Entrepreneurship is about more than just starting a business. Entrepreneurship is also a mindset and lifestyle. Before the week starts, you don’t have to go far to find the entrepreneurial spirit in our community! Our university is home to many budding innovators. Here is some advice that some student-entrepreneurs want to share with students interested in entrepreneurship:
While completing her degree in Management Information Systems and Analytics (now renamed Business Technology Management) at Telfer, Alina started HireFast, a SaaS company that reads through millions of data points on Github to source top developer talent for recruiters within seconds.
Alina shares, “starting your own business is an exciting process that leaves you tangled in tons of information about the best next step to take for your business. As a result, tons of great entrepreneurs get stuck in the quicksand known as analysis paralysis. The best way to stop yourself from sinking further is to get ‘out of the building’ and talk to your users about your idea and about your competition.
Two years ago, Management and Entrepreneurship student, Logan launched his startup, Point3D Commercial Imaging, a B2B company that creates media experiences to allow audiences to digitally navigate a space as if they were actually there.
Logan adds that “everyone wants to be successful, but only a few are willing to put in the work to make it happen. From my experience, failing is a key part of the process, but more importantly, it is how you learn from failure that determines your success."
Marketing alumnus, Andres started his own digital agency, Noetic Marketer while he was studying Marketing at Telfer. Now he runs his company from Toronto.
Andres shared some meaningful advice: “entrepreneurship is about adding value to people’s lives through a business or an organization. Is your business making people’s life easier, more enjoyable, more affordable, or profitable? You don’t need a ground-breaking idea or a lot of money to achieve this, all you need to do is care, think critically about this question, and continue to push that agenda. So, don’t overcomplicate entrepreneurship, and put your energy into nurturing your mindset and learning new skills. The idea will come to you as you become passionate about starting your business.”
Check out the uOttawa Global Entrepreneurship Week event schedule to register and connect with some of the brightest and most creative people in Ottawa!
The Telfer Impact goes beyond the classroom. There are countless stories of students and alumni who have truly made a difference through their involvement, community engagement, entrepreneurial vision, and hard work. Over the last 6 weeks, we’ve shared some incredible stories of Telfer students developing into the next generation of leaders:
The CASCO Impact
20 years ago, two inspired Telfer students founded the non-profit organization, CASCO. Every year, Telfer students team up to host spectacular events that raise money for families at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). CASCO has donated over $560,000 to the cause ever since.
The Growcer Impact
After visiting communities challenged with food insecurity in Northern Canada, two Telfer BCom alumni, Alida Burke and Corey Ellis created a hydroponic system that grows produce in controlled shipping containers. From there, the business, The Growcer Inc. was born. Today, the company is part of Invest Ottawa’s accelerator program, and its systems are being sold across Canada, empowering communities around the globe to grow their own produce.
The PhD Impact
Telfer PhD candidate, Alex Chung researches the design of wearable technology that influences human behaviour change. As a result of the balanced program, Alex has been able to lead an active and fulfilling life, while impacting the future of wearable technology.
The Unscented Company Impact
BCom alumna, Anie Rouleau is living her dream, running her own eco-sustainable, B Corp certified cleaning product business, The Unscented Company (TUC). Through her innovative business model, Anie has caught the attention of the public with her Dragons’ Den deal to sell TUC products in 500 Canadian Tire stores across Canada.
The MBA Impact
After discovering the world of administration while working at Montfort Hospital, Mélanie Potvin decided to elevate her experience with an MBA in French at Telfer. Now she has the crucial knowledge and confidence in her leadership role as Project Manager for the Orléans Health Hub at the hospital.
These are just a few stories of the meaningful change that Telfer Students are creating. What will be YOUR impact?
Anie Rouleau, Telfer Alumna, BCom, The Unscented Company
Much more than just a company selling soaps and household products, TUC is trying to redefine the very concept of cleanliness by focusing on innovation and eco-design.
For Anie, sustainable development is not only a fundamental value, it is in the DNA of Unscented Co. From research and development, to minimalist, recyclable and plastic-free packaging, to re-filling stations at local retail partners, to the very furniture of its offices made from recycled materials, every decision is guided by this eco-responsible corporate philosophy.
Her innovative re-definition of the consumption model was not an immediate success, but her patience and strong convictions will have finally paid off in a market where until recently, the environment was not considered an issue."It will have taken a video of a turtle with a straw stuck in its nose for people to wake up," she told us during our interview. "Now we are seeing a real willingness on the part of people to change their consumption habits, and business is starting to move," Anie concluded.
On that note, her business is definitely moving. On October 10, 2019, Canadian Tire announced on a CBC episode of Dragons’ Den, that they would bring TUC products into their 500 stores across Canada. Although Anie was already seeing some craze for her products in local markets, a national distributor such as Canadian Tire will allow her to amplify her message, and together, they will have a real opportunity to change the country's consumption habits.
Her story is an inspiration for the business community that proves that when you have strong convictions, you can make your dreams come true. Once again Anie, congratulations, and we are very proud to have a graduate among us who has such a great impact on our world! #TELFERNATION
At the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, we believe that it is through hands-on learning experiences and community support that we can help our students reach their goals, accelerate their careers and make a positive impact on our collective future.
This is the case for The Growcer Inc. - an Ottawa-based social enterprise co-founded by Corey Ellis and Alida Burke, two Telfer BCom Alumni. The pair came up with the idea for their modular hydroponic growing systems after having visited remote communities who face food insecurity in Northern Canada.
The plug-and-play hydroponic system gives produce everything it needs to grow in a controlled environment, built inside retrofitted shipping containers. These enable northern communities, schools, Indigenous and regional governments, as well as other businesses and non-profit organizations to develop more self-reliant and sustainable local food systems.
Through Telfer opportunities and extra-curricular activities such as the E-Foundry course and Enactus, Corey and Alida were able to travel the world, understand the challenges communities face, and build their business. Enactus is a student-led organization that uses the power of entrepreneurship and business, to help solve social problems. In 2017, the University of Ottawa became one of The Grower's first customers and acquired one of the systems to grow local food that’s now being served in our own cafeteria.
Now, The Growcer has over 15 employees and operates out of Invest Ottawa’s accelerator program at Bayview Yards.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, Cyril Moukarzel was looking for a school that would teach him the business skills needed to start and run a successful business. He was attracted to the Telfer School’s international recognition and faculty expertise, as well as its strong alumni network. These elements made Telfer the best fit for him.
The Telfer School has had a tremendous impact in Cyril’s professional and personal life. He explained the Professors helped guide him in his career path and provided him with the necessary skills to thrive in the business world. In fact, it is with the help of Professor Gurprit Kindra that he changed his major from entrepreneurship to marketing. This decision had a significant impact on his career, as he was able to learn about the digital marketing landscape, enabling him to “bootstrap startups from the ground up and grow them into revenue generating businesses”. Furthermore, during his time at Telfer, Cyril recalls several amazing experiences, like the time he won first place at the Telfer Elevator Pitch competition. He explained this accomplishment gave him the validation and the motivation he needed to pursue a career in Entrepreneurship.
When asked about how the Telfer School helped shape him into the person he is today, Cyril explained how the School helped launch his entrepreneurship career. It is thanks to the Telfer School that he was able to take part in the Startup Garage Accelerator. The program helped him acquire the funding necessary to get his first startup off the ground. The startup, called eCelery, is an “online marketplace where hungry food lovers can order authentic ethnic meals from chefs cooking in their own kitchens”. Without this program and the Telfer School, Cyril would not have been able to grow his startup to 40 chefs and gain hundreds of monthly sales in just a few months. Cyril also explained the individuals he met during his studies helped him get to where he is today.
After eCelery, Cyril worked as the head of Marketing for a few startups, where he was put in charge of growing their sales and customer base. He also participated in the Techstars Accelerator Program in Berlin for 3 months, which helped him hone his marketing and entrepreneurship skills before he could start his next venture. Cyril aspires to create a positive impact and change the world with his companies. He is achieving this goal with his current company, LifeDNA. LifeDNA is a personal genomics company that analyzes your DNA and creates a customized regimen of dietary supplements based on your unique genetics. With a growing team and some of the best advisors, LifeDNA created the most personalized supplement line in the world. In this regard, Cyril recalls that Telfer connected him with the Entrepreneurship community in Ottawa and taught him essential business skills, which helped him make this positive impact.
Connect with Cyril on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyrilmoukarzel/
Learn more about LifeDNA: https://www.lifedna.com/
Alida Burke was born and raised in Ottawa, and made the decision to study at the Telfer School of Management to have a positive impact in her community. She recently completed her fourth year of studies, specializing in Accounting. Alida has always been interested in making a positive impact in communities across Canada, which is why she joined Enactus in her first year of studies. Enactus is a student club at Telfer aimed at building social enterprises to tackle social and environmental issues in our community. During her fourth year, she held the Vice-President of Finance position. Through Enactus, Alida met another student who shared the same passion as her for the wellbeing of Canadian communities. Together, they created their own startup called The Growcer.
It all started when Alida decided to do something about the issues regarding food security in the Northern communities of Canada. Her company provides state-of-the-art farming systems that allow people to grow fresh produce with ease all year long. These systems are suitable for virtually any temperature, and do not require any farming experience to operate. What is interesting is the fact that this business lets people grow produce in a sustainable way, while still making profits year-round. You can find one of her farming systems at the University of Ottawa, near the Morisset library. Alida even appeared on the show “The Dragon’s Den” with her business partner to pitch her business, where she astounded everyone with her ability to manage such a revolutionary business while still studying at Telfer.
Not only has Alida been involved in Enactus, she has also been a Telfer Peer Mentor, a Career Centre ambassador and a Teaching Assistant for Financial Accounting! When she is not getting involved in her community, you can find Alida hiking in Gatineau Park and finding great local bookshops. Her involvement in the Telfer community has granted her many opportunities, and allowed her to meet likeminded people who have strongly enriched her student experience. Alida encourages everyone to do the same!
