One of the main reasons I wanted to become a Beedie Ambassador was so that I could attend one of the largest design and entrepreneurial conferences in the world – GROW 2013! The first thing I noticed about the conference was the high level of energy and excitement present in the room. Looking around, I noticed the diversity of the delegates in terms of age, ethnicity, and geographic background. Yet, I found that everyone shared the same passion for their own startups, a willingness to learn, and, most importantly, a commitment to sharing ideas. It dawned on me that GROW has become a checkpoint for many of these delegates. Whether it is launching their own startup, or simply seeing if their idea is feasible in today’s market, this conference has become a platform for entrepreneurs to start making their ideas become a reality.
One highlight of this conference was the “Startup Smackdown.” Throughout the day, startups have the opportunity to pitch to venture capitalists, consisting of media and top investors, about their idea. Each startup had one minute to deliver their pitch. At the end of each pitch, each panelist gave them a score out of 10 and an explanation of why they gave that score. The twist here was that the startups had to pitch in front of the delegation. I found this to be the most interesting part of the conference as I was able to hear about interesting ideas, while at the same time receiving practical advice on the do’s and don’ts of making an elevator pitch. I realized that no matter how good one’s idea is, if he/she cannot make a convincing pitch, then one cannot move forward in the startup world.
At the end of the day I had a few takeaways from GROW 2013. First, according to Munjal Shah from Charles River Ventures, “pick the biggest idea with the smallest beach head.” Second, as Ellen McGirt, the Senior Writer for Fast Company says on startups, “you’re not just building a company, you’re building a community of people.” Finally, a simple yet important tip on how to craft a great pitch from one of the panelists, “say what your product does at the beginning of the pitch.”
Joaquim is concentrating his business degree in Marketing and Human Resource Management. Born and raised in the Philippines, he moved to Vancouver, Canada in 2007. An avid traveller, he spent five months in Europe while on an academic exchange term at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. He is also an active member of the SFU community, volunteering for the SFU Orientation Program for three years and representing his faculty in the Simon Fraser Student Society. Within the Beedie School of Business, Joaquim has been an organizing committee member for Beedie FROSH as well as a mentor in the program for two years. He has also held an executive board position in the SFU local chapter of AIESEC. This has given him the opportunity to attend and facilitate conferences nationally and internationally and become part of the AIESEC national teams in Denmark and Canada.