Entrepreneur

U of T startup offers free seeds, indoor-gardening tips to families amid COVID-19 outbreak

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 19:49:15 +0000

U of T startup offers free seeds, indoor-gardening tips to families amid COVID-19 outbreak

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 04/16/2020 - 15:49

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Conner Tidd and Kevin Jakiela, who co-founded Just Vertical while studying at U of T Mississauga, are offering people free lettuce seeds and instructions on how to grow the plants indoors using common household materials (photo by U of T News Staff)

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U of T Mississauga

Two alumni from the ��߲ݴ�ý Mississauga are trying to bring a bit of fun and joy into people’s homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conner Tidd and Kevin Jakiela are offering parents and children a chance to grow a small garden indoors. Graduates of U of T Mississauga’s master of science in sustainability management program, the duo are co-founders of Just Vertical, a company that sells hydroponic gardening systems.

Tidd says the team devised a fun and easy gardening experiment people can try at home using materials they already have around the house. The initiative is in response to seeing how many people are stuck at home looking for something to do, he says. A free guide on the company’s website provides a downloadable lesson plan on how to build a mini greenhouse using egg cartons, plastic bags, soil and seed. The only item people are unlikely to have on hand are seeds, so Just Vertical is offering free lettuce seeds.

“We don’t want anyone going out looking for seeds right now,” Tidd says.

It is a difficult time for people right now. We wanted to help out by trying to provide some joy for those of you stuck at home. Join us in our #homegardening experiment.

Go to: https://t.co/tpnhx94UIN for free seeds and a lesson plan!#sustainability #foodsecurity #covid19 pic.twitter.com/uveJGNlof4
— JustVertical (@JustVertical) April 6, 2020

The home project is geared for beginners, particularly young gardeners. Lettuce is very easy to grow and has a quick turnaround, with greens coming up in as few as two to three days, Tidd says, noting that children are more likely to stay engaged when they see immediate results.

“Lettuce is as immediate as we can get in the gardening world,” says Tidd, who adds that the seeds are available to anyone in a bid to make gardening accessible.

The team has also put together a longer learning and lesson plan for those who are curious about other gardening experiments or are just looking to pass the time.

Tidd and his partner Jakiela founded Just Vertical while still in graduate school at U of T Mississauga. They sell plug and grow systems – fully automated hydroponic systems designed for the home. Tidd says the company has been growing steadily since it launched three years ago.

With the onset of the pandemic and the need for physical distancing, Tidd says he and his team wanted to help in some small way.

“If we can spark a little joy in people’s lives … it’s money and time well spent,” Tidd says. He adds that he hopes the activity will also provide a lasting curiosity and ignite a passion for gardening and nature.

#UofTGrad17: Entrepreneur with global roots says Toronto is the place to be if you're a startup

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 19:26:09 +0000

#UofTGrad17: Entrepreneur with global roots says Toronto is the place to be if you're a startup

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 06/20/2017 - 15:26

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U of T's Lachezar Arabadzhiev shows off his company's wireless charging solution at a startup showcase event (photo by Numan Ekrekli)

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Lachezar Arabadzhiev grew up in Bulgaria, attended high school in China and goes “home” to visit his parents in the United Arab Emirates. But when it comes to launching a startup, he says Toronto is clearly the place to be.

“There are a lot of opportunities here and exciting things that are happening – like in artificial intelligence,” says Arabadzhiev, who graduates this week from the ��߲ݴ�ý Scarborough with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

“There are so many resources being offered and so many things you can learn.”

In recent years, U of T has emerged as a hotbed of AI-related research and, earlier this year, helped launch the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence with the federal and provincial governments. Meanwhile, there are 10 accelerators on U of T’s Toronto-area campuses – and the university also maintains key partnerships with others like MaRS and Johnson & Johnson’s JLABS life sciences incubator.

“People don’t appreciate it sometimes because they take it for granted, but Toronto is actually a pretty big [startup] hub” Arabadzhiev says.

He should know. Since starting his undergrad at U of T Scarborough, he’s been involved with not one, but two different startups.

The first was a music application that he helped develop along with an engineer he met during a work co-op at TimePlay, which makes interactive games for moviegoers. Called Kaign, the app allows users to filter their music libraries or streaming accounts based on such subjective measures as mood and taste.

His second effort, developed at U of T Scarborough’s The Hub accelerator, was a more personal project that sprang from the realization the so-called “mobile revolution” had arrived with a lot of wires attached.