Her current work aspirations are to obtain her CPA and to work in a field she is passionate about, which is currently at The Growcer. Her impressive accomplishments lead us to believe she will undoubtedly find success in any field she chooses to pursue.
We wish Alida luck with her future endeavors!
Connect with Alida Burke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidaburke/
The Entrepreneurship Foundry course (ADM3396) is a cross-campus initiative that leverages University and community resources to help you grow your business venture in a for-credit 13-week long course. This course lets you earn credits while working on your existing business or social enterprise (not just an idea), acting as an accelerator for your entrepreneurial venture.
You will have access to external mentors at themed sessions as well as frequent access to “lab” time to allow you to focus on your business. Course deliverables are designed to be relevant to your venture and each week you will have dedicated work time to help meet your milestones.
This course is open to all University of Ottawa students.
Interviews and Application
An interview and acceptance process will ensure only those most committed to real entrepreneurship will be accepted. Student teams are eligible, and not all members need to be registered for the course to participate. Space is limited to 25 students.
Venture Assessment
Your venture will be evaluated by using a pre-survey and interview to determine where you are at with your venture and set goals.
At the end of the course, you will be interviewed to measure the progress.
Frequent pitches will allow you to develop your pitch skills, as well as gain valuable feedback from professors, mentors and peers.
Below you can watch Andres Tovar talking about his experience taking the Entrepreneurship Foundry course and building his business Noetic Marketer.
The course will run Fall 2020, Thursdays from 2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
To learn more and to apply for the course, please contact Stephen Daze.
CEOx1Day is on the Hunt for Canada’s Top Students!
The CEO x1 Day program, run by executive recruiting firm, Odgers Berndtson, matches Canada’s top students with CEOs from across the country. Today’s students are the leaders of tomorrow and the yearly program aims to uncover some of Canada’s most promising future talent by giving them an unforgettable real-world experience.
The program has matched over 80 third and fourth year undergraduate students from across the country with leading Canadian CEOs from organizations like IKEA, PayPal, De Beers Canada, Purolator, the CFL, Manulife Financial, Kellogg, CBC/Radio-Canada, Amnesty International and the Canadian Red Cross. This year, we have another fantastic line-up of 19 CEOs from organizations in the private, public and not-for profit sectors including Toronto Pearson International Airport, Cirque du Soleil, IKEA, Mindbrige AI, Servus Credit Union, WSP Canada, Broadband TV, ArcelorMittal and more!
Past CEOx1Day students who have taken part in the program say that they received valuable experience that equips them with the tools to start building their careers. Because the selection process has several stages, there is an opportunity for students to get feedback on their leadership and interview skills that are instrumental to their career development. The different phases of the selection process include an online leadership assessment, as well as phone and in-person interviews and a half day with Odgers Berndtson recruiters.
The application process kicks off September 27th until October 26th and the actual day spent with the CEO occurs in February 2019.
Why Should You Apply?
The program gives third and fourth-year students an opportunity to take in-class learning and apply it to real-world situations while providing you with the tools and skills needed to start building your career.
What Are the Benefits?
There are many benefits of going through the CEOx1Day application process – even if you don’t reach the finalist round:
2 out of 3 applicants will have the opportunity to receive a personalized leadership report from Hogan Assessments
Semi-finalists will be considered for an interview with McKinsey & Company for a summer internship or full-time job
Semi-finalists will spend a half day participating in group exercises and one-on-one interviewing which will strengthen their presentation and interviewing skills
And ultimately, the winners will spend a full day shadowing a CEO (including one-on-one time), learning about his/her background, career path, and leadership approach
There are over 250 student associations at the University of Ottawa, which encourage students to work with their peers while discovering their strengths and passions. One of the newest teams, Formula uOttawa, continues to evolve and promote experiential learning opportunities in the STEM fields through a collaboration of multiple faculties, including the Faculty of Engineering and the Telfer School of Management.
Formula uOttawa is the University of Ottawa’s student race car team. Each year, the team is required to design and build a brand new race car, which is judged at various international competitions and scored based on the overall design, cost, and performance of the car. The team’s third season has officially come to an end, after their most successful competition to date at Formula North 2018. The team placed 23rd out of 49 registered teams. By gaining this hands-on experience, the members of the Formula uOttawa team are able to highlight to employers that they can apply the knowledge and skills that they have learned in the classroom. As a result of the hard work of the students on this team, numerous members have secured internships at multinational companies including Tesla, Chrysler, and Continental Tire.
Not only were the racing events at Formula North a success, the talented group of students from the Telfer School of Management were able to capture 2nd place in the business presentation out of 27 teams. These outstanding students made this year’s car possible by securing 26 sponsors who provided over $30 000 in donations. The students from the Telfer School of Management are members of the Formula uOttawa Marketing Team, Accounting Team, and Administration Team.
Formula uOttawa could not have attended the international competition without the hard work and collaboration of students in both faculties.
For more information about Formula uOttawa and to learn how you can get involved, visit their website at www.formulauottawa.com
Telfer alumnus Cassy Aite (BCom 2015), and his co-founded company Desk Nibbles have landed pre-seed financing to fund U.S. expansion. Desk Nibbles uses Artificial Intelligence to make it easier for Office Managers to manage their office kitchens. With over 65 customers and a growing number of employees, Desk Nibbles is quickly expanding.
The empirical report and action strategies will be of interest to policymakers, small business and innovation organizations, advocates, industry associations, and corporations that support supplier diversity.
A new Telfer study, conducted in collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada, identifies action strategies to increase federal SME supplier diversity and inclusive innovation. Showcased at the Chatham House International Policy Forum in the UK, the report provides important benchmarks about the progress of women entrepreneurs in Canada, and sets a standard of reporting in examining gender of firm ownership, breadth and types of innovation and federal SME contracting.
The empirical report and action strategies will be of interest to policymakers, small business and innovation organizations, advocates, industry associations, and corporations that support supplier diversity. The research, for example, helped to inform a key Chatham House conference resolution, one that the W20 adopt entrepreneurship, procurement, and trade as one of its three policy priorities.
Telfer report recommendations include:
Adopting sector-specific strategies to help achieve the Government of Canada's commitment to increase the participation of women business owners from 10 percent to 15 percent in federal contracting. Sector-specific strategies follow from the Telfer finding that gender differences in the likelihood of SMEs being federal contractors varied significantly by industry sector.
Improving SME procurement data and analytics, including large samples and detailed analyses to move beyond anecdotal evidence and to increase SME contracting opportunities.
Developing gender-sensitive procurement training in collaboration with industry organizations, such as Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC), WBE Canada, WEConnect International Canada, Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC), among others.
People, planet, and profit. Otherwise better known as the "triple bottom line," this concept distinguishes itself by including certain spheres, namely social and environmental, in assessing the profitability of a business. It's from this same vision that The Unscented Company, a line of unscented home and body care products, was born. The brand was launched in 2016 on two founding principles that greatly inspired founder and CEO Anie Rouleau in her company's creative process. "Firstly, we had to redefine the notion of clean by offering exclusively unscented, all-natural products. Secondly, we had to design our packaging for conscious living, with the goal of significantly reducing our collective plastic footprint."
Anie's philosophy is based on a model combining transparency, inclusiveness and accountability. More specifically, "what inspires me are the men and women who hold on to their vision, while staying true to their own beliefs, even when it's hard."
It's thanks to this same innovative vision that Anie's company was awarded B Corp certification, making The Unscented Company the first Canadian home and body care product company to be certified.
"I find real joy in giving back. I want to contribute to a better world and I enjoy building the business of tomorrow." This same desire to give back is reflected in the Anie Rouleau International Exchange Scholarship. Established in 1999, this scholarship not only gives young people the opportunity to pursue their studies abroad, but also encourages young women to carve their own path to entrepreneurship. "Every thank-you letter I get from recipients reminds me how important it is to give back and be involved in the academic lives of young people."
"Enactus uOttawa has been named both the 2018 TD Entrepreneurship Challenge National Champion as well as the Scotiabank EcoLiving Green Challenge National Champion for their business, The Growcer.
The Growcer’s core product is a state-of-the-art farming system that utilizes hydroponic technology to enable entrepreneurs to create their own businesses growing produce locally in northern food-insecure communities. Enactus uOttawa’s Growcer system has yielded 10,000 servings of vegetables in just 5 months.
Enactus uOttawa was also named a finalist in the Scotiabank Youth Empowerment Challenge, and the Hellman’s Food Security Challenge. These competitions were created to empower post-secondary students to develop and deliver projects that teach relevant entrepreneurship skills to aspiring and existing entrepreneurs.
Drew Stirling, VP External, mentions that “Enactus has been an incredible platform to develop personally and professionally, meet other driven students, and travel the world - all while learning to use business to change the world for the better”.
The Growcer was also named finalist in the Scotiabank Youth Empowerment Challenge, and the Hellman’s Food Security Challenge.
Not to be outdone, Alida Burke was named Project leader of the Year, while Holly Todd was also named the HSBC Woman Leader of Tomorrow runner up. uOttawa had a strong showing at nationals finishing 2nd overall amongst 70 other schools.
"It's always great to challenge ourselves at competition and see the growth of the team year after year - I could not be more proud to lead this team", says Holly Todd, President of Enactus uOttawa.
Congratulations to Enactus uOttawa on a successful National Championship!
The Telfer Centre for Executive Leadership (CEL) at the University of Ottawa and Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute have collaborated to launch the Ontario Inclusive Innovation (I2) Action Strategy.
The Brookfield Institute of Entrepreneurship + Innovation has awarded Telfer CEL, in collaboration with Ryerson’s Diversity Institute, a $225,000 contract to report on the state of women’s enterprise support in Ontario, facilitate gender-sensitivity entrepreneurship workshops, develop a certification program, and host a conference to showcase evidence-based practices for empowering women entrepreneurs. Industry partners include: Women in Communication and Technology, WEConnect International Canada, Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council, WBE Canada, YWCA and Youth Employment Services.
