BioLinc Blogs

BioLinc student entrepreneur Matthew Paladino and sport management students Seth Mendelsohn, Kimberly Lennon and Brandon Currie competed this past weekend at the PrimeTime Sports & Entertainment Sport Innovation Case Competition at Ryerson University in Toronto. Their team, From Cancer to Cure, finished second place overall out of seven teams. Teams of three to four students representing York University, Ryerson University, Laurentian University and Schulich School of Business competed against each other for a chance to win $2,000. Continue reading →

 “I went in to make a video, a few months later, I was in South Africa.”

As acting VP of Marketing and resident artsy kid for @BrockEnactus, I was tasked with reviewing our experience at the Enactus World Cup 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Sometimes documenting an experience like this can be difficult.. Continue reading →

Startup at BioLinc! Want to startup a business and immigrate to Canada? Niagara Region’s BioLinc might become your one-stop shopping center.

Interviewee:
Dan Lynch, Manager of BioLinc
Cassie Price, BioLinc Coordinator

Interviewer: Chris & Nancy from Niagarabuzz of WeChat

Introduction

It is our pleasure today to have Dan, manager of BioLinc, and Cassie, coordinator at BioLinc for a short interview. The purpose of this interview is to share some information about BioLinc to our both local and international Chinese entrepreneurs and investors, through our Niagarabuzz of WeChat media platform. We wish that this report could provide some useful information regarding startup businesses and related immigration policy in Canada. Continue reading →

Once I had returned from a life changing experience studying abroad in my third year at Brock, I was back in Canada constantly reflecting on how amazing my journey was. As I became increasingly reminiscent of my time abroad, I wanted to get myself back into the international student realm and eager to give other students an experience that I found myself becoming close with many of the international students at Brock and while doing so found a major pain point in the transition to Canadian society. Continue reading →

Have you ever wondered why we have two stages of teeth? Why are the biggest dinosaurs herbivores? Why are we still afraid to talk about mental health? And of course, why do we get chocolate cravings?

University researchers from all across Ontario are answering these and other questions. Find the answers and ask your own questions at http://yourontarioresearch.ca/curiosity-shop/.

Stay curious! Continue reading →

Every year, Dalhousie University in Halifax chooses thirty student teams to compete in the Canadian Business Model Competition. The focus most business competitions is to pitch your business and the judges attempt to determine its profitability and likelihood of success – a method that is becoming recognized as ineffective. The Canadian business model competition is different. The competition focuses less on the venture’s outcomes and more on the process the entrepreneur is taking to ensure these outcomes are a success.

This year we were lucky enough to become the first team from Brock to compete at the competition. In early March I was surprised with an email saying we had made it to the finals in Halifax and in just one week, Sultana and were boarding a plane and heading east.

The first day at Dalhousie was spent becoming familiar with the competition outline and meeting the rest of the student entrepreneurs from all across Canada. After that it was back to the hotel to polish our presentation for the day to come.

After just a few short hours of sleep, the big day had arrived. We ate a quick breakfast and called a cab to get us from the hotel to the school. As soon as we arrived, we found a corner to go over our presentation one last time before heading in to a class room where five judges sat awaiting us. Fifteen minutes later we stepped out relieved to be done and happy with ourselves for what we thought was a great presentation.

In the end, we didn’t place in the top five but we received some good feedback and made great connections with mentors and some awesome student entrepreneurs from all over the country. The competition as a whole was successful for us and we were happy to be considered among such impressive entrepreneurs.

Ian Farr – Incounter

Pens? Check. Printer? Check. Extension Cords? Check. I must have done this with about 50 other things before the show, twice… The Toronto International Boat Show was the biggest and most important thing I have done for my business to this date. The exposure, the networking, and the motivation are all things that I saw as huge positives. This show is quite a bit longer than most, with a total of 9 days. It was held at the Direct Energy Centre and received about 80,000 visitors. It was great exposure for someone just starting out, such as myself. I can’t even count the amount of times I was asked who the owner was and where I was sent from. Although a little disheartening, I took it as a compliment and explained that the owners had no idea I was running their booth and that I was only here for some good entertainment and free food samples. I’m just kidding, I didn’t say that, but sometimes I wanted to. I explained to them that I was the owner and that I was just starting out, and they seemed to like the ambition of beginning my own venture.

Setup was hard and time consuming, and I underestimated it. One of my brand-new televisions wouldn’t turn on, and that was quite the disappointment. I was scrambling with 5 minutes left before show time, trying to make sure everything was working properly. About an hour into the show I was still trying to set up my Vista Print banners, and local celebrity Mike Holmes from Holmes on Homes, an HGTV television show, walked passed me and looked down at me. The only thing I thought of was how bad he probably wanted to tell me to get my act together. If anyone has seen the show, Mike’s number one goal is to criticise other contractors on poor workmanship. Anyways, shortly after that I was ready to chat, deal, and network with other industry professionals.

Midweek started to feel like I was singing the same old song, and I was beginning to lose my voice, so I started to venture around the show. I went to seminars, spoke with other brokers, checked out some inventory, familiarized myself with all of the big players, and got some ideas for next year. To be honest, my booth was a little bush league compared to some of the big guns, but I saw it as it was more important that I showed up with what I had and what I could afford.

By the end of the show, I felt like I had really accomplished a lot. I had made many connections, learned many important things about brokerage, learned about key players, learned about what the current market is offering, learned about pricing, and most importantly I learned that there are 98,864 little squares in the carpet that I purchased from Home Depot. Let’s just say it’s amazing how much time you really spend in your booth.

Cole Ritchie – North American Yacht Sales

When it comes to entrepreneurship, many of us seem to believe that success is based on the innovative idea. Obviously the idea has a great deal to do with it, but an idea is really only worth something if an entrepreneur can pitch it. Whether you’re presenting to potential clients, users, or investors, nobody is going to want what you’re offering if you can’t convince them they do: the pitch is everything.

This was the focus of BioLinc’s last kickstarting entrepreneurship event which took place this past weekend. Our student entrepreneurs had just three minutes on Saturday to pitch their ideas to an esteemed group of professional mentors. After these presentations, the students sat down for one-on-one meetings with the mentors to hear what they did right and what they could improve on (or if we’re being blunt, what they did wrong) in their pitch.

The next day, we saw the advice pay off. Each entrepreneur stood up and gave another three minute pitch. The difference was tremendous, every student made great strides with their presentation’s, making those watching believe in their ideas and maybe more importantly – in them.

Sign up for the next KSE event here.