Victor Ho (Chinese: 何 翔) is a Taiwanese-American businessman, who was the co-founder and CEO of FiveStars, a customer loyalty network for small and medium businesses.

Early life and career

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Ho grew up in Southern California. His parents are immigrants from Taiwan. His father is an engineer and his mother an artist, both of whom met while working at Rockwell Automation.[1]

After graduating from college, Ho started his career at Goldman Sachs. Next, he worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in New York.[2]

Whilst at McKinsey, Ho interviewed for jobs at private equity firms. One day, while stuck at San Francisco airport from a flight delay, the idea of creating a company based on improving customer loyalty for local merchants occurred to him. He called prospective employers and told them he had changed his mind.[citation needed] In December 2010 Ho launched FiveStars with Matt Doka, whom he knew from working at McKinsey. In July, 2011 the company launched its product, a universal customer loyalty card called FiveStars and found early success. They proceeded to raise $16 million in venture financing to grow the company. By August 2013, Five Stars employed 100 people and has in excess of a million cardholders. By 2016, the company has raised $105M in funding from investors.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Victor Ho of FiveStars: Take Management Advice From Interns". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  2. ^ "Customer loyalty startup FiveStars pulls in $26 million in new funding". Bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  3. ^ "Smart shopping startup FiveStars turned down VC money and almost died - now it's worth hundreds of millions". Business Insider. 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2016-12-17.