Telfer and Diversity Institute research has shown the need for women-friendly culture and gender-sensitive entrepreneurship services. Community-based enterprise supports focus heavily on technology, in spite of the importance of other sectors in which entrepreneurial women operate in larger numbers. Women entrepreneurs are significantly less likely to secure capital and government contracts, resulting in lost business opportunities.
“It is an economic imperative to translate evidence-based insights into programs and tools that empower women entrepreneurs. Failure to support growth-oriented and diverse entrepreneurs wastes intellectual resources and contributes to economic and social inequality,” says Telfer faculty member and Project Lead Dr. Barbara Orser. “This 12 month action strategy is expected to transform Ontario into one of the most inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world.”
Adds Diversity Institute Director Dr. Wendy Cukier, coauthor of Innovation Nation, “Women play a critical role in driving economic growth. We need to remove barriers to diverse women and ensuring that the processes and supports do not reflect conscious or unconscious bias. Our recent research has shown immigrant, racialized, and indigenous female entrepreneurs face additional challenges. Diversity drives innovation and we can leverage what we know about innovation to level the playing field.”
Join us on April 3, 2018 for the next event in our Entrepreneurship Bridges Lecture Series. We will be hearing from guest speaker Cole Miller, Founder of Twelve Barrels, as well as announcing the 2018 Startup Garage cohort.
Cole will be offering guests of the event a free tasting* of his whiskey, Twelve Barrels. Cole Miller is currently launching Twelve Barrels, a whisky brand in Canada. An entrepreneur with experience as a Junior Marketer and as an Apprentice Whisky Distiller at the Lakes Distillery Company, Cole acquired a Bachelor of Cognitive Science and a Minor in Entrepreneurship from Carleton University. He is also an alumnus of uOttawa’s Startup Garage.
The Startup Garage is an initiative of the University of Ottawa’s Innovation Support Services to foster and support youth entrepreneurship in the Ottawa area. The program offers youth-led ventures the opportunity to accelerate their business by working full time over the course of three months during the summer. Startup Garage provides each participating company with four essential tools: cash, office space, mentorship and support. The program is delivered through the generous support of the University of Ottawa, Gowling WLG, BMO and Logan Katz LLP.
*Valid ID Required (19+). For those who are interested in the tasting, you will be required to present valid ID to obtain a ticket and may be asked again by the server to present your valid ID. One sample per person.
"Regionals was when everything really clicked for me when it came to Enactus, and it was really nice to see that happening for the newer members. I'm so proud of our team and am extremely grateful to be working with such a hard-working, dedicated, talented, intelligent and fun group of people." Holly Todd, President, Enactus uOttawa
Hosted at the Hilton Meadowvale, the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition for the Central Canada category endorsed the entrepreneurial achievements of over 500 students across the region. With the additional help of professionals, academic advisors, and organizers, it was a two-day event filled with competitive spirit, collaboration, and celebration. Students competed in live presentations that demonstrated their positive outreach in both their local and international communities - all within the categories of entrepreneurship, environmental issues, youth empowerment, and financial education.
Enactus uOttawa, now a group of over 90 motivated young leaders from seven different faculties at the University of Ottawa, competed in all four categories.
The Enactus uOttawa team will now move on to compete in the Enactus Canada National Exposition taking place from May 14 to 16 in Toronto, Canada at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
During the Winter Study Week (February 20th - 23rd, 2018), the Telfer School offered a four-day intensive course entitled Global Marketing & Innovation Strategy: Learning about and from China, taught by Amy Karam, a Telfer alumnus, who is the author of the book, The China Factor. The course addressed the topic of whether: “There is a global economic power shift and whether Western-based businesses are being challenged in different ways by the rapid growth of China and other emerging entrants and what can they do about it?”
The course offering served as a guide for Western companies to understand how their Chinese competitors do business and how they can change their strategy to be more successful in international markets. A third of the class were BCom students from China who shared their expertise regarding the Chinese emerging market with other Canadian BCom students.
With the emergence of China, the rules of the global business and trade game have changed. Innovation and product superiority are no longer enough to win business in international markets – especially in emerging markets. Western companies need to re-evaluate their sales and marketing strategies and reposition themselves in the context of a new genre of competition and different customer demands. This course explored how China and other emerging entrants do business using the 5Ps of Global Marketing Framework while studying how a Western-based company can learn from them and adapt their strategy, all while incorporating competitive dynamics into their plan. Maintaining an innovation advantage is also a key success factor in the new global economy and students learned ways to become innovative at innovation by learning about new models.
Amy Karam, who is a speaker, consultant, author and corporate instructor of Stanford University professional development courses, taught this intensive seminar. She has advised and trained sales teams, executives and managers across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa and at companies such as Cisco, Apple, Visa, Nationwide, Capital One, SAP, Bell Canada and AT&T. Notably, she led a CEO-sponsored global competitive sales support program at Cisco Systems, the catalyst for her current practice. She has also led business development initiatives with the World Bank, ITU-D, government Ministers of emerging countries and high-technology companies, to foster public and private sector collaboration.
Photo of a student pitching her business at Elevator Pitch 2017
The uOttawa Top Start-ups initiative recognizes and celebrates the culmination of each annual cycle of teaching, competitions, workshops and hard work that lead to exciting start-ups.
Already in its 4th year, this annual search for the top start-ups on campus is a collaborative effort between the Telfer School of Management, the Faculty of Engineering, Startup Garage and the uOttawa e-hub.
The 2018 Top uOttawa start-ups, in alphabetical order, are:
GameStrat
GameStrat is a sports software company that specializes in sideline instant replay and real-time analytics. GameStrat currently provides solutions for a number of different sports such as football, basketball and volleyball, with plans to branch out to other sports in the future.
Co-Founders: Tunch Akkaya, CEO & Co-Founder, BASc 2015, Diploma 2016, MEng 2017 and Elijah Wu, Lead Developer & Co-Founder, BASc 2015.
Transparent Kitchen
Transparent Kitchen leverages technology to empower independent restaurants and local food entrepreneurs to sell better, so that we can all eat better. Powered by our Interactive Menu Application, our online platform improves customer engagement, resulting in higher online conversions, while connecting our B2B partners to new B2C revenue channels.
Co-Founders: Frazer Nagy, CEO, BSocSc 2015, Andrej Sakic, CDO, BSocSc 2014 and Jérôme St-Hilaire, CTO.
ZoomMate
ZoomMate is an online platform that helps people find roommates/housing. ZoomMate has found a way to solve the issues of roommate seeking that makes sense. ZoomMate allows people to find homes that they like and fill it with people that are compatible with them. ZoomMate also helps landlords fill their homes with individuals that are compatible.
Co-Founders: Moktar Yusuf, CEO & Co-Founder, Telfer BCom 2017 and Himanish Kaushal, CTO & Co-Founder.
“Each year the quality of start-ups on campus is improving” says Stephen Daze, the Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School. “Student interest, faculty programming and an increasing culture of entrepreneurship is contributing to this rise in quality and it’s encouraging to see our next generation of leaders creating their own opportunities”.
HOW WERE THE TOP START-UPS ON CAMPUS SELECTED?
A public web-based call for nominations allowed start-ups to show their interest. The nominees were then evaluated by a campus entrepreneurship committee and an initial long list of top start-ups was selected.
Feedback from various alumni and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley was obtained before a final list of “Top Start-ups” is selected. These Top start-ups will be invited to visit Silicon Valley for a learning and business development experience in May 2018, a trip which coincides with the annual Telfer Executive MBA trip to the Valley.
“The trip exposed me to some of the top entrepreneurial thinkers and companies in the world. The effect was to make me think bigger. It also made me realize that I (and Canadians in general) have no shortage of amazing ideas. We can, however, learn a lot from ‘the Valley’ on how to execute on those ideas and impact more people than we could have previously imagined.” - Jeff Perron, Co-Founder of TruReach and Top Start-up recipient in 2016.
It was another great success for our Entrepreneurship Bridges Lecture Series, which brought together the co-founders and co-CEOs of Surmesur, François and Vincent Thériault, and the Elevator Pitch Competition presented by the National Bank.
The annual Elevator Pitch Competition showcases some of the University of Ottawa’s top talent. As a part of Global Entrepreneurship week, this competition allows young entrepreneurs to present their business ideas that are still in the early stages of development to a panel of judges and Rise to the Top. The winners are awarded with a generous cash prize that they can put towards furthering their business idea. “The competition is a great preview into what students are working on and what is to come. Entrepreneurs create jobs and grow economies and it’s encouraging to see that our students are building the next generation of businesses, both traditional for-profits and social enterprises”, mentions Stephen Daze.
The competition has two categories: validation and traction. Each category can make a big contribution to the development of a start-up, with prizes of $5,000 and $10,000 respectively.
Results:
Validation Competition: Swich
Swich is a carbon air filter company utilized for odor elimination across many industries. It’s the world’s first reusable and biodegradable can-styled carbon filter and is the most economic, efficient and environmentally sustainable option on the market.
“We are in the beginning of a Green rush, and when everyone in mining for gold you want to be the one selling them shovels and pickaxes. Or in our case Carbon filters”, said Adam Czach, Co-founder of Swich.
Traction Competition: Desk Nibbles
Desk Nibbles is a local uOttawa startup serving snacks across the country. They Strive to create the best customer experience and ensure providing their clients with the best snacks in Canada.
“Anyone can agree the work they do deserves to be treated with a snack once in a while. Desk Nibbles is a service that prides itself on delivering that treat straight to the employees of any office. Desk Nibbles delivers the best snacks to your office, so it can glow with varieties of taste tested, proven, premium healthy snacks. These snacks will energize the minds and bodies of the workplace. It’s also a simple, painless process, no need to lift a finger. Simply signup online or call a representative to place an order. Then receive bundles of the best healthy snacks for to any office hassle free.”
Visit their website at https://desknibbles.com/
I’m an accountant, and my practice includes a specialization in fundraising. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that when you ask people to give money to a cause, you better be ready to give when they ask you for something in return. I approached fundraising for the Kevin Vollett Entrepreneurial Award with this insight in mind. The scholarship award is given each year to recognize a member of The Entrepreneurs’ Club for his or her participation and dedication to the club. The award is named for a friend, former fellow club executive and budding entrepreneur who died in an accident back in 1993, when we were both Telfer BCom students.
