Called the youngest person to ever receive venture capital funding by TechCrunch and the Wall Street Journal, Brian received his Bachelors of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia at age 18, after skipping four K-12 grades. He has been recognized with many awards for his accomplishments and leadership, including: Forbes’ 30 under 30; the Top 20 Under 20 awards for all of Canada; Business Insider’s Top 25 Under 25 in Silicon Valley and 18 Most Important People in Mobile Advertising; Mashable’s Top 5 Entrepreneurs to Watch; and the AdAge Creativity Top 50.
Before starting Kiip, Brian led key publisher and tech partnerships at the social news website Digg.com, where he accelerated the company’s mobile presence by launching the Digg Android mobile app.
Q: You have quite the extensive list of achievements. Not only have you raised $15.4M for your startup Kiip, but you’re also one of the youngest entrepreneurs to receive venture capital. What traits make you different then most people your age?
I think to understand what led to everything I’d have to look back on my upbringing. My childhood was full of sports (I know, surprising – but trust me I used to be super buff), speech arts & drama, FPS gaming (PC), and incessant amounts of graphic design. I also studied marketing & consumer behavior in university. It’s no accident that these things combined led to some level of contribution to my ability to succeed with Kiip.
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