A Social Playground
for Gen-Z to authentically share their passions

A serial entrepreneur, hacktivist, and internet community devotee since building his own computer system at 11 years old to record the first DNA-RNA sequencing of several species of plants and animals, Laqua is the proverbial internet latchkey kid. The San Diego native was once briefly banned from his high school’s library for installing Bitcoin miners on computers, but the incident only ignited a passion for programming that carried Laqua to Columbia University awarded the Rabi Scholarship in STEM. 

 

While at Columbia University, the STEM prodigy was the youngest person in school history to win the school’s Venture Capital Competition in 2019 for creating Eyelizer, an app to help law enforcement objectively and instantly determine through rapid eye movements if someone is under the influence of an impairing substance using AI and VR. Laqua graduated from Columbia in just 3 years, innovating in an incubator and collaborating with Nobel Laureate Dr. Hamilton Smith in a successful environmental startup as well. However, the call of community beckoned.

 

Inspired by his love for connecting with people online, the tech innovator began building Picnic in 2020 During its creation, Laqua noticed that major web communities offered very little incentive for moderators, users, and lurkers to grow these groups, properly moderate them, or participate. Community members did all the work, while the operating companies cashed in on ad revenue.

 

Laqua’s vision is to kick that back to the users, creating a system akin to YouTube’s ad revenue sharing but for those who build the online communities that shaped his life through meaningful interactions that inspired him to keep innovating.
 

In less than two years Picnic has reached the top of the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, been downloaded more than 3 million times, features 70,000-plus communities, and more than 100,000 new posts a week.

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“Online communities are one of the most beautiful things on the internet. They allow people to connect across the world, share their passions, and learn new skills from each other. I couldn’t imagine my life without them.”  Nico Laqua

Emily Yuan is the epitome of an entrepreneur.  She literally wrote the book on it when she was 18 years old. 

 

During a summer camp at Georgetown University when she was just 16, her passion for social entrepreneurship was ignited when she felt inspired to start her first non-profit organization Paper Bridges.  In two years, it grew from a small local chapter to over 100 chapters worldwide supporting vulnerable children in the US and around the world with letters, supplies, books, tutoring, and other needs.  If you want something done, ask Emily Yuan.

 

To call Yuan a “genius” defined by her off-the-charts analytical and engineering skills is simplistic and only touches on her intellect.  Her creativity is as much a part of her success as her proven technical skills. Yuan is an accomplished artist and role model for other young women, which sets her apart from most other male tech founders in Silicon Valley.  For example, the famed, Picnic Mystery Machine Van, adorns Yuan’s beautiful artwork and much of the Picnic app’s branding was created by Yuan.  Her creative skills and innovation are an essential part of Yuan’s core.
 

Yuan attended Stanford University and her love of connecting led her to become the President of the Stanford Pre-Business Association, leading the school’s largest undergraduate business student group. During this time she met Picnic CEO Nico Laqua and saw immense potential in the social community app.

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Where most students would stay and complete their degree, Yuan chose to leave Stanford and bet on herself and Picnic. It’s a  decision she never looked back on since the day Picnic was launched. She braced for a negative reaction from her parents, but found support instead. They were among the initial investors of Picnic and have been ardent supporters of her choice since the start.

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An integral part of Picnic’s explosive growth, Yuan’s skill for organization, love of the internet and new technology, and desire to create a place for people to share their passions spearheaded Picnic’s ambitions. Her intuition and creativity drive innovation in real-time.

With one success after another, Yuan is poised to do it again.

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“I wanted to be part of something that was a place for girls like myself to do more than be sold makeup, or whatever the latest fashion trends are. There should be more real and uplifting spaces on the internet where people can showcase and share with the world.” Emily Yuan