I was asked by the school to revive the award financially so it remains viable for years to come. Rather than simply putting the touch on a few club alumni with fat wallets, I asked the school and its students for something instead. I decided the school’s request would be a great opportunity for me to work with today’s executives of The Entrepreneurs’ Club and share my knowledge and experience with fundraising. What better way, I thought, to honour Kevin’s memory and further his legacy than not only to raise the necessary funds, but also mentor his successors at the club about this vital part of business life.
The fact that the Telfer School is honouring me is proof that my approach is a winning one. The Kevin Vollett Entrepreneurial Award is well on its way to becoming fully funded and sustainable for many years, and several students have gained important knowledge and valuable real-world experience in the process. Best of all, Kevin’s legacy at the school and the club is secure. That’s more than fulfilment enough for me.
This page is for the 2018 Entrepreneurship Foundry Course. For information on the upcoming session, visit this year's page.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry is a cross-campus initiative that leverages University and community resources to help you grow your business venture in a for-credit 13-week long course.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry course will act as an accelerator for your entrepreneurial venture; you will have access to external mentors at themed sessions as well as frequent access to “lab” time to allow you to focus on your business.
Your venture will be evaluated by using a pre-survey and interview to determine where you are at with your venture and set goals.
At the end of the course you will be interviewed to measure the progress
Mandatory 3 slide check-ins on a bi-weekly basis; will allow you to develop your pitch skills, as well as gain valuable feedback from professors, mentors and peers.
An interview and acceptance process will ensure only those most committed to real entrepreneurship will be accepted.
The course will run this winter on Thursdays from 4-7 p.m. and space is limited to 25 students. Student teams are eligible and not all members need to be registered for the course to participate. The deadline to submit applications is December 12, 2017.
To learn more and to apply for the course, please contact Stephen Daze.
Professor Daina Mazutis has received an Honorable Mention for the 2016 Page Prize for Excellence in Sustainable Business Education awarded by the Darla Moore School of Business. Professor Mazutis was recognized for her undergraduate course “Leadership, Strategy and Sustainability” (ADM 4317).
This fourth year Bachelor of Commerce course focuses on corporate social responsibility and sustainability at multiple levels – self, others, the organization and society. It covers topics such as social entrepreneurship, carbon-negative enterprises, regenerative business models and the circular economy, instilling within undergraduate students and business leaders a keen understanding of the importance of sustainability in business.
This recognition underlines Professor Mazutis’ expertise in the field of sustainability and CSR. She holds an endowed Professorship of Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability at the Telfer School, through which she focuses her research on the path to more socially and environmentally conscious organizations. Her research lies at the intersection of strategy, leadership and corporate responsibility, approaching environmental and social issues facing organizations today as critical strategic issues that require a broader understanding of business' role in society.
We would like to congratulate Professor Mazutis on this remarkable honour.
About the Page Prize
Now in its 10th year, the Dr. Alfred N. and Lynn Manos Page Prize for Sustainability Issues in Business Curricula is designed to encourage and support efforts to introduce or substantially upgrade sustainability courses or associated course work into the curriculum of business schools, both nationally and internationally.
The Page Prize is awarded annually for the best submission based on the integration of sustainability into business curricula. Submissions are welcomed from faculty, doctoral students and others related to innovative approaches to teaching sustainability to business students. Previous applications have covered a wide range of disciplines including accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, international business, management, marketing, operations and supply chain management, and organizational behavior.
For more information on the Page Prize or on the recipients, please click here.
Jordan Samaroo is a BCom-JD student who benefitted from the Telfer School of Management’s First-Year Advising initiative and is now beginning his second year of study. According to Jordan, what’s unique about Telfer is that it "acknowledges the entrepreneurial spirit innate in all business students. Whether it is through the extensive list of clubs offered in every commerce discipline, the Telfer Capital Fund, challenging case competitions, or academic excellence, Telfer ignites ambition in all its students. In my opinion, such ambition breeds the type of healthy competition that drives the business world and pushes students to do their best.”
Involved in the Telfer Business Law Association (TBLA), Jordan says that as a student studying both commerce and common law, he has enjoyed being able to be a part of a club whose goal is to connect with undergraduate business students who are curious about the field of law and the prospect of going to law school. Through TBLA, Jordan has been able to participate in events like the TBLA Mock Trial, help coordinate the planning of the TBLA executive leadership retreat, and speak on behalf of TBLA at the Place à la jeunesse academic competition. Jordan says that he is motivated to participate in all of the opportunities that Telfer and uOttawa have to offer because he believes student engagement is an integral part of being involved in the university community.
Reflecting on the difficult decision of choosing the right university for him, Jordan explained, “My decision of choosing where to study was not easy, but Telfer has definitely proven to be the right choice. Being a bilingual student, Telfer offered an unparalleled bilingual experience. Having the opportunity to study in both French and English, coupled with the opportunity to study two fields that I’m passionate about - Commerce and Law - allowed me to enhance my language skills while being passionate about what I am learning. A bilingual university as a whole offers an enriched learning experience for all students.”
For high school students going through the process of choosing a university, Jordan advises, “Committing to a university is so much more than simply evaluating averages; it is about choosing the institution that can provide you with the best student experience. For me, Telfer offered it all: from intensive case studies and competitions, to high quality professors, to a great CO-OP program and career prospects. The School is actively working to connect each and every student to what matters to each of them. For these reasons and so many more, I recommend you choose Telfer; you won’t regret your choice!”
Enactus uOttawa was runner-up at the 2017 Enactus Canada National Exposition in Vancouver, where 40 universities and colleges presented business-minded approaches to solving social problems. The uOttawa team showcased food security and job creation initiatives in Canada’s North.
Through The Growcer, Enactus uOttawa hopes to combat food insecurity in isolated Inuit communities.The team has also launched Sprout, which aims to bring fresh, healthy options to low-income food deserts in Ottawa and other cities.The projects were presented by Enactus uOttawa president Corey Ellis, Alida Burke, Faraz Malik and Vivian Liu.
The uOttawa team also took home the BDC Entrepreneurs First Project Partnership Best Project award for the Iqaluit Innovation Hub, a co-working space and community initiative to encourage entrepreneurship. The project was presented by Brianna Fraser and Steven Bui.
A fourth project, Sanajit, is a social enterprise in Iqaluit that up-cycles discarded wood into quality furniture. It acts as a recycling program for the community and a mentorship program for high school students to learn about the trades. The project was presented by Parker Selman and McKinley Richards.
Congratulations to Enactus uOttawa. Best wishes, as well, to the Memorial University team that will represent Canada at the Enactus World Cup to be held London, England, in September.
On May 3, 2017, the Telfer Community joined Enactus uOttawa at the Annual National Showcase to highlight their key accomplishments and explain the high-level impact the team has had on the community.
The event also served to “send-off” the team, who will be attending the Enactus Canada National Exposition, happening in Vancouver on May 9-11. During this event, teams will present their projects, and demonstrate to panels of senior executives how they are making a real impact in their communities. Teams attending the National Exposition will be competing for the title of National Champion and a chance to represent Canada in English on the world stage in the fall of 2017.
This chance to represent the University at a national level comes after the Enactus uOttawa team competed in the Regional Exposition, and placed second in the Financial Literacy and Eco Living challenges as well as first place in the remaining two; Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship. The projects presented were judged based off specific impact criteria, unique to each particular category.
The projects presented by the team were all a result of the students’ hard work applying the skills they learn in and outside the classroom. Here is an example of the projects that will be presented at the National Exposition:
Sanajit is a social enterprise in Iqaluit, Nunavut that up-cycles discarded wood into quality furniture, also acts as a recycling program for the community and a mentorship program for high school students to learn about the trades. The project will be presented by Parker Selman and McKinley Richards.
The Iqaluit Innovation Hub is a co-working space and community initiative to encourage entrepreneurship as a viable career path and provide otherwise non-existent resources to individuals looking to start their own ventures in the north. The project will be presented by Brianna Fraser and Steven Bui.
Sprout is a local social enterprise looking to address Ottawa’s food deserts by using a consignment approach that enables convenience store owners to provide affordable fresh produce to families in need. Sprout will be one of the projects featured in the team’s National presentation by Corey Ellis, Alida Burke, Faraz Malik and Vivian Liu.
Join us in wishing them good luck for the National Exposition, and stay tuned for the results!
In an effort to help streamline the drive of entrepreneurial students, the Telfer School of Management in conjunction with the Faculty of Engineering and Arts, has recently meshed entrepreneurship projects with course credits. The Entrepreneurship Foundry Course is a cross-campus initiative that leverages University and community start-up resources to help students grow their business venture in a “for-credit” 13-week long course.
“The course, essentially an incubator with a course credit attached to it, offers immense opportunities to students who are looking to move their businesses along and benefit from both external and University resources,” stated Stephen Daze, Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence. “Twice throughout the semester, participants even pitch their business to external judges for prize money.”
Students apply to be accepted into the program and their ventures are interviewed to evaluate where start-ups are at with their ventures and what they can accomplish over the course of the semester. At the end of the course, they make a final pitch and report on their progress to highlight their accomplishments throughout the semester. Mandatory check-ins on a bi-weekly basis allow students to develop their pitch skills, as well as gain valuable feedback from professors, external mentors and peers.
Microbright, for instance, is a start-up that uses microbes naturally found in the environment to remove toxic metals from water that comes from mining activities. “The entrepreneurship foundry helped me understand how to succeed with a start up from a business perspective. It provided me with tools and mentorship I would not have had access to otherwise,” indicated Daniel Grégoire, a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Science and one of the founders of Microbright.”
Eephorea, on the other hand, aims to cater to the entertainment industry by producing and promoting live entertainment experiences. “If people are going to be at an event for several hours, there might as well be some engaging activities for them to enjoy in addition to the headliner attractions. Simple activities like food sampling, acrobatic dancers, photo props and intriguing visual displays can really enhance a guest’s experience and make the event more memorable,” said Zachary Princi, a student at the Telfer School of Management. “The entrepreneurship foundry course allowed me to put more time into my business without taking me away from completing my studies.”
