Simon Tian

Simon Tian (born February 24, 1994) is a Canadian tech entrepreneur and inventor. He is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of consumer electronics and wearable technology company Neptune. Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, Tian dropped out of high school at the age of 18 to start Neptune, and has raised a total of around $2 million from crowdfunding sources alone. Tian is a 2015 Thiel Fellow, having been awarded $100,000 by PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and was named one of the top 30 Quebecers under 30 by Les Affaires in 2014.

Early life

Tian was born to Chinese Canadian parents in Montreal, Quebec, in 1994. He was raised in Brossard, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, and attended high school at Jean de la Mennais College, a French school in La Prairie, Quebec. Tian is fluent in English, French, and Mandarin.

Career

Tian started Neptune in January 2013, while he was 18 and still studying at Marianopolis College in Westmount, Quebec. Before even building a prototype or incorporating a company, Tian posted some conceptual drawings of a smartwatch, the Neptune Pine, on a website he built, issued a press release announcing the product, and proceeded to receive more than 20,000 orders for the device in a few weeks.

Tian then traveled to China to meet with contract manufacturers to have the device developed. In November 2013, he launched a crowdfunding campaign for the Pine on Kickstarter. Within 27 hours, the campaign reached its funding goal of $100,000, and ultimately went on to raise more than $800,000 in 30 days. The device started shipping by August 2014, and eventually became widely available through Best Buy and Amazon. The Pine has gotten mixed reviews from the press, generally praising its extensive set of features, while criticizing its large size.

In March 2015, Tian announced the Neptune Suite through an Indiegogo campaign, raising $1.16 million in a month. Christopher Mims of the Wall Street Journal described the Suite as "a literal interpretation of the fact that a smartwatch, smartphone and tablet are all just different size windows on the same set of apps and services." Daniel Cooper of Engadget commented on the ambitious nature of the product vision, writing, "Technology is all about big ideas, and this one from Simon Tian will probably need its own aircraft hangar." Cliff Kuang of Wired called the Suite "a taste of what computing should be in 2025", and the Verge wrote, "the idea of putting all the brains and power of mobile computing into something attached to your body instead of in a pocket or bag is wildly attractive."

In November 2015, Tian was invited by the Mayor of Montreal Denis Coderre to attend the 2015 Montreal Trade Mission to China as one of the city's representatives. Tian has been a speaker at numerous industry events such as the CES, the Wearable Technology Show in London, and the WT Conference in Munich, Germany.