“I had so many different devices – phone, laptop, headphones and different USB cables,” Arabadzhiev recalls. “So I had this bag with all these cables inside of it, representing different iterations of devices. Every time I wanted to charge something, I had to dig.”

His solution was Volykos, a company that helps bars, restaurants and coffee shops implement wireless charging technology for their patrons’ devices.

While the concept of wireless charging was invented decades ago, Arabadzhiev says the lack of a universal standard has slowed adoption. Another hurdle: many establishment owners balk at the prospect of embedding charging pads into their expensive wooden tables and drilling them full of holes to accommodate the necessary wiring.

So Volykos worked with manufacturers to come up with a more palatable option, which it now offers to establishments as part of subscription package. “We came up with a device that doesn’t require you to drill – it goes under the table – and it’s very strong,” Arabadzhiev says. “We come in and place the devices and produce this sticker that you put on the back of your phone that allows your phone to be capable of wireless charging.”

Rather than pursue a strict, one-size-fits-all approach, Volykos works with venues to find customized solutions that best meet their needs. “For a very classy venue, we will make the sticker look better and co-brand it with the venue, making it a souvenir,” Arabadzhiev says.

Volykos is also exploring another project that involves providing wireless charging for drones.

“My vision for the future is that wireless charging will be everywhere,” Arabadzhiev says, noting that Apple has already indicated it’s heading in this direction after ditching the headphone jack on the iPhone 7.

“Soon, it will be the only option.”

Following graduation, Arabadzhiev plans to continue focusing on Volykos and taking advantage of the growing accelerator ecosystem in and around U of T.

When asked if he had any words of wisdom for would-be entrepreneurs who are about to join the university, Arabadzhiev said not to be intimidated by the startup scene.

“Most students will go to an entrepreneurship lab or accelerator if they have an idea,” he says, adding that The Hub was a constant source of connections and contacts. “But you don’t necessarily have to have an idea. You can learn so much just from the whole environment there.”

Canada’s largest startup career expo at MaRS

sgupta — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 09:31:11 +0000

Canada’s largest startup career expo at MaRS sgupta Tue, 01/26/2016 - 04:31

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Students at last year's You're Next Career Network Startup Career Expo

Olivia Tomic

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The vibrant startup community in and around the ��߲ݴ�ý is continuing to grow and now it needs what all successful companies need – great people.

You’re Next Career Network’s (YNCN) Startup Career Expo is designed to give job-hunting students a glimpse into the world of startups.

Now in its third year, the event aims to give students and young professionals the opportunity to directly connect with more than 90 hiring startups during Canada’s largest startup career fair.

Think of it this way, said U of T engineering undergrad Frank Gu, “when you want to get to know someone, do you look at their resume/CV or would you prefer to have a face-to-face conversation with them?”

Gu was among roughly 2,000 students who attended last year’s event and, after connecting with Nanoleaf’s co-founder Gimmy Chu, he successfully nabbed an internship with the innovative lighting startup. (Read more about Frank Gu and Nanoleaf)

A company’s website can give students an introduction to a startup in the same way that a resume gives employers an introduction to a potential employee, Gu said, but “the Startup Career Expo, on the other hand, brings the students and potential employers together in an exciting social environment where they can connect and mingle.”

This year’s day-long event is taking place on Jan. 29 on the lower and main levels of MaRS, across the street from U of T’s downtown Toronto campus. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. attendees will have free access to more than 90 startups looking for top talent to add to their teams, with opportunities including summer internships, Professional Experience Years (PEY) and full-time positions.

Kinetica: engineering safer buildings in Toronto, Canada and worldwide

sgupta — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 10:17:05 +0000

Kinetica: engineering safer buildings in Toronto, Canada and worldwide sgupta Fri, 11/27/2015 - 05:17

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��߲ݴ�ý grad Michael Montgomery founded Kinetica with Professor Constantin Christopoulos (photos courtesy Kinetica)

Tyler Irving

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New condos in Toronto will use technology developed at U of T

Kinetica is reaching new heights at home and abroad.

The company, which designs devices that safely dissipate the energy absorbed by high-rise buildings during high winds and earthquakes, just announced that its technology would be incorporated into the YC Condos at the corner of Yonge and College in Toronto.

Co-founded by alumnus Michael Montgomery and Professor Constantin Christopoulos, Kinetica also signed a deal earlier this month to distribute its products in China, as part of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s trade mission to that region.

The startup uses a technology called viscoelastic dampers, which are large sheets of a rubber-like material – known as a viscoelastic polymer – sandwiched between steel plates. When incorporated into tall buildings, these dampers absorb vibrational energy and transform it into heat, reducing forces in adjacent components. Essentially, they dissipate and divert the energy that’s created within a building’s structure during high winds or earthquakes.