For more information on the program and to find out how to participate in the winter of 2018, please contact Stephen Daze.
The uOttawa Top 5 Start-ups initiative recognizes and celebrates the culmination of each annual cycle of teaching, competitions, workshops and hard work that lead to exciting start-ups.
Already in its 3rd year, this annual search for the top 5 start-ups on campus is a collaborative effort between the Telfer School of Management, the Faculty of Engineering, Startup Garage and the uOttawa e-hub.
“Each year the quality of start-ups on campus is improving” says Stephen Daze, the Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School. “Student interest, faculty programming and an increasing culture of entrepreneurship is contributing to this rise in quality and it’s encouraging to see our next generation of leaders creating their own opportunities”.
The Top 5 uOttawa start-ups, in alphabetical order, are:
Kegshoe
Cofounders: Torin Regier, CFO (Telfer BCom 2017), Mike Eagar, CMO (former student, uOttawa), and Adrian Pawliszko, CTO (Civil Engineering student, uOttawa).
Kegshoe Inc. is a software company for the beer industry that provides user-friendly, cloud-based solutions to manage the
complex business of running a brewery. With features like keg tracking and a brewery-specific
CRM, Kegshoe Inc. is helping breweries solve their biggest and most expensive problems.
Spiderwort
Cofounders: Dr. Charles M. Cuerrier, CEO (Postdoctoral fellow, uOttawa), Dr. Andrew E. Pelling, CTO (Associate Professor, Department of Physics, uOttawa) and Daniel J. Modulevsky, CBO (PhD candidate, Biology, uOttawa).
Spiderwort has developed innovative biomaterials for medical research, reconstructive surgery and regenerative medicine. Spiderwort’s strategy relies on the use of cellulose scaffolds for the regeneration and repair of damaged or diseased tissues.
Spivo Inc.
Cofounders: Andre Bellerive, CEO (BASc 2014 and currently completing a Master’s program in Engineering at uOttawa) and
Marc Bjerring, COO (BASc in Mechanical Engineering, 2014, uOttawa).
Spivo Inc. designs, manufactures and sells creative camera
accessories which capture life’s memories like never before. Their flagship product, the Spivo Stick is a patent pending rotating camera mount, which allows adventure seekers and travellers to instantly switch the view of their cameras. Videos created using the Spivo Stick are fun, creative, and feature built in scene transitions which create incredible, engaging footage.
Welbi
Cofounders: Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau, CEO (Telfer BCom 2016), Felipe Izquierdo, COO (Telfer BCom 2016) and Nicholas Petryna, CTO, (former uOttawa Software Engineering student).
Welbi is an application that helps families take care of an older loved one. It uses Fitbit smartwatches to analyze sleep, activity, and heart rate patterns and then notifies you about changes in their habits. Our main objective is to provide families the visibility and information they need to support their loved one’s health and happiness at home.
YouCollab
Founder: Shaun Maclellan, CEO (former student, uOttawa).
YouCollab is a unique platform that provides frictionless communication and collaborations between YouTube creators. YouCollab connects users based on location, audience size and keywords.
How were the Top 5 start-ups on campus selected?
A public web-based call for nominations allowed start-ups to show their interest. The nominees were then evaluated by a campus entrepreneurship committee and an initial long list of top start-ups was selected.
Feedback from various alumni and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley was obtained before a final list of five “Top Start-ups” is selected. These Top 5 start-ups will be invited to visit Silicon Valley for a learning and business development experience in May 2017, a trip which coincides with the annual Telfer Executive MBA trip to the Valley.
“Travelling to the Valley opens up a world of connections and possibilities that you can only find there” said Lee Silverstone, cofounder GymTrack and Top 5 Recipient 2016. “The opportunity to be there with the University of Ottawa and their network was incredible experience and one that I highly recommend start-up founders take advantage of.”
The 26th annual Business Dinner ‘Toast to Success’, organized by the Entrepreneur’s Club (TECDE), is one of the most awaited events of the year. Bringing together Telfer faculty, professionals and sponsors with students at the Museum of Canadian History, this year’s dinner welcomed a total of 242 attendees, making it the best attended event to date.
During the event, a silent auction took place with various items donated by the local community in which the proceeds went to the Cam’s Kids Foundation, an organization dedicated to providing young people that suffer from anxiety, along with the Rwanda Craft Brewery Project, which helps the Rwanda community become better established.
As dinner rolled around, attendees had the pleasure of listening to a very special keynote speaker for this year, Steve Beauchesne, CEO of the very successful craft brewery Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company. During a very competitive time in the beer industry, Beau’s continues to be the top player in the market. Steve shared his story on the philosophy of starting a business but also, the secret to making great beer. To celebrate International Gruit Day coinciding with the Business Dinner, Beau’s provided attendees with 4 different samples of beer.
New for this year, TECDE incorporated the winners from the Elevator Pitch competition back in November, showing the Telfer community the incredible talent that comes out of uOttawa’s Telfer School of Management. A portion of the evening was also dedicated to award two hard working executive members on the TECDE team with the Carpe Diem Award and the Kevin Vollett Entrepreneurial Award.
This year marked a new milestone for both TECDE and Telfer, as a joint collaboration was announced to kick start a fundraising campaign for the Kevin Vollett award, created to honour Kevin, a Telfer student and TECDE executive member who passed away from a tragic accident. With the 25th anniversary of the award coming up in 2018, TECDE and Harry Mortimer, a Telfer alumni and dear friend to Kevin, have come together to raise $9,000 before the 27th annual Business Dinner in order to sustain the financing of the award. Help them reach their goal by donating now. For more information on this fundraising campaign, click here.
The University of Ottawa is pleased to invite students and faculty who have created startup ventures to participate in a competition that will result in up to five companies being selected for an exclusive trip to Silicon Valley in the spring of 2017. Each selected startup will receive $4,000 (CAD) in financial support for the trip.
This page is for the 2017 Entrepreneurship Foundry Course. For information on the upcoming session, visit this year's page.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry is a cross-campus initiative that leverages University and community start-up resources to help you start and/or grow your business venture in a for-credit 13-week long course.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry course will act as an accelerator for your entrepreneurial venture; you will have access to external mentors at themed sessions as well as frequent access to “lab” time to allow you to focus on your business. .
Your venture will be evaluated by using a pre-survey and interview to determine where you are at with your venture and set goals.
At the end of the course you will be interviewed to measure the progress
Mandatory 3 slide check-ins on a bi-weekly basis; will allow you to develop your pitch skills, as well as gain valuable feedback from professors, mentors and peers.
An interview and acceptance process will ensure only those most committed to real entrepreneurship will be accepted.
The course will run this winter on Thursdays from 4-7 p.m. and space is limited to 25 students. Student teams are eligible and not all members need to be registered for the course to participate. The deadline to submit applications is December 12, 2016.
To learn more and to apply for the course, please contact Stephen Daze.
During the weekend of September 23 to 25, Telfer School of Management students in the ADM4317 Leadership, Strategy and Sustainability course engaged in an intensive simulation called The Green Business Lab.
“The Green Business Lab is unique in that it is the only interactive, live, comprehensive business simulation that can provide students with a hands-on experience in running a business while at the same time solving the most pressing problems arising from environmental and social issues facing organizations today” said Daina Mazutis, Endowed Professor of Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability at the Telfer School. “It connects students directly to important strategic decisions that they will need to make as future business leaders.”
Working in teams, the students were immersed in running a business where each team member played a key function in the company. They had to shape the company’s strategic direction, design and build a new product and improve performance. Yet, due to mounting pressure from various stakeholders — including customers, governments and NGOs — success depended on triple-bottom-line (economic, environmental, social) metrics.
Teams made final presentations to a panel of judges who evaluated their strategy. This board of directors was composed of Robert G. White, CA, CMA, CPA, Independent Investor and Adviser (Telfer BCom 1992), Kristina Haakman, VP Finance at Brookfield Renewable Energy (Telfer BCom 2003), Salim Charabati, B.Arch. MBA, Consultant BuildGreen Solutions (Telfer EMBA 2016) and John Purkis, Senior Associate, The Natural Step.
Spherical Solutions (George Amidjinov, Kacey Cryan, Francis Desjardins, Alexis Harrison, Adam Khawas, Philippe Lafontaine and Vanessa Mangano) finished first in the “Industrialized Nations” category and “Eco-Impact Spheres” (Patrik Hashem, Andrew James Low, Olivia Le, Cassandre Pomerleau, Isabelle Trudeau and Jacob Sousa) finished first in the “Developing Nations” category. These teams developed the best overall strategy from a triple bottom line perspective.
“Speaking on behalf of the majority of participating students, the Green Business Lab is a real life, fast paced scenario involving tough decisions” said student Francis Desjardins. “This weekend simulation gave us the possibility to apply our acquired knowledge in a sometimes stressful, but always fun environment. We not only learnt multiple typical business lessons, for example the importance of profits and cash flow, but also the impacts of other bottom lines: the importance of the environment and of social awareness. I would like to thank our Green Business Lab facilitator, our professor, my class colleagues and the Telfer School of Management for this great experience.”
The simulation tests the students’ leadership skills, knowledge of core management disciplines, as well as broader understanding of business’s responsible role in society. The Green Business Lab simulation has previously been run in well-regarded universities such as Cornell University, Georgia State University, Central Michigan University, Denver University, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, University of Iowa, Wayne State University as well as major multinational organizations such as General Electric, Rio Tinto and Chrysler Financial.
The University’s Co-operative Education Programs and the Entrepreneurship Hub have teamed up with RBC Royal Bank to launch an innovative CO-OP program designed to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Read the complete article in the Gazette »
When I started at the Telfer School, I didn’t know where I was going in my life—let alone my future career. I was in school because I was expected to be there. My grandfather’s death in July 2005 began to change that. To celebrate and honour his life, I helped found a non-profit organization that went on to raise more than $150,000 for cancer research. Creating, organizing and propelling Typically Canadian inspired me to become an entrepreneur. It led me to realize that what matters to me is building things that impact people’s lives for the better. It showed me my way.
