Entrepreneurship and the University of Waterloo are often closely associated, and there are good reasons for that. Last year, a study (PDF) from the Impact Centre at the University of Toronto found that 18.6 per cent of 585 founders from 335 Canadian tech companies completed their undergraduate degree at Waterloo. The University of Toronto was second with 10.6 per cent.
This is no doubt a remarkable achievement and speaks to the impact of curricular and co-curricular resources at this university that support students with entrepreneurial aspirations. We celebrate founders and their successful businesses often, and we should, because starting a company that withstands all the challenges and continues to grow is insanely difficult. However, venture creation is not and should not be the only measure of entrepreneurial success.
At its core, entrepreneurship is about a mindset and aptitude for identifying opportunities. Usually this means finding a problem to solve or a need to fill and creating value by addressing it in a unique and imaginative way.
An entrepreneurial mindset is a way of thinking that enables us to actively look for gaps and needs, have a proactive approach to solving problems, take calculated risks and hold ourselves accountable.
Regardless of whether students aim to start a company, they can develop this entrepreneurial mindset through Waterloo’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. For example, by taking entrepreneurship courses, attending workshops, working on an idea they are passionate about and participating in pitch competitions. The skills and experiences they gain can make a successful venture founder, but also a highly desirable employee.
I was able to benefit from the incredible entrepreneurial ecosystem at the University as a student. Now, I am fortunate to give back in my leadership role at Concept, the campus entrepreneurship program launched by Velocity in Fall 2019. I work with many entrepreneurially curious students, some of whom become founders of successful companies while others are building their employment-ready skills.
Like any cohort across campus, Arts students add their unique perspectives to the entrepreneurship conversation at the University of Waterloo.
Today there is an abundance of opportunities for all students to gain an entrepreneurial mindset and better prepare themselves for an increasingly entrepreneurial and competitive world.
Meet some Arts entrepreneurs
Single-use packaging that’s actually good for the environment
On the Filipino island of Iloilo, a lack of waste management means single use plastics often end up in the river. To combat the problem, the Virtuous Waste team – Sylvia Bogdanowicz, Amirah Mahomed, Cindy Le, Kristen Fajardo, and Laura Kraehling – is developing disposable packaging made of seaweed, which is full of nutrients that help restore biodiversity and is widely available.
In their Global Business and Digital Arts classes, the team learned how to research and develop solutions for social change. Their idea beat out more than 60 competitors in the World Vision Social Innovation Challenge, earning them $25,000 to develop their solution.
Learn more about Virtuous Waste
Connecting Indigenous entrepreneurs with investors
Not all entrepreneurs have equal access to investment, especially Indigenous peoples. While a student at Waterloo, Robert Beamish (BA ’15) co-founded Anokasan Capital to help connect Canadian First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities with investors in Asia. Of Indigenous descent himself, Beamish makes sure that community values are part of the work, including access to employment, equity, and protecting the environment. Learn more about how Anokasan Capital got its start, thanks to the support of St. Paul’s GreenHouse and the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre.
Using the skills he honed through his venture, Beamish is currently a trade commissioner with the Government of Canada helping to connect Canadian Indigenous clients with economic opportunities in Australia.
Stopping the next mass atrocity before it starts
After founding and running the UW Genocide Action Group, Christopher Tuckwood (BA ’07) realized there were limits to what they could do from Canada. Together with fellow alumni Taneem Talukdar (BASc ’08) and Kristin Biefer (BA ’08), they founded The Sentinel Project to identify the early warning signs of genocide and work directly with the people who are affected.
The NGO got its start in Kenya, a country with a long history of ethnic rivalry that puts it at a high risk for intercommunal conflict that threatens civilians. Since starting work in Kenya, the Sentinel Project has expanded its work to warn of violence and counter harmful misinformation in Myanmar, Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan.
Learn more about the Sentinel Project
Top photo: Camelia Nunez speaking at event.