“Viscoelastic dampers were actually the first damping systems used in tall buildings like the World Trade Centre in New York City, which was built in 1969,” says Montgomery. “They used about 10,000 in each building.” Their main purpose was to reduce the swaying caused when such buildings endure high winds. Buildings higher than 50 stories can sway as much as several feet on either side, which can make penthouse-dwellers motion sick.”

(Below: this viscoelastic coupling damper (yellow) is being tested by applying forces to the two concrete slabs on either side of it. A similar test in action is shown in the video below/ photo: courtesy Kinetica)

This viscoelastic coupling damper (yellow) is being tested by applying forces to the two concrete slabs on either side of it. A similar test in action is shown in the video below. (Photo: Kinetica)

Recently, it has become increasingly economical and efficient to make tall buildings out of concrete rather than steel. Unfortunately, the design of these new concrete buildings makes it harder to incorporate distributed dampers into the structure.

In steel buildings, dampers could be used either in a brace (diagonal) or wall (vertical) configurations within the steel skeleton. By contrast, concrete buildings contain thick, long walls that stretch from the bottom all the way to the top; there is no available space within the skeleton to integrate the dampers.

Instead, builders of concrete structures usually rely on huge masses at the top, generally very large steel blocks or very large tanks of water, to provide damping. When the building shifts one way in the wind, these giant masses shift the other, providing a counterweight that reduces the motion. Such masses take up lots of space; they also have to be very carefully designed and instrumented to match the properties of the specific building they are used in and they don’t provide protection against earthquakes.

Montgomery and Christopoulos’ key insight was to realize that there was a place to put viscoelastic dampers into a concrete building after all: the coupling beams. These smaller, horizontal concrete beams are used on each floor to connect the two giant walls together and increase the rigidity of the building. Under high winds and earthquakes, these smaller coupling beams become heavily stressed, so replacing them with something that can absorb energy – like a viscoelastic damper – seemed like an ideal solution.

This diagram demonstrates how Kinetica’s strategy of replacing horizontal concrete coupling beams with viscoelastic dampers can make buildings more resilient to dynamic loading. (Image: Kinetica)

The researchers ran hundreds of tests to show that replacing concrete beams with viscoelastic dampers could absorb enough energy to deal with the loads associated with high winds. Moreover, during a severe and rare earthquake, the dampers can act as ‘structural fuses’, diffusing dangerously high forces and protecting the rest of the building. This is not the case with concrete coupling beams; in fact some modern buildings that have survived earthquakes – like the one that hit Christchurch, New Zealand in 2011 – have so much structural damage that they often need to be torn down even if they are not at risk of imminent collapse.

The new design also has the advantage of opening up the space on the building’s top floors that was previously used for the large steel masses or water tanks. “That space is prime real estate,” says Montgomery. “In a place like New York City, you’re talking $5,000 to $10,000 per square foot, which is very valuable.”

In 2011, Christopoulos and Montgomery founded Kinetica. “We’ve been incredibly well supported by the network of different organizations in and around U of T,” says Montgomery.

The Innovation and Partnerships Office at U of T helped Kinetica secure international patents for its designs and U of T’s Impact Centre, part of the Banting and Best Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, provided access to mentors who helped the team hone their pitch to the big players in the construction industry.

Financial support included the Heffernan Commercialization Fellowship from U of T Engineering, an Idea to Innovation grant from NSERC and a Martin Walmsley Award from the Ontario Centres of Excellence among numerous others.

Kinetica also worked closely with world-leading damper manufacturing partners, Nippon Steel and 3M, to ensure the design was feasible. It was these partnerships that led to the recent agreement with Shanghai Lead Dynamics Engineering. That company agreed to promote Kinetica’s technology to engineers, developers, property owners and architects in the Chinese market. The memorandum of understanding was signed earlier this month as part of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s trade mission to China.

Closer to home, Kinetica announced this week that their technology would be incorporated into the YC Condos, soon to be constructed at the corner of Yonge and College being built by the real estate developers Canderel.

“The [viscoelastic coupling dampers] in YC Condos allowed us to provide the added damping to the building that was desired for the structural design and allowed us to maximize our sellable square footage”, said Ben Rogowski, executive vice president of Canderel. “Canderel is a forward thinking developer and therefore we wanted to lead the industry in embracing this new development in high-rise building design”.