I couldn’t have built that organization without the Telfer School. Not because of the school’s top-notch teaching or special student services or many networking opportunities. The school’s professors and staff gave me the personal and academic support I needed to bring Typically Canadian to life and then succeed. The backing I received from Professor Barbara Orser and Assistant Dean Alain Doucet stands out. They believed in the cause. They believed in how I wanted to further it. Most importantly, they believed in me.
Their guidance and encouragement changed my life. It instilled me with the confidence to make my own choices about the things I wanted to spend my career building. It made me realize that neither youth nor inexperience nor lack of tenure was a barrier or limitation to business success and personal fulfilment. It gave me the power to launch a career in which I’ve created several successful companies, changed how a key aspect of healthcare is delivered, and impacted people’s lives for the better. Starting with my own. Barb and Alain’s support helped connect me with what matters most and, in doing so, enabled me to find my way.
Barbara Orser was the keynote speaker at Startup Canada’s Canadian Entrepreneurship Institute, which took place on September 1, 2016. The event, titled “Unlocking Feminine Capital: Canada and the World”, explored how public policy can be better leveraged to support women entrepreneurs in Canada. Barbara Orser currently co-chairs a grassroots committee, comprising 18 leaders from women’s enterprise centres, networks and SME support organizations. The mandate of the Ontario Women’s Enterprise Committee is to improve business support infrastructure for Ontario women entrepreneurs.
Full Professor/Deloitte Professor at the Telfer School of Management, Dr. Orser is the Canadian representative on a team of 13 international scholars examining SME policy associated with women’s enterprise. Collaborative entrepreneurship studies in development focus on financial literacy, technology literacy and the efficacy of public procurement policies. Professor Orser is the author, with Professor Catherine Elliott, of Feminine Capital (Stanford University Press, 2015).
We have received a generous donation from the funds raised in the 6th Annual National Bank One for Youth Bicycle Tour. The donation which was presented by the National Bank on July 8, 2016, will help fund the Entrepreneurs’ Club Elevator Pitch Competition.
The annual Elevator Pitch Competition showcases some of the University of Ottawa’s top talent. As a part of Global Entrepreneurship week, this competition allows young entrepreneurs to present their business ideas that are still in the early stages of development to a panel of judges and Rise to the Top. The winners are awarded with a generous cash prize that they can put towards furthering their business idea. The evening also includes a catered networking portion as well as a keynote speaker that shares their personal successes and struggles as an entrepreneur. This year we plan on making the competition the most competitive to date.
Teams from the Telfer Executive MBA Class of 2017 wrote about their experiences in Silicon Valley as a part of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Business Consulting Trip which took place from May 14 - 20, 2016.
Surviving in an Innovative Playground
Written by: Team Canopus- Amanda Bernier, Scott Johnston, Matt Lundie, Kimberley Marr, Ryan Peatt and Sukri Sharbini
On Wednesday, May 4, 2016, the Enactus uOttawa team was in Toronto to defend its National Champion title at the 2016 Enactus Canada National Exposition, in front of a 65-person panel of judges comprising top Canadian CEOs. Each participating team was scored on its ability to enable social, environmental and economic progress through entrepreneurial action.
The Enactus uOttawa team made it all the way to the finals, along with three other teams: Memorial University of Newfoundland, Ryerson University, and Saint Mary's University. The Memorial University of Newfoundland team was named the 2016 Enactus National Champion, and will advance to represent Canada at the Enactus World Cup taking place in Toronto in the fall of this year.
The team’s President, Corey Ellis, a 3rd year Management student at the Telfer School, commented on their most recent success by saying his team “started with a mainly new team this year and launched a new portfolio of projects. We’re extremely grateful for all the support from faculty, staff, alumni, and the broader community that have helped us along the way. We’re all very excited for what’s ahead this year for our organization.”
The Telfer School was awarded the University Administration of the Year Award by Enactus Canada for its support of youth entrepreneurship. This award, which recognizes the university administration which did the most outstanding job of supporting their Enactus team on their campus, was accepted on behalf of the school by Stephen Daze, Telfer Entrepreneur in Residence and one of the mentors of the Enactus uOttawa team.
Additionally, just last week, one of the projects presented at the 2016 Enactus Canada National Exposition by the uOttawa team, the Northern Innovation Hub in Iqaluit, was awarded $30,000 by the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. This project aims to solve two problems at once by collecting unused sea shipping containers that litter the local coastline and repurposing them to provide badly needed commercial and residential space. The goal is for the Northern Innovation Hub to become a catalyst for further change in Iqaluit, which needs a space to facilitate the planning required to adapt to increasing local urbanization.
Congratulations to the Enactus uOttawa team for their achievements!
Kevin Smiley is a full-time MBA student at the Telfer School of Management and a strong believer in social entrepreneurship. This year, he founded SuraiTea Inc., a social enterprise tea shop which employs mostly Syrian refugees in order to provide them with job opportunities in Canada, all while also raising money for settlement efforts.
Being in the Right Place at the Right Time
Having previously studied in environmental engineering at Queen's University and worked in renewable power and sustainable real estate development, and being actively engaged with the Professional Engineers Ontario / Ontario Society of Professional Engineers' Engineering Innovation Ecosystem, Kevin was inspired to create a sustainable business model which would benefit all parties involved.
In early February 2016, Stephen Daze, Telfer’s Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence, informed Kevin about uOttawa’s Start-Up Weekend which carried the theme of refugee resettling. It was then that he shifted his focus to creating a business that would help with the Syrian resettling effort in Canada. “After seeing and reading many stories about the enormous strain on limited resources which not-for-profit organizations were experiencing, I began to think that there may be something that I could do to help,” he says.
The Project
SuraiTea Inc. is a corporation that uses the power of the markets to create positive change for the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Canada. It hopes to create high value employment for refugees and establish a sustainable source of corporate donations to the organizations that are active in the refugee resettling effort in Canada. SuraiTea Inc. is a social enterprise and a ‘Pending B Corp’ (start‐up) with B Lab Canada.
Why tea? Jasmine is the unofficial national flower of Syria and Damascus, the capital city of Syria, is also known as ‘The City of Jasmine’.
Kevin contacted a wholesale tea supplier in Toronto, which uses 100% USDA and Canada Organic certified organic ingredients and Ecocert certified facilities. He then reached out to World Skills Employment Centre, an Ottawa organization that finds jobs for recently-arrived immigrants and refugees and then put the two together. So far, SuraiTea Inc. has 20 Syrian refugees working on the project. “The more our customers support us by signing on to our online store and purchasing our teas, the more positive social change for refugees we can create,” he says.
Sustainability and Business
Kevin’s long term goal for SuraiTea Inc. is to eventually grow the corporation and add additional lines of teas from other areas of the world which have humanitarian issues, such as East-Africa, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. “The areas which produce some of the best teas, also unfortunately have some of the worst problems,” he says, “Syria has over 20 million refugees currently but there are actually over 55 million total refugees in the world so it’s not just a Syrian problem.”
Kevin says that the Telfer MBA program has helped him gain the knowledge needed in order to create his business from the ground up. “Telfer has truly been a transformational experience for me,” he says, “Telfer is where I learned about B Corps, where I learned that the truly successful business are the ones that solve problems, where I learned about intrinsic motivation and where the entrepreneurial fire was lit inside me.”
CBC News has covered SuraiTea Inc.’s story. Read the news article, or watch the TV clip (starts at 43:30 minutes).
Dasha Shakov, a third year BCom Marketing student, is an innovative entrepreneur who is sure to inspire and impress everyone she meets for years to come. As a student juggling a part-time job, yoga, travelling and extracurricular activities, Dasha still managed to find time to found Parcelly with her mother, an online parcel shipping company. The idea behind Parcelly is that it offers a unique gifting solution for long distance friends, family members, and loved ones. They throw 4-5 special items together which is catered towards a specific theme, like for a birthday, a wedding or even a breakup. Once a person orders a package from their online store, the mother-daughter duo puts the items together in a box and ships it to the recipient’s address. “It’s a hassle free, meaningful, and creative way to show someone you care,” she says.
Dasha also spends a lot of her time being one of the Event Directors of the Telfer Business Law Association. She was involved with planning the club’s Mooting Competition, Wine and Cheese and Third Annual Speaker Series. “Getting involved in a club allows you to engage with amazing people, organize and participate in various activities,” she says, “It’s a really fun way to make long lasting memories!”
Dasha feels like she belongs at the Telfer School of Management. With it being located in the heart of the Nation’s capital, she likes getting to meet other bright students coming from around the world. “The Telfer School has allowed me to broaden my horizons and meet an enormous amount of incredible, like-minded people. It’s a fulfilling place to learn,” she says.
What matters the most to Dash is being true to herself, proactively facing herself with new challenges, embarking on new opportunities, and saying “yes” to things outside of her comfort zone. She recently applied to study in France next year though the Telfer's International Exchange Program. “Living and learning away from home, in a foreign country, is definitely outside of my comfort zone, however it would be an amazing experience that I would remember for the rest of my life,” she says.
The University of Ottawa Enactus team just competed in the regional competition rounds of the Enactus Canada championships, and received distinguished awards among a gathering of over 25 different universities and colleges for their excellence in entrepreneurial action and community leadership. Enactus, Canada’s largest entrepreneurship focused student organization, fosters today’s youth to advance the economic, environmental, and social growth of their communities.
Hosted at the Hilton Meadowvale in Mississauga, Ontario, the Enactus Canada regionals for the Central Canada category endorsed the entrepreneurial achievements of over 500 students across the region. With the additional help of professionals, academic advisors, and organizers, it was a two-day event filled with competitive spirit, collaboration, and celebration. Students competed in live presentations that demonstrated their positive outreach in both their local and international communities - all within the categories of entrepreneurship, environmental issues, youth empowerment, and financial education.
