10 Things You Didn’t Know About Daniel Yu

Daniel Yu is the chief executive officer of a company called Wasoko. Wasoko is the rebranded name of the company formerly called Sokowatch. It’s an African startup that provides urban African retail shops with an e-commerce platform for selling their goods. Yu is a dynamic leader and entrepreneur. If you’ve not yet heard of him, here are ten things you probably didn’t know about Daniel Yu to bring you up to speed.

1. Daniel Yu is a co-founder of Wasoko

Mr. Yu is not only the chief executive officer of Wasoko, but he is also a co-founder of the organization. Daniel and his partner Josh Raine launched the startup in 2013, according to Crunchbase. The team serves as executives. Raines is the current chief operating officer of the company. Wasoko is the first company that Daniel Yu established and it is thriving under his leadership.

2. Daniel Yu attended Wharton and the University of Chicago

Wharton is a prestigious business school. We learned that Mr. Yu obtained his Business Acumen for Senior Microsoft Leaders from Wharton in 2019. The certification has no expiration date. He also attended the University of Chicago in 2011. He listed on his resume that he is on leave from his studies. Yu dropped out of college to pursue his interests in launching Wasoko. He had to make a decision. His gamble paid off.

3. Daniel Yu was a faculty coach

According to his LinkedIn profile, Daniel Yu served as a faculty coach at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He served in the position from September of 2014 through December of 2014. He assisted the instructor for a course called Application Development for 2nd year MBA students. He also taught web development skills across multiple programs. He taught while serving as the CEO of his new company Wasoko. It shows that he is a dynamic leader who can juggle multiple tasks simultaneously.

4. He is an Endeavor Entrepreneur

the International Selection Panel in Buenos Aires chose Daniel as an Endeavor Entrepreneur. The organization selected him for the honor in September of 2018. He is currently involved in an organization that provides entrepreneurs with organizations and individuals to help them hone their business skills and expand their thought processes to achieve more impact in their entrepreneurial endeavors. Daniel’s appointment to this prestigious panel is a distinction among his peers. He’s been with the organization for three years and seven months. It must be working because his company is thriving.

5. He is a member of the Unreasonable Fellowship

Daniel Yu is part of many distinguished groups. Another honor bestowed upon him in membership in an organization called the Unreasonable Fellowship. It is an organization that selects entrepreneurs at the growth stage for lifelong membership in its fellowship. He received an invitation to join the Unreasonable Future 2020 cohort, and he accepted the invitation. The focus of his group is to leverage business and advanced technologies with the end goal of creating a just and equitable future for everyone. The organization includes investors, institutions, and entrepreneurs in a community that looks for positive change. He has been a fellowship member for one year and five months.

6. Daniel Yu is a Founders Pledger

Daniel Yu committed the Founders Pledge in October of 2020. The organization consists of entrepreneurs who commit to giving seventy percent of their proceeds from the equity in their companies to help reduce suffering in the world. The community of pledgers includes an estimated 1,400 business owners who pledge a minimum of five percent of the proceeds of their ventures for philanthropy. We learned that he is a generous philanthropist who has gone over and above the organization’s expectations.

7. Daniel Yu is a software developer

Daniel Yu is a multi-talented professional. He is not only a seasoned executive with strong leadership skills, but he is also an expert in software development. He helped teach a course to University students, serving as faculty coach in software development. Mr. Yu believes the development of software networks will help tie countries and cultures left out of the e-commerce industry.

8. Daniel Yu has international business development experience

Mr. Yu is from the Midwestern part of the United States. The headquarters for his company is in Chicago, Illinois, but his heart is for small business owners in emerging markets. He has traveled to countries where emerging economies require help to build their networking infrastructures. He has visited and worked in more than sixty-five countries. He’s been to the Middle East, East Africa, China, Southeast Asia, Brazile, Central America, and other countries.

9. Daniel Yu is multilingual

Mr. Yu is a native of the United States of America. His native language is English, but he can converse in eight languages. Daniel has studied foreign languages and has achieved the ability to speak conversationally in most of them. He currently speaks Mandarin, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, and Swahili. Mr. Yu learned to get his point across in many foreign languages. He also gained cultural knowledge to launch new tech-driven business principles within their countries. Daniel has gone to great lengths to ensure that he can communicate effectively with business persons in many countries. His company currently serves East African companies with merchant customers throughout Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya.

10. Daniel Yu is helping merchants to realize their dreams

According to Techcrunch, Mr. Yu makes it possible for small mom and pop stores in Africa to get in on the e-commerce boom. Mr. Yu knew the logistics network in the countries served were not running efficiently. There was no way to ensure that orders would be processed quickly or delivered promptly. He changed the name of Sokowatch to Wasoko because the latter means “people of the market.” His company allows small retailers to order products from large suppliers through mobile apps or SMS for dame day delivery. Wasoko is also implementing a buy now and pay later option. The plan includes debt financing options for merchants to help them get their businesses off the ground.