“This technology is definitely changing the way we are designing tall buildings, not only in Canada but worldwide,” says Dr. Tibor Kokai, lead structural engineer of YC Condos, and one of Canada’s top high-rise designers. “The fact that it can work for both wind and earthquake loading is a tremendous advantage. For seismic areas, with a system like this, we are moving towards the ultimate goal, of completely eliminating structural damage even after major earthquakes”

“It feels great that the local tall building community is embracing this innovation in addition to the global tall building community.” says Montgomery “I look forward to following the construction of the building, especially because I walk by it nearly every day!”

Kinetica plans to keep up the momentum. “We believe that this technology we developed at U of T will change the way that tall structures are built throughout the world,” says Montgomery. “They offer much more resilient and higher-performance buildings. In the end, we want to impact construction practice globally and improve the performance of these important structures.”

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The art and science of entrepreneurship: this PhD in classics is bringing wearable tech to kids

sgupta — Tue, 12 May 2015 10:19:30 +0000

The art and science of entrepreneurship: this PhD in classics is bringing wearable tech to kids sgupta Tue, 05/12/2015 - 06:19

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(all photos courtesy Linkitz)

Brianna Goldberg

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Chief learning officer with Linkitz combines interest in kid-tech with lessons from the ancient world

Launching a startup that teaches kids to code by creating magic wands or bracelets may seem an unlikely career move for a PhD in classics - but for ��߲ݴ�ý alumnus Christopher Wallace, it’s a perfect fit.

Wallace recently translated his scholarly interest in social tumult from the ancient world into a role as chief learning officer at Linkitz. The startup is developing wearable toys that teach kids – especially girls – to code.

“My academic research was about communities – city-states – and how they adapted in an era of change and upheaval,” says Wallace. "There was a lot in common with the era of 'globalization' that we've seen in recent decades.”

Wallace’s work also focused on how “educational choices shape adult identities,” he says. And that same question of how education shapes identities today is where Linkitz’ chief executive officer and U of T entrepreneurship mentor Lyssa Neel saw a gap in the market.

“I think it’s pretty clear to everyone that tech has a problem with women being really under-represented,” says Neel.

Neel, who has a PhD in computer science from M.I.T., is co-founder of the ��߲ݴ�ý Early Stage Technology incubator or UTEST, run jointly by U of T and MaRS Innovation and part of U of T’s Banting & Best Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

“I was at a tech conference in 2012 and it was the usual thing, lots of guys and only a handful of women,” she says. “I started to question why there weren't more women going into tech.

“I have always loved building things and programming – it's like solving puzzles for a living – so much fun! So why weren't more girls studying engineering and computer science and going into the field?”

Statistics show that while there is both increasing interest and opportunities for women when it comes to engineering and technology, this country still has far to go – especially when it comes to nurturing girls’ interest in engineering and the sciences from an early age.

And in that gap lies opportunity: using a video about the empowerment of young girls, startup Goldiblox soared past its target on a crowd-sourced campaign in 2013, prompting articles in Time and the New Yorker on the growing interest in whether toys or tools can help girls tap into an applied skill set.

“I researched it and discovered that, although elementary-school age girls and boys like math and science equally, when you get to middle school, the girls have checked out because they think that tech is a boy thing,’” says Neel. She decided to use tech to riff on the idea of friendship bracelets, by providing a kit with links that could be customized.

“I realized that we needed to give young girls experience with building and coding and develop their confidence in their ability to do tech, the kind of experience that boys get from the tech toys that, unfortunately, are strongly marketed as being ‘for boys.’”

That’s where Wallace found the perfect meeting of his scholarly classical interests with a need in today’s world.

“The product itself checks all of the boxes for things that I care about. It's fun, it's creative, it's a way to express yourself and it has a social conscience,” he says. “It was a chance to move from doing one thing I liked to another.”

Wallace joined Neel and Chief Technical Officer Drew Macrae to form Linkitz, a startup developing a collection of easy-to-fit links that can be programmed (in “kid-friendly” coding language) with lights, sound and motion. The links fit together into jewellery or other creative connections such as magic wands, secret codes, hand clapping games and walkie talkies as kids learn how to program LEDs, communicate with friends nearby and more.

Some Linkitz programming is taught through picture blocks and audible cues, making coding accessible to even very young users.

Linkitz will be manufactured in time for Christmas, says Neel, adding as they develop additional products, the company continues to grow.

“It's a very dynamic environment, in that things are constantly evolving,” says Wallace. “That's both a challenge and a benefit: it can be frustrating to work on something that gets changed, but you can also change things for the better.”