Enactus uOttawa, now a group of over 116 motivated young leaders from seven different faculties at the University of Ottawa, competed in all four categories. In recognition of the amazing impact they made through a variety of innovative and impactful projects, the team was awarded as the first place Runner Up in the Scotiabank EcoLiving Green Challenge, the Capital One Financial Education Challenge, and the Scotiabank Youth Empowerment Challenge, and was the winnner of an Impact Award in the TD Entrepreneurship challenge. In addition to these achievements, VP Project Management Shevaun Ensor-Harrison was awarded the 2016 HSBC Woman Leader of Tomorrow for Central Canada, in recognition of her contributions to Enactus and her commitment to improving the livelihood of people in her community through entrepreneurial action.
The Enactus University of Ottawa team will now move on to compete in the Enactus Canada National Exposition taking place from May 2nd to 4th in Toronto, Canada at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, striving to retain the title of Team Canada once again for 2016. Follow the team’s progress on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Enactus uOttawa would like to thank all of their supporters and advisors, and would like to congratulate all participating teams on their positive impact on their communities.
Given the recent surge in entrepreneurial activity on the University of Ottawa campus, it is appropriate to recognize and celebrate the culmination of each annual cycle of teaching, competitions, workshops and hard work that lead to exciting start-ups.
In the fall of 2015 and early 2016, we conducted the 2nd annual search for the Top 5 Start-ups on the uOttawa campus. This is a collaborative effort between the Telfer School of Management, the Faculty of Engineering, Startup Garage and the uOttawa e-hub.
“Each year the quality of start-ups on campus is improving” says Stephen Daze, the Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School. “Student interest, faculty programming and an increasing culture of entrepreneurship is contributing to this rise in quality and it’s encouraging to see our next generation of leaders creating their own opportunities”.
The Top 5 uOttawa start-ups, in no particular order, are:
Helix (Powered by MicroMetrics)
Cofounders: Andre Richards, CTO (Honours Bachelor of Science 2011, uOttawa) and Artem Abramov, CEO.
MicroMetrics is a software company with a focus on customer experience innovation. Working together with TripAdvisor, they’ve developed Helix – a robust guest experience management platform that empowers hotel staff to conduct real-time service recovery. Since its introduction, Helix has helped brands like Starwood and IHG deliver memorable guest experiences, improve occupancy rates and outperform their competitive sets at premier properties across North America.
GymTrack
Cofounders: Lee Silverstone, CEO and Pablo Srugo, COO.
Gymtrack is a platform that brings personal training to all exercisers through their gym and impacts the $80BN gym industry. Gymtrack provides gyms with virtual coaching that automatically tracks everything in an exerciser’s workout, from weight lifting to cardio and helps gyms reduce churn.
Go Give-Back
Cofounders: Lemuel Barango, (Bachelor of Science 2015, uOttawa) and Liora Raitblat (Telfer BCom 2015, uOttawa).
Go Give-Back (GGB) is providing a solution for charitable causes by offering a mobile donation platform that accepts donations, catering to the “in-the-moment” factor. GGB will include detailed demographics for the organization with “on the go” analytics used to retain and engage donors.
TruReach:
Founder: Jeff Perron, MBA (Clinical Psychology PhD Candidate, uOttawa), Clinical Lead: Dr. Joti Samra, PhD, C. Psych.
TruReach provides instant access to scientifically proven cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). It eliminates the stigma associated with mental illness and helps people get better, faster. TruReach cuts costs associated with the management of mental illness and their analytics give organizations data to prove it.
Spectrafy
Cofounders: Richard Beal, CEO and Viktar Tatsiankou (B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, uOttawa).
Spectrafy has reinvented the way we measure sunlight and the atmosphere. Spectrafy’s solution, the SolarSIM, combines simple hardware and breakthrough software to slash the cost of measuring sunlight and the atmosphere by over an order of magnitude.
How were the Top 5 start-ups on campus selected?
A working committee of the 4 leaders on campus who run the various entrepreneurship activities select possible candidates from the start-ups they see in their programs. In addition, a public web-based call for nominations allowed start-ups to show their interest. The nominees were then evaluated by the committee and an initial long list of top start-ups was selected.
Feedback from various alumni and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley was obtained before a final list of five “Top Start-ups” is selected. From the Top 5, selected start-ups will be invited to visit Silicon Valley for a learning and business development experience. The exact number of start-ups who are invited to go to Silicon Valley will be a function of available funding.
Photo: Liora Raitblat, Go Give-Back cofounder, at Startup Weekend 2015 (Feb 27 - March 1)
The uOttawa Enactus team hosted their annual rendition of the exemplary Strat 24 Case Competition this past weekend, Ottawa’s premier opportunity for Engineering and Commerce students to work together and showcase their intellectual and creative talents.
Twelve teams, consisting of 2 students from the Telfer School of Management and 2 from the Faculty of Engineering each, were given a live case, created in collaboration with Strat 24 sponsor Hydro Ottawa. With only 24 hours allotted to crack the case, the teams worked tirelessly overnight to find innovative and unique solutions. They then presented their solutions to a panel of judges, and the winners of each pool advanced to a final round of presentations.
Thanks to the support of Hydro Ottawa and the competitive spirit of 48 hardworking uOttawa students, the fifth edition of this annual event was a great success.
The winning team, comprised of uOttawa students Roma Stepanchenko, Katya Berezovskaia, Amanda Godin and Barry Li, proposed that Hydro Ottawa connect Smart Grid technologies via an app, allowing Hydro Ottawa to support residents in reducing their energy consumption and carbon footprint without impacting the company’s bottom line. Their solution earned the top prize at the competition, a $4,000 cash award.
Congratulations go out to all participants for their work and their creative solutions! Stay tuned for next year’s event online at www.strat24.com [This link is no longer available] or on Enactus uOttawa’s social media.
Contact
Enactus uOttawa
(613) 562-5800 ext. 3700 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The JDC Central (JDCC) competition took place January 8-10, 2016, in Toronto, Ontario, hosted by the Canadian Association of Business Students. The JDCC competition is one of Canada’s largest business school competitions that brings together 700 delegates from 14 universities across Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes to compete in academic, sporting and social events.
Congratulations to students for winning the following:
Team Awards
3rd place overall, School of the Year
1st place trophy:
Entrepreneurship (Alamin Mollick, Elliott Foley and Osman Wais) Coach: Sara Valentino
3rd place trophies:
Accounting Case (Jenna Curran, Regina Melnyk, Sui Qu)
Coaches: Sheldon Weatherstone, Sylvain Durocher, Nadia Daskalova
Sports – Futsal (Victor Delage, Philip Kijek, Sunny Khorugdharry, Jeff Davies, Maurizio Ferme, Selena Saikley, Madison Cunha and Samantha Mikhael)
Coach: Justin Sweeney
Startup Weekend is a non-profit organization headquartered in Seattle, Washington that brings people together for weekend-long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.
Now in its 2nd edition, Startup Weekend will be held at uOttawa in February 2016 and is geared for current uOttawa students and recent graduates. The objective is to connect students across all faculties to encourage and promote entrepreneurship regardless of discipline of study. We look forward to seeing the different types of innovative ideas that can come to life when students branch out and connect with those around them with different skill sets and areas of expertise.
The event will be held February 26-28, 2016.
Details and registration information to follow
Please contact Stephen Daze, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or ext. 4725
A can’t miss event for students interested in entrepreneurship
“Startup Weekends are an international phenomenon being held in the most innovative cities around the world” said Stephen Daze, the Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School of Management. “The Telfer School and the University of Ottawa are bringing this event on campus to provide our students an opportunity to learn, network, start a business, meet potential co-founders and much more.”
Entrepreneurs, innovators, makers and those curious about starting a new venture that attend this event will benefit from 54 hours of fast-paced start-up experience working with a team of like-minded students, mentored by seasoned veterans from the local start up community.
“Nowhere else can you experience entrepreneurship/start-up in a more concentrated and curated format” said Stephen Daze. “This venue brings together business students, coders and designers, and provides training and mentoring in a cool atmosphere targeted at creating start-ups.”
The Telfer School’s commitment to Entrepreneurship
We are committed to helping students succeed. For many, success will be starting a new venture or contributing to one as co-founder or team member. We provide the tools and resources you’ll need to learn, network and build your innovation and entrepreneurship skills. In addition to hosting Startup Weekend uOttawa, here are some of the other initiatives that are available:
Entrepreneurship Bridges Speaker Series – Co-hosted with the Faculty of Engineering, this 5-part annual speaker series is targeted at students looking to or considering entrepreneurship. The speaker series features local young entrepreneurs who tell their start-up stories and act as a source of inspiration, education and mentoring. The series is also the home for other entrepreneurship-related announcements and competitions such as the final pitches in the Entrepreneurs' Club Elevator Pitch Contest. The series averages 150 students per session and includes the formal talk or panel, as well as networking and refreshments.
Entrepreneurship Foundry Course - The Entrepreneurship Foundry is a new Telfer-led initiative that brings together collaborators from across campus to build, manage and deliver a semester-long, for-credit course that sees participants apply for entry in order to start a venture over 13 weeks. Working in multi-disciplinary teams, students will learn from experts in lecture and workshop environments and complete evaluated work leading to the start of their new venture. It is anticipated that the course will see 25 students in the first session scheduled for Fall 2015.
Telfer Business Traction Competition – Now in its second year, this business competition is a new take on traditional business plan competitions. It's open to full-time undergraduate students at the Telfer School of Management and/or teams comprised of at least 50% Telfer students. It is not about ideas and proposed business plans, it’s about traction. Contestants will demonstrate the achievement of real milestones towards starting, or validating their business ideas as well as realistic goals moving forward. Applicants can be at any stage of their business idea but must be able to demonstrate real milestones completed and future goals. External judges will determine the winner based on actual work to date and planned milestones. $10,000 in prize money is available to be won.
The uOttawa Enactus team just competed in the semi final round at the Enactus World Championships, and was named one of top 16 teams among 1,700 other universities and colleges worldwide.
