Shuo Wang came to the United States as a teenager and sold scooters at flea markets on weekends. Today, the fortune of the co-founder and revenue director of the software unicorn Deel, specializing in human resources, is estimated at 850 million dollars (786.3 million euros).
An article by Phoebe Liu and Kenrick Cai for Forbes US – translated by Lisa Deleforterie
Shuo Wang, dressed in a lemon dress and white sneakers, confidently takes the microphone at center stage at a conference in San Francisco. Deel’s co-founder and chief revenue officer tells the story of her HR software company’s growth in an unconventional way: by exposing to the public what she sees as the failings of Deel’s story since its beginnings at Y Combinator in 2019.
In her talk, “How Everything Breaks in Hypergrowth,” Wang lists a list of failures: from development, to burnout, to feature delays and lack of sales opportunities. She talks about how she helped Deel reorient himself to fix it. “ I prefer to focus on the future rather than the past. »
Optimism as a driver of success
From the start, the company faced significant challenges. “ During our time at Y Combinator, everyone liked the idea, but no one liked the product “, declared the 35-year-old entrepreneur during the conference. Their idea was to create software to make it easier to pay international workers, but their offering was too complex, according to many people. Shuo Wang and Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO of Deel, then reversed course and spent the next six weeks interviewing almost all of the 200 companies present at the YC at the time to get recommendations on how to improve their product.
Ms. Wang’s adaptability, combined with her tireless dedication and razor-sharp focus, propelled Deel past $500 million in annual recurring revenue, as the company announced last March, less than five years ago after its creation. Deel claims to be profitable since September 2022; it completed its last fundraising in April 2022 at a value of $12 billion. Based on more recent secondary market transactions, Forbes today estimates it at 7 billion dollars. Ms. Wang, whose stake is estimated at $850 million, appears on the ranking Forbes of the richest American women. Although Ms. Wang, through a Deel spokesperson, declined to comment for this article, Forbes gathered information from business partners, investors and mentors to piece together his journey. The American entrepreneur describes herself on social networks as “ emotionally stable, mentally healthy, physically active “.
“ I’m very competitive, I like everything to be perfect ” Wang said at the 2022 conference. This mentality stems in part from her experience as a chief revenue officer with a technical background. Having studied mechanical engineering, she sees sales as “ a science, not an art “. “ We should manage the sales team like an engineering project “, she explains. However, even with workdays that often stretch from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., with a break to hit the gym before dinner, Shuo Wang told Forbes in 2023 that her unwavering optimism was what characterized her the most. “I firmly believe that everything will be fine “, she said.
After moving from northeast China to Baltimore at age 16, she began selling scooters at weekend flea markets, helping her mother run her business alone. import-export of motorcycles and scooters.
“ It was my first sales experience “, declared the American to Forbes in 2023. “ I had to learn how to sell to be able to help my mother. » She explains that her mother’s experience as an entrepreneur inspired her to start her own business. Selling without being proficient in English taught him the importance of having a unique product. “ If everyone sells food, but we sell golf carts and all-terrain vehicles, then we have a competitive advantage. »
The fruitful collaboration between Shuo Wang and his team at Deel
In 2009, she pursued a degree in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), focusing on robot design. Wang’s thesis, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), focused on using robotic devices to study ankle muscle fatigue. Her advisor, Hyunglae Lee, praised Ms. Wang’s qualities: he described her as ” an exceptional worker “, able to ” quickly master new skills and knowledge “, And ” always ready to help other members of the laboratory “.
