York, New York

Invests in

Stages:

  • Min Investment:

    $3,000,000.00
  • Max Investment:

    $15,000,000.00
  • Target Investment:

    $5,000,000.00

Work Experience

  • Founder and Managing Partner

    2023

    • 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

2020 - 2023

  • 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.

2021 - 2023

  • 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.

2017 - 2020

  • 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.

2017 - 2017

  • 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.

2016 - 2016

  • 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.

2015 - 2015

  • 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.

2014 - 2014

  • 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.