The first of its kind in Canada, the University of Waterloo's Problem Lab is designed to help innovators create ventures of significant economic and social consequence.
At the Problem Lab, we challenge the conventional wisdom that great solutions come from quick fixes and rapid prototyping. Instead, we're obsessed with problems — identifying them, dissecting them, and truly understanding their depth and complexity.
At the Problem Lab, our vision is to revolutionize how we approach innovation. We believe that the most transformative breakthroughs come from deeply understanding the problem first.
Through our unique programs, competitions, and partnerships, we guide students, entrepreneurs, and organizations to become problem connoisseurs — experts who can identify and analyze challenges with the potential for disruptive economic and social impact.
Why? Because when you fall in love with the problem, not the solution, you unlock more possibilities.
Join us in developing a problem-understanding mindset that leads to more meaningful, impactful innovations!
Students
Are you interested in entrepreneurship, a problem, or developing your research and analysis skills?
Learn how to examine a problem from many different perspectives, at an event, workshop or a competition.
External partners
Businesses, non-profit organizations, charities and public agencies seek our assistance with problem analysis.
Faculty and staff can conduct the analysis, supervise a student team to do so, or help partners create their own analyses.
Vision, program leadership and founding support
The Problem Lab was conceived and spearheaded by Professor Larry Smith, a longtime University of Waterloo professor known for his work in entrepreneurship and innovation.
His vision for the Problem Lab was to address a critical gap in entrepreneurial education: helping students identify and deeply understand important problems before developing solutions.
The launch of the Problem Lab was made possible through $300,000 in seed funding from Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin, co-founders of BlackBerry and principals of Quantum Valley Investments. Their support reflects a shared commitment to advancing innovation by strengthening the earliest and most critical stage of entrepreneurship: defining the right problem.
“Aspiring entrepreneurs are all too often left on their own until they start developing a solution to a problem or a venture to implement their solution. Without guidance, most entrepreneurs find their problems randomly, rather than strategically. Since the degree of success of an entrepreneurial innovation is directly related to the importance of the problem, the scale of entrepreneurial accomplishment becomes accidental.”
— Professor Larry Smith, Founder, Problem Lab
