Like most entrepreneurs, Michael Egan (BMath’74) has experienced his fair share of twists and turns on the road to success. He has built and sold several international technology companies, one for more than $150 million, but he still remembers the time he sold his car to make payroll, or the time he had to hire eight new employees in a month to complete a contract. “You don’t love the rough patches when you’re in the middle of them, but it’s all part of the journey,” he reflects.
Before founding his first company, Egan had already tasted and overcome failure as an undergraduate student at Waterloo. He discovered a natural aptitude for computer programming in high school, so attending Waterloo was a “no brainer,” he remembers. To his surprise, he struggled in his largely theory-based computer science courses. “I’m just not an academic,” he readily admits. After a failed co-op experience, he dropped out of university and took a job in construction. “The time off was good for me, because I went back and worked even harder,” he reflects.
Upon his return to Waterloo, Egan switched to Combinatorics & Optimization in the Faculty of Mathematics. “I realized that I was better suited for a more practical field where I could build systems,” he explains. The change was exactly what he needed. Egan graduated and landed a computer programming position with Confederation Life Insurance Company in Toronto, where he learned the nuts and bolts of company operations before venturing out on his own to build software for other companies.
Over the next forty years, Egan co-founded InSystems, one of the world’s largest providers of document management solutions to the financial services industry; Real Matters, a leader in property information systems, and several other successful companies. He received the Canadian Venture Capital Association’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award in 2003 and the University of Waterloo’s Math Alumni Achievement Medal in 2007.
Years ago, Egan made the decision to invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs through mentorship, speaking engagements, and financial support. He has generously given back to the Faculty of Math at Waterloo, creating the Joseph T. Dyer Scholarship in Entrepreneurship and the Egan Scholarship in Computer Science to ensure reliable streams of funding for students who aspire to follow in his footsteps.
“I have always felt very grateful to be a graduate of Waterloo,” he affirms. “My Waterloo experience was a key ingredient in what I have been able to achieve, and I will continue to do whatever I can to help students achieve their own version of success.”