Of course it wasn’t classics, specifically, that set him up for a career in tech, says Wallace. But his refined academic skill set is one he calls on frequently working at a startup.

“There are a lot of traits that a good academic in almost any field needs – attention to detail, curiosity, resilience – that will serve you well in any career. You can probably add grant writing and comfort with public speaking and presenting as directly transferable skills as well.”

And when it comes to words of encouragement for aspiring entrepreneurs, he offers his tested pieces of life advice:

“First, accept that everything you do will come with some degree of uncertainty. But, if an opportunity falls into your lap, take it and run.”

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$20M opens high performance computing consortium to new research areas

sgupta — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 16:36:35 +0000

$20M opens high performance computing consortium to new research areas sgupta Tue, 04/28/2015 - 12:36

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Professor Eric Miller, who analyzes urban transportation, is one of the experts whose research is helped by SOSCIP (photo by Roberta Baker)

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A $20 million investment from the federal government will enable the Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform (SOSCIP) consortium to add new areas of focus – such as advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity – to its research projects.

U of T is a founding member of SOSCIP, created in 2012 to support collaboration between academic researchers and industries using advanced computing and big data analytics.

The funding comes from FedDev Ontario, a federal agency established in 2009 with $1 billion to work with Southern Ontario’s communities, businesses and not-for-profits to address regional and global economic challenges.

“This investment will open the doors for a number of small- and medium-sized businesses, who can benefit from access to smart computing platforms. These new partnerships will lead to the discovery and development of innovative new technologies and will help build a healthy information infrastructure here in southern Ontario,” said Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for FedDev Ontario. He made the announcement at Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Discovery Conference April 28.

The new funding will be received by U of T on behalf of SOSCIP and will be used to increase access to advanced computing and big data analytics, tools and systems and to develop new collaborative projects. The ultimate goal is for these projects to bring new products and services to market.

“This magnificent new investment from the Government of Canada will enable SOSCIP to increase its positive impact in many ways. SOSCIP proves that collaboration between academia, industry and government can produce important benefits to Canadians and Canada’s prosperity,” said Professor Cheryl Regehr, U of T’s vice-president and provost.

In addition to the FedDev funding, IBM Canada Ltd., as the lead industrial partner of the consortium, will contribute $65 million of agile, advanced computing infrastructure and big data analytics as well as related support through research, IT and business expertise.

SOSCIP was founded with a focus on research into five core areas – cities, health, energy, water and advanced computing. Using state-of-the art technology, such as the IBM BlueGene/Q (the fastest supercomputer in Canada), research has progressed by way of scientists such as U of T’s Professor Eric Miller, who is analyzing urban transportation and Professor Richard Peltier, who is investigating climate change.

“SOSCIP has made important progress over the past three years in these important areas. This new investment will enable the consortium to support collaborative projects in the additional areas of mining, advanced manufacturing, digital media and cybersecurity,” said Professor Vivek Goel, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation.

He added that the new projects will include at least eight medium-sized businesses and are expected to create or maintain about 100 jobs, including training and skills development opportunities for students and postdoctoral fellows.

In addition to U of T, SOSCIP’S other founding partners include Western University, McMaster University, Queen’s University, University of Ottawa, University of Waterloo and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, IBM Canada Ltd., and OCE. Four additional universities joined SOSCIP in April 2014: Carleton, Ryerson, York and Wilfrid Laurier

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teaBOT: doing business one cup at a time

sgupta — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 13:08:33 +0000

teaBOT: doing business one cup at a time sgupta Wed, 03/11/2015 - 09:08

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teaBOT customers create their own blends of tea and have the option of sharing the blend via a mobile app (all photos courtesy teaBOT)

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“Just because you're in a hurry doesn't mean you don't deserve something that's great,” says co-founder Brian Lee

Safina Allidina thought she was headed for a career in healthcare management, but a cup of tea changed her mind.

The U of T Mississauga alumna planned to combine her interest in life sciences with her passion for business, but while completing her Masters of Management of Innovation, Allidina got involved with an entrepreneurial project. Now she’s putting her skills to work as the business manager for teaBOT, a startup that delivers custom-blended tea to order. (Read more about teaBOT)

teaBOT is the brainchild of U of T aerospace and robotics PhD candidate Rehman Merali and engineer Brian Lee, who were looking for a way to help customers avoid long lineups at Lee’s family’s teashop. The pair created an automated robot that can deliver a custom-blended cup of tea in less than 30 seconds.