The Deel co-founder ended up staying another year at MIT to pursue her master’s degree. It was there that she met two of her future co-founders: first Pierre Bi, then Mr. Bouaziz. At that time, she also worked at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Although her success was the result of her collaboration with Mr. Bouaziz, it was actually Mr. Bi and Ms. Wang who bonded instantly, discussing their respective journeys. Both were foreign students whose parents had founded a business, Mr. Bi recalls. “ Her mother took her to the United States, then struggled to support her by building a life here; his story really touched me. »
In 2015, Ms. Wang dropped out of graduate school and put her robotics expertise to work at air purification company Aeris, which she co-founded with Mr. Bi, who was its CEO. In the early days of Aeris, the young woman helped the founding team connect with investors, including Vic Lee, co-founder of Tencent, according to Bi. “ She has always been able to present her in-depth technical knowledge to people unfamiliar with technology, encouraging them to connect with this world “, said Mr. Bi. “ She has the knowledge and network to connect with the right people at the right time. »
She ended up returning to China for three years to serve as chief technology officer of Aeris, which had offices in Beijing and Zurich. As 2019 approached, Mr. Bi began to consider that the potential of the Aeris business was limited. Along the way, Mr. Bi explains that he finally reconnected Mr. Bouaziz with Ms. Wang when the latter, who had invested in Aeris, visited its Beijing branch. In 2019, Shuo Wang left the company to return to the United States and co-found Deel with Bouaziz; Bi has become a key investor in Deel. Two years later, Aeris was acquired by iRobot for approximately $100 million. Bouaziz and Wang often cite their international experience as key to Deel’s success. Mr. Bouaziz, having grown up in Paris, continued his university studies in Tel Aviv before joining MIT for graduate studies. It was in Tel Aviv that he launched Deel. After experiencing frustrations at their previous companies, they considered creating a tool that simplified hiring and paying employees globally, without worrying about country-specific compliance regulations.
“ The future of work is remote ” Wang said at a fintech conference in 2019, just after Deel’s launch and a year before the pandemic made teleworking widespread.
When Deel completed the YC program in 2019, the company discovered a product that resonated with customers and quickly distinguished itself with its commitment to speed. Indeed, society often puts forward the concept of “ Deel speed ”, characterized by faster construction and implementation than competitors, including established players such as Papaya Global (valued at $3.7 billion), founded in 2016 and initially considered a model by Deel. Deel now claims more than 25,000 clients, ranging from young startups met at YC to large companies like the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). This dynamic has led to spectacular growth: $4 million in annual recurring revenue in 2020, $54 million in 2021, $100 million in 2022 and $500 million in March 2024.
Deel’s commitment and ambitions
Throughout Deel’s history, Ms. Wang has always been ready to ” TO DO odd jobs “, which was crucial to keeping the company running during its rapid growth phase, according to Brianne Kimmel, an investor at Worklife. Ms. Kimmel invested in Deel and believes that of all the founders she met, Ms. Wang inspired her the most.
“ I was on Intercom 24/7, even at night when I was sleeping I dreamed of Intercom Wang said at the 2022 conference when discussing her early days at Deel, referring to the software Deel used for customer support requests. She also personally interviewed Deel’s first 400 employees, to ensure the company’s culture was consistent and aligned with its values. “ Many investors previously believed that the Covid-19 pandemic had significantly accelerated their business, or that there had been a mixture of opportune timing and luck ” says Ms. Kimmel. “In reality, behind the scenes, I have observed the flawless execution and fierce determination that have propelled the company to where it is today. »
Deel’s commitment to rampant growth has led to regulatory problems, highlighted by an open letter from Rep. Adam Schiff and five other members of the House of Representatives. They accused Deel of improperly classifying its employees as independent contractors in order to increase its profitability and growth, at the expense of workers’ wages, benefits and the right to organize. CEO Mr. Bouzaziz traveled to Washington DC to meet with regulators in hopes of resolving these issues. A spokesperson for Mr. Schiff noted that the meetings were productive and helped clarify the issues raised in the open letter.
As it continues to grow, Deel aims to capture a larger, more global segment of the HR software market, particularly through its recent acquisitions. In 2022, Deel acquired PayGroup, an Asia-Pacific-based payroll management company, for an estimated $80 million. In March, Deel announced the purchase of payroll management company PaySpace, which operates in Africa and the Middle East, regions where Deel hopes to continue its expansion.
Aaron Harris, former YC partner and co-founder of financial advisory firm Magid & Company, cited the trust between the founders, and the way they are able to work virtually independently, as the reason Deel developed so quickly and sustainably: “ Their interaction is marked by a dynamic energy, where ideas flow and respond to each other like in a game of ping-pong. They inspire each other and demonstrate a remarkable level of trust. »
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