Sheng Wang likes to overcome obstacles.
An advertising platform for eBay Inc.? Check.
Walt Disney Co.’s first apps for its amusement parks? Check.
A master’s thesis on air dispersion modeling to predict the weather in an hour or two? Check.
Three children and a weekly commute from Seattle to Irvine? Check.
“I do like solving difficult problems,” she said during an interview outside her Irvine office.
Wang is chief technology officer of AutoGravity, a 2-year-old fintech firm competing in a $1 trillion industry to finance new and used automobiles in the U.S. It’s a fast-growing company, its app having been downloaded more than 1.8 million times, and has generated more than $2.5 billion in financing.
Wang was one of five the Business Journal honored at its 24th annual Women of the Year Awards on May 3 (see other winner profiles, pages 4, 6, 10 and 13).
“She continues to elevate her company’s growing platform as the app signs up 15,000 new users each month,” said Astrid Collins, vice president of network strategy at Mobilitie LLC, when introducing Wang at the awards ceremony.
“She is driven to solve challenging problems, and she’s inspired to develop and launch high-impact products that people love.”
Weird Periodic Memory
Wang, 49, was born and raised in Taipei in a family of seven, such a large family because her father had survived World War II and then the communist 1949 takeover and fled to Taiwan.
“My dad went through two wars,” she said. “He was separated from his family when he was 13. He was all alone, and he wanted a big family because he missed his family so much.”
She was the youngest girl, “treated like a baby,” she laughed. Wang enjoyed sports, such as track, running the 100 meters in 13 or 14 seconds. She also loved math and science, and to this day, can recite the periodic table, a skill she called “weird after so many years.”
Wang attended National Taiwan University, which she described as the island’s best school, and settled for a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science because she couldn’t get into medical school.
“It was so competitive,” she remembered. “I cared about going to the best school and getting the best degree that I could get.”
She came to the U.S. because it has “the best schools for technology and innovation,” to earn a master’s degree in computer engineering at Santa Clara University. At one point, she considered a career as a TV weather forecaster.
“They said you have to look very persuasive. What does that mean?” said Wang, who smiled at the understatement.
Disney Park Apps
Instead, Wang switched her focus to technology, which she found stimulating because of talented co-workers.
During her career, she’s worked at some of the industry’s most famous names, including eBay, Microsoft Corp. and TSMC Ltd., the world’s largest independent semiconductor foundry.
Her experience includes building those first apps for Disney’s parks. She said the intense focus on customer experience added to her technology skills.
“The blend of both experiences helped me to be where I am today,” she said. “Disney is extremely focused on customer experience. Just fixing a small problem took a long time.”
Her background gives her a unique perspective on the differences in doing business in China and the U.S.
“In China, they run much faster. However, regulations can change a lot. You don’t know what will come your way after you build something.”
By contrast, the U.S. has “a lot of innovation, and regulation that is quite clear.”
“Today, the United States is the leader in innovation and technology. You cannot find it anywhere else.”
Here for Good
She arrived at AutoGravity in 2016 as head of product and has since been promoted to chief technology officer, building and mentoring teams, looking for new technology and coaching management. AutoGravity wants to provide value-added services and more research tools because consumers are looking online for more than just shopping, she said.
She oversees a team of more than 60, about half the company’s staff. Wang said she is hiring, seeking “awesome engineers” particularly in web development.
As if her workday isn’t busy enough, Wang also enjoys mentoring young women in math and community projects, such as renovating a park in Garden Grove.
Her resume suggests she switches jobs about every two years; she acknowledged headhunters sometimes call her. But Wang said she intends to stay at AutoGravity and in fact is moving her family to Orange County.
“I love the people. I believe in this product. I’m here for good, as long as I’m needed.”