“It's not just a great cup of tea, it's also the experience,” says Merali. “You see each ingredient fall down, the water temperature at exactly what you specified, watching the cup of tea made before your eyes.”

As the project grew big enough to require business direction, Merali and Lee turned to Allidina (pictured at left with teaBOT). As teaBOT’s business manager, she handles business development and marketing initiatives.

The team launched a prototype in 2013 through Rotman’s Creative Destruction Lab, and is now part of the JOLT business incubator at the MaRS Discovery District.

Allidina says she loves the diversity of experience that comes with working for a startup. “Things move very quickly, and I can have a large impact,” she says. She credits the MMI program with teaching her the skills she uses on the job.

“It really helps to have high-level knowledge, like knowing how to create value propositions and develop business strategies,” she says. “MMI also taught me the important technical aspects, like accounting, metrics and market research.”

The teaBOT kiosks target high-traffic urban locations where tea lovers need a quick on-the-go cup. Using the company’s app, customers can order a customized blend, choosing from 18 loose-leaf teas, and collect their specialized hot beverage in under 30 seconds.

“It's up to the user's imagination to create those blends and share them with their friends and family – and then they get to share some special that you've created for them,” says Merali.

Entrepreneur Francis Shen, an alumnus of the ��߲ݴ�ý Institute for Aerospace Studies, recently established a new entrepreneurial incubation program called UTIAS Start, which backed teaBOT with a grant of $25,000 in February.

“The program was set up to encourage and facilitate UTIAS students to utilize the knowledge they have gained through their education and life experience to create business startups and teaBot is a great example,” says Shen. “The leadership team is passionate and resourceful and have a deep understanding of their core market - tea.

“They are using technologies to revolutionize something quite traditional.”

The project has been piloted at the downtown campus, Harry Rosen stores and at the MaRS Discovery district. In December, the team launched an ecommerce site that lets customers reorder their blends to drink at home. According to Allidina, next on the development list are “tap to pay” capabilities, adjustable water temperature and new locations around university campuses, transit hubs and malls.

“With entrepreneurship, you can get a product to market very quickly,” Allidina says. “If you’re willing to work really hard on it, you can be very successful. You just need that great idea.”

And what’s Allidina’s favourite teaBOT recipe? A custom blend of masala chai and chocolate mate.

“It’s the perfect balance of spices and sweetness, with a nice caffeine boost,” she says.

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Tech entrepreneur and UTSC alumnus Andrew Peek on the importance of failure

sgupta — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 10:04:19 +0000

Tech entrepreneur and UTSC alumnus Andrew Peek on the importance of failure sgupta Mon, 02/02/2015 - 05:04

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Being an entrepreneur is a process of discovery, of being curious with the world, interacting with people at all levels and working through the small projects," says Andrew Peek (right) seen here chatting with students at UTSC's Entrepreneur Expo (photo b

Don Campbell

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"You have to be resilient," says founder of Pilot and co-founder of Jet Cooper

Being an entrepreneur is challenging even at the best of times. To be one in a rapidly evolving industry like digital technology involves its own unique set of challenges.

Entrepreneur and UTSC alumnus Andrew Peek, who received his BA in 2006, has already accomplished much in his young career. Along with two other UTSC alumni, Peek co-founded Jet Cooper, one of Canada’s top software design companies. He also founded Pilot, an idea collaboration software company that was acquired along with Jet Cooper by Shopify in 2013.

Peek, who delivered the keynote address at U of T Scarborough’s Entrepreneur Expo January 29, spoke with writer Don Campbell about his thoughts on what it means to be a technology entrepreneur and some of the lessons he’s learned along the way.

Did you always have the urge to be an entrepreneur?
I started my first business, a music production company, when I was 15 with a friend who was a singer-songwriter. We worked with 40 different bands at one point and started booking them into venues along Queen Street in Toronto. It was my first taste of owning a business and I never looked back. Even when I did co-op placements with large companies it was with the intention of honing my skills as an entrepreneur.

Do you think it takes a certain personality to be an entrepreneur?
From my experience I think most entrepreneurs are resilient people. You have to be resilient to handle riding the highs and lows of starting, owning and running a business.

You need to rise to the occasion when confronted with failure. There’s a bit of masochism that comes along with that because entrepreneurs are so strong-willed and determined they will often try to make something work when others would have packed it in. I also think there’s an inherent curiosity with the world, which is to say looking at the way the world works and coming up with ways to make it better.

Your startups involve digital technology. What unique set of challenges exists in that industry and how do you cope with a business landscape that changes at a blistering pace?
There are many factors to consider. On the one hand you’re talking about bringing technology to old industries that may be slow to adopt new trends. You also have a situation where cutting edge products are being introduced all the time.

