The MBET Experience

The University of Waterloo – Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Program

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The Laws of Wealth Creation

January 26th, 2009 · Comments Off on The Laws of Wealth Creation

pI had to share this quote from a a href=href=http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.htmlPaul Graham article on Wealth Creation/a:/p
pStartups are not magic. They dont change the laws of wealth creation. They just represent a point at the far end of the curve. There is a conservation law at work here: if you want to make a million dollars, you have to endure a million dollars worth of pain./p
pSo true!/p

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HealthSpoke Connect v1.0 Online!

July 5th, 2008 · Comments Off on HealthSpoke Connect v1.0 Online!

Things are moving forward. Last night I launched a new HealthSpoke website, along with version 1.0 of HealthSpoke Connect, our flagship business management tool for Health and Wellness Practitioners. Version 1.0 offers Client Management, online appointment booking, basic business statistics, and Business Profiles with a free listing in the HealthSpoke directory. There’s lots more work to be done, and we’re already planning version 1.1, but things are moving along! Check it out – comments and feedback are always welcome!

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HealthSpoke Celebrates its First Users!

July 2nd, 2008 · 1 Comment

Well, I had a big week last week as the HealthSpoke product finally started being used. Up until then, I had shown alpha and beta versions to a number of people, and had a few practitioners try it out. Last week though, I had my first practitioner add real, live clients, and have them book appointments online and add their information.

Response so far has been extremely positive, the practitioners love getting their appointment booked notifications instantly by email, and the clients started using it right away, even adding their data and uploading display photos for themselves! It’s a pretty awesome feeling and something that I consider a huge step forward!!

Be sure to check out the HealthSpoke site in the next couple days, I’m getting ready to release a major overhaul, along with version 1.0 of HealthSpoke Connect, our core product! Exciting times for a young company and its founder!!

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MBET Alumni – The Entrepreneurial Journey

June 26th, 2008 · Comments Off on MBET Alumni – The Entrepreneurial Journey

I was back at CBET this evening for an interesting discussion with this year’s MBET class. It is that time of year when students are starting to see the program coming to an end, and are starting to think about their next steps.

In an interesting event, the staff decided to bring back a number of MBET alumni to share their experiences with the students, and answer questions they had about life after MBET and how things worked out for various people.

There were 9 of us on the panel, and overall seemed to represent a nice mix of the various roles that people end up in after MBET. For any prospective students who were curious about where MBET grads end up, here’s the list of people who were there tonight:

The Entrepreneurs

  • Dan Donovan (that’s me), V4.0 with my bootstrapped software company, HealthSpoke
  • Jen McLellan, V4.0, who has a number of businesses

Big Business

  • Bob Mersereau, V2.0 – IT Services at Bell Canada
  • Kurt Gooden, V2.0 – Applied Innovations & Research at RBC
  • Andrea Eltherington, V1.0 – Risk Consulting & Regulatory Services at Deloitte

High Tech

  • James Moncarz, V4.0 – Project Manager at Strategic Mapping (startup company, employee #7)
  • Ray Reddy, V2.0 – RIM (corporate mergers / acquisitions – big high tech)

Institutional

  • Ben Rogers, V2.0 – Technology Transfer, Mount Sinai Hospital
  • Saeed Bagheri, V4.0 – Technology Transfer, University of Waterloo

As you can see, there is quite the mix, and most people seem to be able to land a good gig. One good question I heard was “how do employers view the MBET?” The best answer: it’s all in how you sell it. Having an “MBET” begs people to ask the question – what did you do? What did you learn? This is where you get to sell the employer on all the great things you’ve done.

All in all, a fun night, and nice to be back at CBET, meet some fellow alumni, catch up with old friends, see the students, and get an idea of what some of them are up to next year.

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MBET Students In The News

April 22nd, 2008 · Comments Off on MBET Students In The News

In the last month, there have been a few articles featuring MBET and MBET students.

First, there was a Globe and Mail article, discussing how MBET helps aspiring entrepreneurs gain the skills they need to launch their businesses. Check it out here.

Next up, two of this years students participated in the Rice Business Plan competition. Check out the write-ups on CNN and the Rice University website.

Finally, there was an article on the CTV website featuring one of next year’s students who has developed a new landmine detection technology.

Great to see MBET getting some recognition!

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CBET in the National Post

October 26th, 2007 · Comments Off on CBET in the National Post

There was a great article in yesterday’s national post profiling the MBET program. Check it out here: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=badacd33-b399-4efc-8fb0-9c4f89b6e2dc.

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A New Year…

September 4th, 2007 · 1 Comment

It’s amazing what a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, I was three hours into the first day of MBET. Today, I am three hours into my first “paid” week as an entrepreneur, as President and CEO of HealthSpoke. I have the pieces in place and now it’s time to make it happen.

My year in MBET really helped me to prepare for being an entrepreneur. I had visions of starting my own company previously, but MBET put me way further ahead than I would of been had I started out on my own. So it was definitely a year well-spent!

On the first day last year, we had a panel-discussion with some of the former students and MBET advisory board members. This year, I have been invited back to be a part of the panel at dinner tomorrow night. I am looking forward to meeting some of the new students and sharing some of my experiences with them. Hopefully I will be able to help some of this year’s students get the most they can out of their short time in MBET. I’m also looking forward to catching up with some of the faculty and advisory board members! Should be a good time! Plus, free food is always nice…

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What’s Next?

August 16th, 2007 · Comments Off on What’s Next?

With my time in MBET complete, I’m sure that there will be much less activity on this blog. I’m sure there will be the occasional update, but for anyone who wants to keep up with what I’m doing, I’ll be blogging more regularly over at my Forward Motion page at www.dandonovan.ca. I’ll be working full time on getting HealthSpoke off the ground, so I’m sure I’ll be talking about business and life as an entrepreneur a lot!

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MBET Finished!!!

August 3rd, 2007 · Comments Off on MBET Finished!!!

Just finished the last accounting exam… hard to believe but MBET is over. Now onto the Bomber patio… let the partying begin!!

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One More to Go…

August 2nd, 2007 · Comments Off on One More to Go…

This morning we had our E-Business exam. 50 multiple choice questions, and 50 marks based on a case analysis. We were told the multiple choice would be based on the interactive quiz questions given on the textbook companion website. Here’s a big hint to everyone in MBET next year – do all the questions!! I think 49 out of 50 of the multiple choice questions were taken directly from the online quizzes. The case analysis wasn’t too bad either, I think most people will end up doing well.

I am now sitting down to study accounting in preparation for the final MBET test tomorrow morning. I have no idea what I’m going to do next week… they might have to setup a clinic for all of us who will suffer from MBET withdrawal. Symptons include bewilderment with having free time again, and the ability to talk about sports again instead of strategy maps and balanced scorecards.

Anyway… I am procrastinating. Back to work… for the last time.

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