A decade after graduating from the University of Waterloo's Systems Design Engineering program and discovering entrepreneurship through the Conrad School, MBET student James Cheng returned to the university to build a new venture—and found a community, opportunity, and renewed sense of momentum.
At the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, MBET students apply structured frameworks to turn experience into disciplined venture building. For Joshua, this meant integrating validation, customer discovery, and market insight into every stage of his process—strengthening both his decision-making and confidence as a founder.
Through the program’s hands-on learning, direct faculty feedback, and collaborative community, Joshua advanced BaseLeaf, a SaaS platform simplifying immigration for high achievers. Now live with paying customers and focused on U.S. merit-based pathways, the venture is preparing to scale as part of the Velocity Summer 2026 cohort.