After their humble beginnings of starting as a group of 12 tight knit members, Enactus uOttawa has grown to be a team of 116 highly capable and innovative students, spanning across 7 different faculties at the University of Ottawa in just four years. In recognition of both the local and international impact they’ve made through a variety of projects, the team, after having been crowned National Champions in Toronto this past May, represented Team Canada at this year’s World Cup - taking place for the very first time on the continent of Africa
A 3 day event of competition, collaboration, and celebration, the Enactus World Championships are an opportunity for representatives from 36 different countries to showcase the social impact they’ve made through presentations of up to 17 minutes. Enactus uOttawa showcased 2 of their 12 projects which have empowered countless individuals, created many jobs, and effectively eliminated waste in their local community - the most notable being a project by the name of CigBins. CigBins, a cigarette butt and recycling service, provides meaningful job opportunities to individuals with mental illness. It has thus far diverted over 183,000 cigarette butts off the city streets, and generated $129,000 in revenue.
In addition to the competition rounds, the Championship’s events also consisted of two Action Leaders Forums (covering the topics of Food, Water, and Energy Security) in addition to a Women’s Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Forum - which were supplemented by various guest speakers. Featured performances included African Footprint, The Soweto Gospel Choir, and DJ Reactagirl.
With last year’s Enactus World Cup taking place in Beijing, China and this year’s competition in South Africa, a country in which every public university is involved with the organization, the championship moves internationally from city to city each year, and will be taking place in Toronto, Canada for the 2016 rounds.
Contact
Enactus uOttawa
(613) 562-5800 ext. 3700 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Kathleen Kemp and Ajmal Sataar have a nose for business and their heart set on making a difference in their community. Since 2013, the fourth-year students have combined studies in management and finance at the Telfer School of Management with running a business called CigBins, a cigarette butt collection and recycling service.
On May 9, 2015 candidates from the Class of 2016 travelled to Silicon Valley as a part of Telfer Executive MBA's Innovation and Entrpreneurship Trip and Consulting Project.
Over the duration of the week, the teams of candidates will finalize their findings and will submit their final recommendations to their San Jose-based start-up client. The objective of the report is to address a business problem as well as to understand the challenges and opportunities of doing business in a highly innovative environment.
In addition, candidates will also visit several of the world's leading technology companies, attend private executive briefings with senior Silicon Valley leaders and see first-hand previews of the future technology and innovation. Technology companies on the agenda for this year include IBM, AVAYA Inc., Stanford University, Rocketspace, Google, Aruba Networks, and US Market Access Centre.
Teams will be contributing to a daily blog which will be featured on the Telfer Executive MBA webpage as well as the Ottawa Business Journal.
Anticipation for the trip Published on Monday, May 14, 2015 by Salim Charabati, Telfer Executive MBA candidate
The University of Ottawa has been named the 2015 Enactus National Champion by this country’s largest student leadership development organization, Enactus Canada, and a 72 person judging panel comprised of top Canadian CEOs, for their ability to enable social, environmental and economic progress through entrepreneurial action.
The team from the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management took home the Tim Hortons Cup in recognition of the impact made at home and abroad through a variety of projects, one of which is providing meaningful job opportunities to individuals with a mental illness.
The winning team included:
Kathleen Kemp
Ajmal Sataar
Sam Thumm
Hannah Behzadi
Sayem Reza
Timmy Guo
“Winning Nationals has been the most amazing ending to my university career. It’s surreal to see that the work that our team has accomplished over the past few years has made such an impact that we’ve been crowned the National champion” said Kathleen Kemp.
“Championing and empowering young people is as important to Tim Hortons as it is with our Tim Horton Children’s Foundation, which shares so many key values with Enactus,” said David Clanachan, President and Chief Operating Officer, Tim Hortons Canada. “Tim Hortons is proud to support Enactus and the entrepreneurial spirits of the young Canadians participating in this competition. We wish them continued success as they make a true difference in their own lives and in that of their communities.”
Enactus University of Ottawa stood victorious with their project CigBins, a cigarette butt and recycling service that has diverted 100,000+ cigarette butts off city streets and generated $73,200 in revenue.
“The Enactus team from the University of Ottawa greatly improved the quality of life for individuals by creating and implementing innovative and forward-thinking community projects,” said Nicole Almond, Enactus Canada president. “We are eager to see Enactus University of Ottawa compete and represent Canada at the Enactus World Cup.”
The National Champion team took home the Tim Hortons Cup and now advances to represent Canada at the Enactus World Cup taking place in South Africa in the fall of this year.
More than 1,200 delegates including the country’s brightest university and college students, academic professionals and top business leaders witnessed the crowning of the National Champion at the 2015 Enactus Canada National Exposition held in Toronto.
In addition, the financial Literacy team placed 3rd in their category. Congratulations to:
Mieka Loepp
Wendy Liang
Faraz Malik
About Enactus Canada
Enactus Canada, this country’s largest student leadership development organization, is shaping generations of entrepreneurial leaders who are passionate about advancing the economic, social and environmental health of Canada. Guided by academic advisors and business experts, more than 2,400 entrepreneurial postsecondary students led 250 community empowerment projects and business ventures this past year in communities coast to coast. As a global network of 36 countries, Enactus uses the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world. For more information, visit enactus.ca.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry is a new Telfer-led initiative that brings together collaborators from across campus to build, manage and deliver a semester-long, for-credit course that sees undergraduate participants apply for entry in order to start a venture over 13 weeks.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry Course will focus on helping students move beyond the discovery and planning stages of starting a company to the possible launch of an actual venture in a structured, for-credit learning environment.
"The course is open to all Faculties" said Stephen Daze, Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence. Basically, "students will have the option to either pitch an idea and build a team around their concept or enter the course simply willing to contribute as a team member to another business concept".
An interview and acceptance process will ensure only those most committed to real entrepreneurship will be accepted.
The course will run this fall on Mondays from 7-10 p.m. and space is limited to 25 students.
Startup Weekend is a non-profit organization headquartered in Seattle, Washington that brings people together for weekend-long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.
An exclusive edition of Startup Weekend is coming to uOttawa and is geared for current uOttawa students and recent graduates. The objective is to connect students across all faculties to encourage and promote entrepreneurship regardless of discipline of study. We look forward to seeing the different types of innovative ideas that can come to life when students branch out and connect with those around them with different skill sets and areas of expertise.
A can’t miss event for students interested in entrepreneurship
“Startup Weekends are an international phenomenon being held in the most innovative cities around the world” said Stephen Daze, the Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School of Management. “The Telfer School and the University of Ottawa are bringing this event on campus to provide our students an opportunity to learn, network, start a business, meet potential co-founders and much more.”
Entrepreneurs, innovators, makers and those curious about starting a new venture that attend this event will benefit from 54 hours of fast-paced start-up experience working with a team of like-minded students, mentored by seasoned veterans from the local start up community.
“Nowhere else can you experience entrepreneurship/start-up in a more concentrated and curated format” said Stephen Daze. “This venue brings together business students, coders and designers, and provides training and mentoring in a cool atmosphere targeted at creating start-ups.”
The Telfer School’s commitment to Entrepreneurship
We are committed to helping students succeed. For many, success will be starting a new venture or contributing to one as co-founder or team member. We provide the tools and resources you’ll need to learn, network and build your innovation and entrepreneurship skills. In addition to hosting Startup Weekend uOttawa, here are some of the other initiatives that are available:
Entrepreneurship Bridges Speaker Series – Co-hosted with the Faculty of Engineering, this 5-part annual speaker series is targeted at students looking to or considering entrepreneurship. The speaker series features local young entrepreneurs who tell their start-up stories and act as a source of inspiration, education and mentoring. The series is also the home for other entrepreneurship-related announcements and competitions such as the final pitches in the Entrepreneurs' Club Elevator Pitch Contest. The series averages 150 students per session and includes the formal talk or panel, as well as networking and refreshments.
Entrepreneurship Foundry Course - The Entrepreneurship Foundry is a new Telfer-led initiative that brings together collaborators from across campus to build, manage and deliver a semester-long, for-credit course that sees participants apply for entry in order to start a venture over 13 weeks. Working in multi-disciplinary teams, students will learn from experts in lecture and workshop environments and complete evaluated work leading to the start of their new venture. It is anticipated that the course will see 25 students in the first session scheduled for Fall 2015.
Start-up Tools Workshops - The 4-part workshop series is designed to teach students the tools and resources available for start-ups. Each session focuses on a specific theme and students and external resources are relied upon for content within the curated environment. Themes include: Tools of Validation; Web Design; Marketing and Analytics; and Software and Productivity. Each session is attended by approximately 25 students.
Telfer Business Traction Competition - This new business competition is a new take on traditional business plan competitions. It's open to full-time undergraduate students at the Telfer School of Management and/or teams comprised of at least 50% Telfer students. It is not about ideas and proposed business plans, it’s about traction. Contestants will demonstrate the achievement of real milestones towards starting, or validating their business ideas as well as realistic goals moving forward. Applicants can be at any stage of their business idea but must be able to demonstrate real milestones completed and future goals. External judges will determine the winner based on actual work to date and planned milestones. $10,000 in prize money is available to be won.
As members of a uOttawa student organization called Enactus, my colleague Ajmal Sataar and I are always looking for ways to provide opportunities to those in need. Enactus tackles social, economic and environmental issues through business and is focused on bringing social enterprise to the community. When the opportunity came to bring these opportunities to the town of Iqaluit in Nunavut, we jumped at the chance to travel there.
Each year, Enactus teams travel around the world to bring enterprise to third world communities that are lacking in resources, funding and support. Our team feels that there is a lot of room for economic development through social enterprise and entrepreneurship within the confines of our own country. Nunavut, a territory with lots of potential for growth, is an area in which we wanted to invest time and energy in order to bring more opportunities to people in the North.
Read the full article by Kathleen Kemp on The Gazette Website [This link is no longer available]
The following article was written by a member of our student community. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Telfer School of Management. For more information or to flag inappropriate content, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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