The Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development is looking for a few good entrepreneurs. Actually, it has 15 really good entrepreneurs and is looking for another 15 up-and-comers to learn from them.
CEED has launched a new Entrepreneurs in Residence program, in which 15 leading Nova Scotian entrepreneurs will give one-on-one instruction to less experienced counterparts.
“CEED is 20 years old this year and one of the core principals has always centred around mentoring,” said President and CEO Heather Spidell. “We began to wonder, how could we formalize it a bit? How can we link former alumni – seasoned entrepreneurs who’ve been in the trenches -- with others and get them to share their experience?”
Working with a few of the alumni, CEED came up with the Entrepreneur in Residence program, modeling it loosely on similar programs at universities. They chose 15 mentors, and now they’re looking for entrepreneurs to apply to work one-one-one with the veterans. Spidell said each entrant will have a chance to pitch to all the mentors on April 22 or May 22, and each mentor will pick a company to work with. Each pair will work together over a three-month period, and can carry on the relationship outside the auspices of CEED afterward if they choose.
Spidell said the mentors have the option of investing in the companies but are not required to do so. In the autumn, they will review the program and hope to repeat it again, especially in the more rural areas.
Interested parties can find an application under CEED Community on www.ceed.ca, and must apply by April 12.
The mentors are: Jay Aird, CTO, Karma Gaming; Holly Bond, National Sales Director, Bullfrog Power; Tim Burke, CEO, 26ones; John Wesley Chisholm, President, Arcadia Entertainment; Rachel Dodds, Founder, Sexy Girl Inc.; Lisa Drader-Murphy, President, Turbine; Tom Hickey, businessman named Entrepreneur of the Year by E&Y and BDC; Ron Lovett, Founder, Source Security & Investigations; Brian Lowe, Co-Founder, First Angel Network; Bill McMullin, Founder, ViewPoint.ca; Robert Orr, Co-Founder and CEO, Slanmhor Pharmaceutical Inc.; Tasha Richard, CEO, momcafé Network Inc.; Milan Vrekic, Co-Founder TitanFile; Shawn Wilkie, President, Robotnik.com; Robert Zed, President, Zed Group.
