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Dr. Bruce M. Firestone, B. Eng. (Civil), M. Eng.-Sci., PhD.
Founder, Ottawa Senators
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa
Broker, Partners Advantage GMAC Real Estate, Brokerage
Executive Director, Exploriem.org
Blog: EQJournal.org
Twitter: ProfBruce
Incubator: MiniOffice.org
Because EXPerience Counts
Our Mission:
The goal of the LearnByDoing.ca program is to provide entrepreneurialist experience for
student entrepreneurs. The program acts as a catalyst for student entrepreneurs who have already:
1. Prepared a business model for review and comment;
2.
Presented and justified their start-up;
3. Decided on a HR strategy to deal with marketing, sales, management and technology;
4. Commenced or about to commence
operations;
5. Kept or are able to keep appropriate financial records;
6. Able to track and measure
performance of team members and the overall business;
7. Can report regularly to
their mentor.
What We Provide:
The LearnByDoing.ca program provides:
a) Early stage funding;
b) Mentoring;
c) Incubator space: offices/workstations/meeting rooms/Internet/reception services/mail handling and more (MiniOffice.org).
How to Apply:
To audition, download this form (http://exploriem.org/AuditionRequirementsExploriem.org.pdf) and follow the instructions. For more information (http://exploriem.org/Exploriem.orgIncubatorInfo.pdf), please contact Dr. Bruce Firestone, Executive Director, Exploriem.org: 613.422.6757 x 250 or bfirestone@partnersadvantage.ca.
Some Useful Tools and Links:
- Take the ECQ Test: Determine your Entrepreneurialist Culture Quotient
- Read our Entrepreneurship Blog: EQ Journal Blog
- Follow us on Twitter: ProfBruce
- Get a copy of: Entrepreneurs Handbook
Why the LearnByDoing.ca Program is Important:
Different people learn in different ways and at different times, so a variety
of learning techniques are required. This Program, in addition to using techniques such as development of a business model, also supports student entrepreneurs as they start a business, execute on time and under deadline pressure. Their
business model must be sharply focused on the methodology and technology of the new
business start-up with a view to identifying long term sustainable competitive
advantage, its 'pixie dust', if you will—i.e., how the business actually makes money and how it can sustain its
position within the industry.
Business models are not just important for commercial operations but are
crucial for NGOs, charitable organizations, even government initiatives and
programs. Business models provide discipline to your initiatives; i.e., does this activity align itself with your business model? If not, don't do it. Business models also allow you to identify new opportunites and new relationships so that the 'harder you work, the more money you make'. There are plenty of examples out there where the reverse is true; the original Napster, for example.
This Program helps those student entrepreneurs who learn best by actually
doing things and experiencing things for themselves.
Student entrepreneurs working with a coach or mentor take more (calculated) risks
because they know the coach will help to keep them out of trouble. Coaching or
mentorship is recognized in many areas of human endeavor for its ability to
foster formal skills development and excellent performance.
Perhaps everyone on the planet should have some type of Personal Business for Life (PB4L). If you would like to read more about this, check out: http://www.dramatispersonae.org/PersonalBusinessesThoughtExperiment.htm and http://dramatispersonae.org/PersonalBusinessForLifeSummary.doc. Here is a story by Ryan North, who started his own PB4L (featuring Talking Dinosaurs) in the LearnByDoing.ca phase of our entrepreneurship program. Mr. North and his team won the 2003 Peter Patafie Gold prize.
It is very difficult to create a successful business and, if you do, you should do everything you can to keep it. It's a 'Build and Hold' strategy and amounts to the difference between getting rich and being wealthy.
Student Testimonials:
"I've always envisioned playing by my own rules, working on the things that interest me most, and making a difference-all the while getting paid for it. Turns out there is a name for that: entrepreneurship. Thanks to my mentor, Dr. Bruce M. Firestone, the entrepreneur within me has been unleashed, and I have learned key concepts such as bootstrapping, business modeling, and guerrilla marketing.
With the help of Dr. Firestone's Exploriem.org, I have been given the opportunity to receive mentoring, free office space, as well as early stage funding for my budding business. This organization is a fantastic initiative that I am honoured to be part of, and that I strongly recommend for other student entrepreneurs," Daniel Beauchamp, CTO, Avitu.com. Ottawa, Canada. June 2010.
"I've always wanted be an entrepreneur. Thanks to Dr. Bruce Firestone my mind has been opened up to the degree to which entrepreneurs can create large projects. Now, all I do is think big and long term. Prof Bruce has done it and I can do it too. He has been an inspiration to me. Every time I drive by the Scotiabank Place, I'm blown away by the complexity involved with the founding the Ottawa Senators and their arena. He also invited me to a meeting with himself and MPP Bob Chiarelli, where they spoke of projects that would make this City better still. In short, Dr. Firestone always says that entrepreneurs become entrepreneurs because they believe they can create more interesting work for themselves than others can create for them; being part of the Exploreim.org business incubator program has gotten me thinking about what I want my life's work to be," Siavosh Noruziaan, Empire Fence and Deck, Ottawa, Canada. June 2010. (http://empirefencesanddecks.com/)
"Being involved with Exploriem.org and its incubator program has allowed my business to grow. In particular, working with Professor Bruce Firestone, as my mentor, has helped me find opportunities, develop advanced business models and plan and execute the first year of my business. This was especially true at the early startup stage where the technology was just being developed and as we moved towards testing. As a result, we turned an early stage venture into a company that delivers real value.
Specifically, Prof Bruce helped conceptualize and add a social media aspect to UCoursePack.com. With the addition of this concept, we were able to develop a next generation learning management system designed to allow for a level of collaboration and knowledge sharing between students and instructors never before possible. Now every notes that every student writes about course material can be seen by all other students in that class and the instructor can add his or her notes in real time too. We are currently working with the Schulich Executive Education Center at York to pilot our state of the art course pack software, completely digital for the iPad as well as PCs," Craig Schoen, President, UCoursePack.com and Kijiji-Feed.com, 613-292-3826.
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