Talent Bridge – Innovation and Innovation Support (By: Emily Chan)

Passion Drives Success
 
“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position”
–John Maxwell
 
What do you do when you have an idea for something new? What support is there for you? How can you develop your inspiration before you lose it?
 
As I am spending time with OCRI’s Talent Bridge program immersed in the world of Business Development, Business Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Innovation etc, I am surrounded by individuals who are constantly striving to find answers to some of these questions. In parallel, I am also rethinking and developing my own thoughts around these topics.
 
The idea of innovation today is so convoluted that the word itself seems to have lost meaning. The misconception consists of people believing that you can stick a creative individual in a room and expect new ideas and thoughts to flow out like clockwork. Let us remember for a moment the creation of Post-It© Notes. The adhesive was not designed for the purpose of removable notes but instead a result of research into a super adhesive. This accidental discovery has led to more than 600 Post-It© Products selling in over 100 countries. The Post-It© story was a success because the idea and use of the adhesive was supported by one person who persevered with the notion that it would be marketable. This was a story I heard during our meeting with Luc Lalande in his office at Carleton University when we met him as a part of our Talent Bridge meetings with supporters and champions of entrepreneurship and innovation in Ottawa. The story left an immediate impression and put into context the message that Luc was trying to convey – innovation best thrives in open supportive environments.
 
Luc Lalande is the Director of the Innovation Transfer Office at Carleton University. During our meeting, Luc spoke of innovation and Carleton’s efforts towards supporting and nurturing innovation on its campus as also in the Ottawa community. Here are some of his thoughts that I was able to capture in our meeting.
 
What is innovation?
 
Luc mentioned that he faces constant challenges with support for young entrepreneurs that have new and interesting ideas. He explains that innovation is not about having a creative individual in a lab researching the next upcoming great idea. Innovation is finding the one in a hundred reason that an idea will work and building on that.
 
How can we support innovation?
 
Luc explained that innovation is not a linear model where steps can be mapped out and a set timeline can be planned. But, when the idea strikes, Luc is there to provide support where he can. Currently at Carleton University, there are four programs that provide help to innovative ideas: Technology Venture Challenge, Social Innovation Challenge, Open Source Talent First Program and the Foundry Program.
 
These contests and programs provide the chance for students with ideas to meet and network with others that have similar or complimentary ideas as well as those that can support them. Luc has the passion to see success in the ideas that are brought to him and helps with the process of working it out into a business without making a judgment call on the individual. The programs have their up’s and down’s (successful start-ups as well as not so successful endeavors), however, the support will always be there.
 
How should we approach innovation?
 
The key to seeing where an idea may lead, is realizing that one idea leads to another. Luc uses the example of Crocs©. The company started by designing a boating and outdoor shoe with material that is slip-resistant with a non-marking sole. Since then, the brand has become a fashion trend styling from the original product to rain boots to canvas shoes and even 3-inch heels. The idea essentially moved away from what it was initially pitched as, and since then it has taken different shapes of its own. An openness towards and belief in the potential in unseen and unexplored opportunities has evidently worked well for Crocs, and that’s precisely how most innovation should be looked at.
 
Final Thoughts on innovation?
 
Luc Lalande believes in nurturing the ideas that are presented to him and developing them into something bigger without worrying about formulas and established practices around traditional technology transfer and innovation support. Innovation at Carleton University provides support to students that want to go after it – even if it may not work for them initially. The support system Luc has created firmly establishes that Ottawa is still a great city for innovation. 
 
Our meeting with Luc established a need for more programs like Talent Bridge. How else would I have gotten such an opportunity to have a candid interaction with someone like Luc for a conversation that has added a new perspective to my understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation? Together with my experience in Rove Mobile, where I am working closely with the management and the sales and marketing team, the Talent Bridge meetings and visits are a great source of new information and experience for me.
 
More stories to come.
 
Emily Chan
Talent Bridge – Summer 2008

OCRI-Entrepreneurship Centre and Small Business Centres in Finland

An eventful and safe return via the delights of Amsterdam was the cap to a successful trip to Finland and Estonia courtesy of the Federation of Finnish Enterprises.

I was asked by the federation to speak at their yearly conference, held this year in Tallinn amidst unbelievably well preserved 13th century buildings. It is quite the setting!

