Three CEOs who grew businesses from roots at the University of Waterloo, the hometown of smartphone-maker BlackBerry, came together last week to share their stories about the challenges and opportunities of growing a global technology business in Asia.
"These three CEOs epitomize the bold, globally-minded entrepreneurs growing out of Waterloo," said Sullivan. "Deep connections with industry and strong support for commercialization of research have made Waterloo a magnet for students with an entrepreneurial mindset. This unique environment is producing graduates like Jason, John and Ted who are uniquely equipped to lead technology innovation as well as tackle the challenges of business."
Jason Chiu - CEO, CherryPicks, Ted Livingston - CEO, Kik Interactive, John Baker, CEO, Desire2Learn.
As founder of CherryPicks, Chiu has created a consumer marketing phenomenon with iButterfly, a mobile application that allows consumers to download location-based coupons by catching 3D virtual butterflies with a flick of phone, engaging shoppers with gamified contents and offers.
“Waterloo is producing talented engineers that have the potential to fuel tremendous growth for companies in Asia,” said Chiu. “Waterloo’s unique blend of outstanding academic programs, together with it’s deserved reputation for being a highly entrepreneurial university gave me the foundation I needed to found CherryPicks and enjoy success.”
Ted Livingston, the 26 year-old CEO of Kik, brought together a group of University of Waterloo students in 2009 to build a company that would shift the center of computing from the PC to the phone. Today, Kik Interactive is one of the world’s most popular gaming and mobile messaging platforms, with over 90 million registered users.
“The University of Waterloo’s model of experiential education will continue to generate graduates who will develop disruptive technologies like we developed at Kik,” said Livingston. “Engineers at Waterloo go through multiple real-world work terms before they graduate which means Waterloo students are the cream of Canadian engineering. They emerge ideally prepared for the business world, with ideas that have the potential to change society for the better.”
The University of Waterloo is home to Canada’s largest engineering school and is regarded as one of the top feeder schools for Silicon Valley. In October, Bloomberg Businessweek named the University of Waterloo “Canada’s Stanford”. Waterloo operates the largest co-op education program in the world with more than 17,000 co-op students working for 4,500 employers.
John Baker, President and CEO of Desire2Learn, is a member of Waterloo Engineering’s Dean’s Advisory Committee. He started the world-class education company at the age of 22 before he graduated from System Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Desire2Learn has grown into an international education phenomenon with more than 850 employees and local offices around the globe. The company provides an integrated learning platform to more than 1000 clients and 10 million learners in higher education, K-12, health care, government and the corporate sector.