{"id":998,"date":"2017-04-17T15:18:56","date_gmt":"2017-04-17T15:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/tl\/the-economy-of-you\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T17:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T17:39:28","slug":"the-economy-of-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/ai-technology-and-innovation\/the-economy-of-you\/","title":{"rendered":"The Economy of You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tAI, Technology and Innovation\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Economy of You\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tSeriously, you’re never alone in the digital economy. Which is why everything today is the sharing economy \u2013 data sharing, that is.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Seriously, you’re never alone in the digital economy. Which is why everything today is the sharing economy \u2013 data sharing, that is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Furious franchise not only pounded through an Easter launch record this weekend, pulling in more than $100 million (U.S.); it showed how a business model can adapt, evolve and, when necessary, pivot on the heels of data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s the business story of our times, according to Allen Lau, who is both a narrative junkie (sci fi, please) and a digital pioneer. As co-founder of Wattpad, the Toronto engineer has built a global platform for storytellers on the back of data. And he thinks he can use the same power to take on Hollywood, from Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltimately, the value of the company is in the community, in the stories, in the data that we have,” Lau told the latest session of #RBCDisruptors, on the Future of Work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lau was joined on stage by Michele Romanow, the serial entrepreneur who stars on CBC’s Dragons Den <\/i>and is building her fifth business, Clearbanc, to offer financial services to freelancers and small-scale entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wattpad and Clearbanc face the same epic challenge: how to scale their user base without catching the attention of global platform giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gNTpll3BFQI?rel=0
Wattpad started as a story-sharing service, and quickly became a platform for 45 million users. Lau has recently expanded the social platform to include Wattpad Studios, a venue for his global community to develop movie and TV scripts, and Wattpad Brand Solutions, for writers to connect with businesses wanting better copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The makers of Furious used similar data to adjust their franchise, which has changed significantly over eight movies \u2013 and $4 billion — since 2001. Less car racing. More gun fighting. Fewer biceps. More of you know what. (Read Bloomberg’s excellent data story here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe get lots of signals about why a story is fascinating,” Lau said. \u201cIf you look at the entertainment industry, this is what they’re looking for.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lau’s secret weapon is a user community that is fiercely loyal to Wattpad, and to each other. He may not have Facebook’s mass, but he’s got quality that allows him to track engagement in ways few others can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take the typical novel that’s developed on Wattpad<\/a>: With two billion data points collected daily, the company tracks what’s popular, gives personalized recommendations and can even tell what pages or chapters cause readers to tune out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Same with Clearbanc. It wants to be become so addictive to solopreneurs that it can tailor its services \u2013 and user experience \u2013 in ways no universal platform can match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n