January 2021 SVJP Executive Roundtable with Jerry Yang

From Stanford to Silicon Valley: Jerry Yang's Journey and Vision for Tech

Jerry Yang's story is one of unlikely beginnings and remarkable connections. Immigrating from Taiwan to the United States as a child with no English, he went on to co-found Yahoo in 1995, one of the defining companies of the early internet era. Along the way, Japan played a surprising role: Yang studied in Kyoto, met his wife there, and helped launch Yahoo Japan just one year after Yahoo's founding.

After leaving Yahoo, Yang channeled his experience into AME Cloud Ventures, named after the Japanese word for rain, investing in companies like Zoom, Slack, and Impossible Foods with a focus on data-driven innovation.

Looking ahead, Yang sees both opportunity and responsibility. He believes entrepreneurs can no longer focus solely on growth, they must also consider ethics, equity, and social impact from day one. And with two distinct tech ecosystems emerging in the US and China, the global landscape for innovation is shifting in ways no one can ignore.