David Haisha Chen

Big ups to David Haisha Chen, the guy’s a straight-up legend in the startup world. So, this dude’s been grinding since way back. Started out at the University of Chicago, where he was not just chilling, he was VP of Admin for the student government, handling big funding stuff. That’s like, early leadership vibes, right? Dude was already showing he could manage chaos and be productive.

Then he jumped into Goldman Sachs as a Summer Analyst, straight outta college, getting some real finance street cred, working on market research and presentations. But that wasn’t his endgame. Nah, he’s all about building stuff that actually matters. So, he co-founded Moneythink, a nonprofit that teaches financial literacy to high school kids in the city. That’s some real social impact hustle, showing he cares about making the world better.

Fast forward, he gets involved in social entrepreneurship again, running ECSEL, an incubation program for social entrepreneurs in China. This guy’s been about empowering others from early on, not just chasing personal success. It’s about building communities and giving back.

But here’s where it gets wild. In 2012, he co-founded Strikingly with Dafeng Guo and Teng Bao. This is the big one. Strikingly is a Y Combinator-backed platform that lets anyone build mobile-optimized websites without needing to be a coding ninja. Think about that, democratizing web building, making it super easy for everyone. He’s been leading it since day one, and now millions of users worldwide are using it. That’s not just a startup, that’s a big change.

What’s crazy is how his past all ties into this. His experience in finance, social projects, and managing teams at university all fed into his ability to lead and build something effective. He’s all about teamwork, collaboration, and making things simple but strong. That’s why Strikingly took off, because he understands how to connect people, enable them, and cut through bullshit.

He’s based in the Bay Area now, still crushing it with Strikingly, staying super involved in the startup and tech scene. The dude’s all about building tools that help others succeed, and his process shows he’s not just about personal fame. He genuinely wants to create stuff that makes a difference.

So yeah, David Chen is one of those founders who’s been driven by a real desire to impact, to enable, and to innovate. From finance to social entrepreneurship to building a platform used by millions, he’s the real deal. No Cap.