RADIUS hosts first-ever Social Entrepreneur Failure Wake

RADIUS, the Beedie School of Business’ interdisciplinary social innovation lab and venture incubator, has teamed with Vancity to co-host British Columbia’s first-ever Social Entrepreneur Failure Wake, a celebration of the failures and mistakes made by entrepreneurs trying to accomplish great things.

The Social Entrepreneur Failure Wake has been organized in order to build an entrepreneurial community that celebrates audacious attempts, with mistakes and failures shared openly in order for others to learn from the experience.

“Entrepreneurs, and particularly those that are trying to solve really pressing social problems, feel immense pressure to be ‘successful’,” says Shawn Smith, adjunct professor at the Beedie School of Business and co-founder of RADIUS. “Acknowledging and accepting failure is a major part of the growth and development of successful entrepreneurs.”

The event will be held on Tuesday, September 24 at the Portside Pub in downtown Vancouver, and feature short talks from entrepreneurs on dealing with failure, followed by an Irish Wake style celebration, marking the release of the entrepreneurs’ talents and energy to enable them to create something new.

“The work entrepreneurs are doing is incredibly difficult, and we hope to help build a community that can be more open and authentic with each other about those difficulties, and celebrate these bold entrepreneurs giving it their all,” says Smith. “The entrepreneurial road to success is paved with many failures and near failures, and it is important to start learning from them together.”

The Social Entrepreneur Failure Wake is open to the public. Tickets are now on sale, and include one drink, appetizers, live Irish music, and a chance to network with local social entrepreneurs. To purchase tickets, visit www.failurewake.eventbrite.ca

For more information about RADIUS, visit www.radiussfu.com