The topic was the model that the OCRI Entrepreneurship Centre uses in the delivery of SME services to our client groups. An interesting fact is that while Small Business Centres in Ontario total 57, and serve an overall population base exceeding 12 million, in Finland they have over 417 local associations, 21 regional based centres and 49 trade centres serving a total membership base- country wide of approximately 90,000 businesses. 98% of these have less then 10 employees.

Finland’s total population sits at around 5.2 million

Our strength and strategic alliances within the youth sector, as well as the ability of the EC to work quickly and effectively with private sponsors to support not only some of our funding requirements but also to act as key strategic partners in industry- is a novel concept for many of these centres. Being state-run limits, at times, their overall ability to act in an entrepreneurial manner- the hands-are-tied approach does not often instill confidence in the aspiring entrepreneur simply looking for help and advice.

A nugget of learning taken from the conference, and from my new Finnish friends- is their focus on the selling, and succession planning of and within SMEs. Where we have a “youth, starting and growing” focus, they include ’selling’ to the mix as more and more businesses are requiring help in succession.

Our web site -and the strength of our domain- was a hit and was our forthcoming model for growth -iProfit (using a web 2.0 platform as a complement to face-to-face mentoring).

Some contacts outside the realm of the EC were developed and passed along to the appropriate OCRI personnel-..

Great trip- experience- people!

Kittos,

Micheal Burnatowski

 

Entrepreneurship Centre-Mentors-Proteges and back..

From Mentor to Protégé and back…

 

How often does one see or hear of a brilliant and creative business idea and say “why didn’t I think of that?” Much too often for most and yet for many- it is a trigger that begins a journey as an entrepreneur.

 

As a founder of a small start-up, I have often required a helping hand from someone who has ‘been there, done that’.  And being a start-up there was always a bit of baggage – minimal cash on hand! What I needed was a mentor – a volunteer mentor.

 

Mentors are the unsung heroes of many a fledgling business as they provide guidance, advice, networks, and in many instance the most important need that a lone entrepreneur requires to make it through another day- a sounding board. (the back and forth conversations over how to get your product to market – at no cost yet with Frank your pet dog- just doesn’t cut it, …… after a few weeks).

 

To be frank (intended), each day that goes by without any bit of progress in the lonesome world of many a start-up entrepreneur, often creates a circle of doubt and leaves the drive, creativity and positive thought process to the dogs. (enough!)

 

The role of a mentor is to offer expertise in the development and growth of a business by helping prioritize plans, strategies, and if needed- hard hitting realities of the situation at hand. All should be captured and relished by the ‘protégé’.

 

 We are in the midst of launching a new version of the typical mentor-protégé relationship at the OCRI Entrepreneurship Centre in Ottawa. With the soon to be launch of a new web site offering clients ease of use and more interactivity in their small business research, the iProfit model of mentoring and advisory services will integrate Web 2.0  into an effective, time is of the essence, portal privy only to mentor, protégé and the OCRI Entrepreneurship Centre business advisor.

 

Crucial to the success of a small business is the ability to draw on expertise today and not tomorrow. iProfit provides the mentoring parties to immediately connect and respond to time sensitive issues which arise in the development and growth of any business. If required and convenient, online can take the place of face to face;  iProfit is also a model of e-mentoring built around the needs and concerns of the business.

 

But a blended approach to this mentoring service is what we believe will work best. You cannot replace the nuances gained by sitting down and sharing experiences –face to face.

 

September will see the launch of iProfit. Back to you then to share first experiences…..

 

Michael Burnatowski

Talent Bridge – Initial days (By: Steven Robins)