I think it’s important to not treat each situation the same way. There may be some really cool, very futuristic products that cause a stir when they’re introduced but you need to determine whether you think a market for these products will exist in the near future. So you need to maintain your business acumen and not get caught up in the hype. A litmus test I like to use is taking a look at ordinary people and ask how this product or service will improve their life.

How did you come up with the idea for Pilot and what market potential did you see for the product?
We wanted to develop a digital tool that would help companies innovate. The idea for Pilot was to build a platform that would nurture creative ideas by bringing together people digitally. It’s a tough business to crack because companies are often narrowly focused on driving revenues and they often put innovation on the back burner.

What is your definition of success?
It’s multi-faceted. I feel really strongly about always trying to be a better person, whether that’s developing new interests, building and maintaining healthy relationships, volunteering or trying to develop business ideas that I think will improve people’s lives.

I like using the wheel metaphor. There are many spokes in a wheel, and each have to be healthy and strong in order for it to turn. It’s a great metaphor for life. You need to have balance.

Can you think back to a failure in your professional life and how you were able to learn from it?
I learned a valuable lesson with my first business. After three successful shows we decided to jump to a much larger venue. It was a disaster. We weren’t even close to covering the bar tab, that’s how few people turned up. We were kicked off Queen Street after that but we didn’t quit. It was great to build confidence early on but also instructive when things didn’t work out. I think the most important thing I learned is that despite it not working out failure is not a statement about you as a person. How you handle that failure by remaining positive and persistent is far more important.

What advice can you give to budding student entrepreneurs?
To not be intimidated. Too often people focus on the end product without considering the process. Many think ‘wow, that company’s blueprint was so genius that it’s beyond us to even try to come up with something that incredible.’ It’s such a debilitating thought. Being an entrepreneur is a process of discovery, of being curious with the world, interacting with people at all levels and working through the small projects.

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U of T student-entrepreneur cuts through scholarly information overload with TrendMD

sgupta — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 07:28:46 +0000

U of T student-entrepreneur cuts through scholarly information overload with TrendMD sgupta Wed, 01/28/2015 - 02:28

Cutline

The ��߲ݴ�ý Early Stage Technology (UTEST) Program helped Paul Kudlow launch TrendMD, which is changing the way scholarly publications are distributed (photo courtesy Paul Kudrow)

Jenny Hall

Author legacy

Jenny Hall

Are you a researcher experiencing information overload as you try to keep up with research in your field?

There’s a reason for that. Scholarly publishing isn’t immune to the information avalanche enabled by the digital revolution. In biomedicine alone, there are 5,000 new scholarly articles published every day, which can make it hard for readers to connect to the content they’re interested in – and for authors and publishers to ensure their work is read and has an impact.

A U of T student entrepreneur has come up with a solution: a dissemination widget for scholarly content.

“The best analogy I can give,” says Paul Kudlow, founder and CEO of TrendMD, “is that when you’re on CNN.com or the New York Times website, you are given other content you might be interested in based on what you’ve been reading. That content is personalized to you. We do the same thing for scholarly content.”

But unlike its cousins in the popular press, TrendMD’s widget goes further, breaking down the barriers between publishers as it cross-promotes content. The widget, which is free for content providers like journals to install, generates recommendations for readers based on their reading habits. Clicking on the link might take the reader to another article within the same journal – or to another journal owned by a different publisher altogether. Each click outside the host publisher generates revenue, half of which goes to the owner of the link, and half to TrendMD.

Here’s how it works:

1. The British Medical Journal publishes an article about heart disease and would like to promote it. It sets a budget, and the article is disseminated through TrendMD’s network (360 journals and growing).

2. Meanwhile, you’re reading a different article on heart disease in JAMA. Since JAMA has the Trend MD widget installed, it tells you that you might also be interested in the first article in the British Medical Journal.

3. You click the link. Your click “costs” one dollar, which is deducted from the British Medical Journal’s tab. JAMA and Trend MD split the proceeds – and the British Medical Journal enjoys the increased exposure and site traffic.

Content providers of all sorts, including individual researchers, can promote their research through Trend MD. As buyers, they select a budget and pay only for the actual click-throughs they receive.

The idea for TrendMD has its roots in Kudlow’s stint as a medical student at the University of Western Ontario. Frustrated by the daunting task of sorting through all the research being published, he decided to solve the problem himself.

