Dan Donovan

Dan Donovan graduated from Waterloo with a BASc in computer engineering and landed a job as a machine control and robotics specialist. He liked it – but something else was at the back of his mind.

“Starting a company really appealed to me. And I thought I should do it now, before children and a mortgage came along.”

So Dan enrolled in Waterloo’s Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program. “I learned a lot in a short time,” he says. “MBET took me from ‘Hey, I think I might want to start a company’ to having the knowledge and tools to actually do it.“

Dan’s company, HealthSpoke, provides web-based business management software to chiropractors, massage therapists, nutritionists and other health professionals. The software is designed to help them manage their business and offer clients online appointment booking and progress tracking.

At the moment, HealthSpoke is a one-person operation and Dan is very busy. But it’s worth it, he says. “The best part is the challenge. You have a big goal and it feels so good when you achieve it.”