First Five Weeks in Rove Mobile
So, I have been in OCRI’s Talent Bridge program for almost five weeks now. I thought I will take a few moments to speak about my experience with the program during this period. As an introduction, my name is Steven Robins and I am a student at University of Western Ontario where I am doing my undergraduate degree with a joint concentration in Business and Computer Science. I am an Ottawa native, having lived all my life in the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven before I moved to London, Ontario, for my studies. TalentBridge happened at the opportune time for me. I was out looking for a challenging summer assignment which will have a flavor of something different, but would open my eyes to some new facets previously unknown to me. So what is it about TalentBridge that got me all excited and had me commit to spending 14 weeks of my summer with OCRI’s Entrepreneurship Centre and Rove Mobile in a program that I had not heard of before.
TalentBridge, for me, is an unique opportunity to apply what I’ve learned in the classroom, to the “real world.” I will share some of my thoughts/learnings from my first five weeks in the program. It has been very enlightening to see which parts of my business education are actually put into practice in the SME environment – and what pieces aren’t, either for lack of resources, or it simply doesn’t work. The most noticeable difference between the classroom and the SME is the time crunch.  In the classroom, before making a decision, you take the time to collect all the information, analyze the alternatives, design an action plan, as well as a variety of exit strategies.  At Rove, we simply don’t have the time to do all that.  Working at Rove is teaching me that there isn’t always the time, or resources to work through that complete process, that in small business a company routinely stakes its future on the outcome of a single event – a tradeshow, a customer, a new hire.
The considerations that take place in making decisions are also different from those we experience or work with in the classroom.  In the classroom, we make our decisions based on ROI, the fit between elements in the marketing plan, the fiscal ratios of the company, but we never think about the intricacies of people’s personalities – how you can get people to buy into a decision, and actually implement it in an effective way.  Building an organizational culture is talked about in a classroom, but the numbers is what matters.  I am increasingly finding out that in business it’s about developing your people. Through these few insights I thought I will highlight the best part of TalentBridge – as it applies to me in this moment of my own personal learning.  We get to see every day the way that people with lots of experience in business make decisions, what they pay attention to, and how the carry themselves.  It’s a chance to learn not just the what of business, but the how.
Stay tuned. I will be back with more Talent Bridge stories.
 
Steven Robins
Talent Bridge – Summer 2008

OCRI Talent Bridge – A New Begining (Part 1 of 3)

A New Begining

Ottawa’s tech community has been at the receiving end of some blunt criticism about the lack of young business leadership in town. Time and again, since I made Ottawa home about five years ago, I have heard folks speaking from a position of authority (and standing on “podiums”) about Ottawa’s inability to produce business talent – often hinging on suggestions that Ottawa just does not have the capacity to produce “marketing/sales” talent. Many of the critics have also lamented the inability of Ottawa to encourage young business leadership, hence making a case for the need to import “business expertise” from other places (read “down south”).

http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/288532987861393.php

As I disagreed then, and passionately disagree now, I do not think that it is the case of missing “sales/marketing skillsets”. Maybe this position comes from the fact that the best part of my (day to day) job with OCRI is that it brings me face to face with lots of smart ambitious students on a daily basis. I am quiet simply blown away by the talent of some of the individuals I meet on a daily basis. So – as expected – I have a different take here. I think what Ottawa traditionally lacked was a pan-community initiative to invest in the training/development (on the business strategy end) of our “abundance” of young technical talent – with an eye kept on our needs for the future. As my grandma use to say “the sweetest mangoes are the ones that stay the longest on the tree to ripe with abundance of resources to derive nectar from”. This is not to suggest that there are no supporters of talent in town – because there are quiet a few and quiet dedicated to the cause too – but that this is an opportune time for us to develop a cross institutional grassroot initiative for “talent identification, talent development and talent engagement” – all (as I mentioned) aimed towards the development of the next generation of Ottawa business leadership.

The idea of Talent Bridge was primarily inspired by the above thoughts and solidified by the validations I received in innumerable discussions held with local SME leadership and students from all institutions. Through the support received from Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) Talent Bridge was officially launched by OCRI in June of this year. The first cohort of the program has two students, Emily Chan from the photonics program of Algonquin College and Steve Robins from the University of Western Ontario who is in a dual business/computer science program at UWO. Both of them are working closely with the management team in Rove Mobile, where Steve is working closely with the Director of Marketing and Emily is closely aligned with the VP of Sales. Needless to say, we are very excited about the possibilities and very encouraged by the learning opportunities that the two students are being exposed to on a daily basis. The program is not only ambitious in its intent (assisting in the development of the next generation of business leadership is just one of many intents), but it is also quiet unique in its structure (I will talk about it in more detail in the next post). We are getting some great traction with the local SME’s (the principal clientelle for the program) and we are currently recruiting for the Fall 2008 intake.

Please stay plugged in to read the whole series of blogs, which will be coauthored by the two students and myself. Over the next ten weeks, we will be writing a total of eight entries for the first Talent Bridge program which will run till the end of August 2008. For more details about the program, please dont hesitate to contact me at anytime.

My thanks to all those who played a critical role in the genesis of Talent Bridge and stayed strong in their support, especially my team at OCRI which has been phenomenal in their support for the program. Let us keep believing in Ottawa.

Manu Sharma

This post is also published under “Entrepreneurship and Innovation Support” at www.ManuSharma.Info