Primary Job Title Founder & CEO Primary Organization Ponddy Education
Location San Francisco, California, United States Regions San Francisco Bay Area, West Coast, Western US Gender Male
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Mr. Franz Chen brings more than three decades of technology entrepreneurship to TutorGroup. In this role, Mr. Chen has responsibility for accelerating the company’s global growth, focusing on both Greater Asia and the Americas. In particular, Mr. Chen leads the introduction of the company’s Chinese language platform, TutorMing.com, as a commercial
offering within the United States. This will include the deployment of special coursework for advanced-placement Chinese language learners. In addition to more rapidly advance global expansion for both English and Chinese language products, Mr. Chen will focus on identifying strategic partners for TutorGroup to better serve online language learners around the globe.
Prior to joining TutorGroup, Mr. Chen was CFO of Cyterion, Inc., a company focused on developing superior regenerative medicine products targeting tissues damaged due to complications from diabetes.
Prior to Cyterion, Mr. Chen founded RIQtek, a company providing standard and tailored management software for resolving issues with project cost overruns, where he remained until 2006.
Before launching RIQTek, Mr.Chen occupied key technical and management positions at Turnstone Systems, where he drove the organization’s development, taking more than 80% of CLEC market.
Before Turnstone, Mr. Chen worked for National Semiconductor, specializing in creating system models that predict behavior and performance of ICs.
Between 1986 and 1990, Mr. Chen was a founder and managing director of Neon Sociedad Anonima (NSA) in Peru, a consumer electronics manufacturing company with a market share of more than 60%.
Mr. Chen holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and received a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. He graduated with top honors from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He has a multi-cultural background and is fluent in Spanish, English, and Chinese (Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, and Cantonese).