“If you look back 20 years,” he says, “journals and publishers used to get their content out there by printing their journals and sending them out. The problem is that people don’t consume content like that anymore. The question was how do we distribute content online?”

The company went through the ��߲ݴ�ý Early Stage Technology (UTEST) Program, which is a joint U of T-MaRS Innovation initiative to nurture nascent software companies with seed funding, office space, mentoring and business strategy support.

“TrendMD was a unique investment for us, as it was a bet on the entrepreneur more so than the technology,” says UTEST co-director Kurtis Scissons. “Paul demonstrated to us from day one his passion for entrepreneurship, his ability to lead and his business prowess. Not many could balance the responsibilities of a doctor and tech CEO but Paul has managed in a remarkable way.”

Kudlow calls UTEST a “catalyst” and credits the program with helping him get the company off the ground in May 2014.

Today, he and co-founder Gunther Eysenbach, who is professor in U of T’s department of health policy, management and evaluation and a senior scientist at Toronto General Hospital, oversee 10 employees, and they’re raising another round of funding to support the company’s growth.

In all his spare time, Kudlow is also a medical resident in psychiatry and is pursuing a master’s degree at U of T’s Institute of Medical Science. But he’s passionate about bringing a new distribution model to the world of scholarly publishing.

“We’re finding the right reader for every piece of content.”

Jenny Hall is a writer with the office of the vice-president, research and innovation, at the ��߲ݴ�ý.

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U of T student-entrepreneurs head to New York to compete for US$100,000 in seed money

sgupta — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 09:50:18 +0000

U of T student-entrepreneurs head to New York to compete for US$100,000 in seed money sgupta Wed, 01/07/2015 - 04:50

Cutline

Ross team members Shuai Wang, Jimoh Ovbiagele, Akash Venkat, Pargles Dall'oglio, and Andrew Arruda (photo by Andrew Arruda)

Peter Boisseau

Author legacy

Peter Boisseau

Faculty of Arts & Science

Answer: A high-stakes contest pitting a ��߲ݴ�ý team against U.S. heavyweights, featuring a super computer whose fictional counterpart’s name is often mistakenly associated with “elementary.”

Question: What is the 2015 IBM Watson Challenge?

Of course, Sherlock Holmes never uttered the phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” in any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, a fact IBM’s “Watson” would surely have noted had the matter come up when the cognitive computer won Jeopardy, a TV quiz show where answers must be phrased as questions.

As a legal sleuth, computer Watson also has few equals, an ability U of T students demonstrated with Ross, a virtual legal assistant they created for the competition last fall. (Read more about the U of T teams that took part in the 2015 IBM Watson Challenge). The U of T team is now slated to test its technology and business savvy against students from the likes of MIT and Stanford University at the competition January 9 in New York at IBM’s headquarters for Watson.The winner gets US$100,000 in seed money for a startup business application powered by Watson.

“We’re the only non-U.S. school invited to this, and it’s like when the Blue Jays won the World Series,” says U of T computer science Professor Steve Engels.

“That’s what we want to do at this competition.”

Able to sift through billions of documents in seconds, Watson can be trained to “understand” and answer questions on various topics in plain English, says Engels. In the world of computers, it is the closest thing to human intuition yet devised, with potential applications ranging from medicine to law.

Available remotely through IBM’s cloud computing system, some experts predict students, lawyers and clients will increasingly be turning to Watson for legal research assistance.

“The idea is you could have this on your phone as an app and just tap on the icon for Ross, and it would allow you either to type in or speak a question you want answered,” says Engels. Ross will also constantly update with new legal information as it becomes available.

Each team at the pressure-packed New York competition will be given 20 minutes to state their case and demonstrate their product in front of a panel of high ranking IBM executives and venture capitalists, with the top three brought back the same day for a final round.

Simply being invited into the Watson program – which was structured as an undergraduate course – affirmed the status of U of T’s computer science department, consistently ranked among the top ten in the world.

IBM was so impressed with Ross and the other U of T teams – Divorcesay, Loom, Sherlocke and Expressway – that competed for the right to go to New York as part of their coursework, the company is granting them all continued access to Watson to develop their prototypes or explore other applications.

All the teams were also exposed to local investors and law firms who want to follow up with them and their work, says Engels.

“It has been an amazing opportunity,” says Ross team member Akash Venkat. “Regardless of what happens in New York, as long as we have access to Watson, I think we’ll definitely continue.”

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U of T student-entrepreneur cuts through scholarly information overload with TrendMD

U of T student-entrepreneurs head to New York to compete for US$100,000 in seed money