From idea to reality

Like Morrice and DePaul, many relationships that turn into key professional partnerships are forged on university campuses. Such was the case for Jared Smith and Ted Couri, who met when they sat next to one another during a lecture at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. The two business students started talking about their career plans—both were set to take over their fathers’ businesses—and hit it off.

Together they got involved in AIESEC, a student-run organization that facilitates international co-ops, and eventually became president and vice-president of their chapter. “The students organization was the catalyst of what would become a business together,” Smith says, noting that they were able to attract more funding and job opportunities than any other chapter in Canada that year. “We knew that there was some magic there because of our success together.”

So after graduating and gaining international work experience—in Latvia for Couri, in China for Smith—they decided to start a business together. The pair believed that marketing was the key to success at AIESEC and wondered whether companies would outsource their marketing needs in the same way they outsource tech. They set up a laptop on a TV table in Smith’s mother’s basement and founded Incite Solutions. Now 10 years old, the company has nearly 30 employees, won the 2008 BDC Young Entrepreneur Award and in 2008 was named in Profit as one of Canada’s 100 fastest growing companies. “My grandfather used to say: if you want to be incredible, surround yourself with incredible people. University is one of the best environments to do that, to go out and establish relationships,” Smith says. “These people end up being your co-workers, your employers, your suppliers, your advisers, your mentors. The people we met 13 years ago at the University of Alberta are still a huge part of our business today.”

What’s the common factor in these stories? Morrice speaks of business strategy and marketing skills when asked how he applied his education to the launch of Sustainable Waterloo. But he’s clear about what he believes to be the most important soft skill he gained in university: “Being really passionate. That has gotten us so very far.” Mitchell agrees. “I don’t know anyone who has made a choice that has made them excited, that their heart tells them is the right thing, who has come to regret it,” he says. “But the number of people who have regretted making the choice that their parents wanted them to make or that society suggested they take—I know a lot of people who regret that.”