Power trio visits Algoma University business students; one of them hung with Prince Harry

Three successful business people, each of them Toronto-based and with very different stories to tell, served as judges at the Algoma University School of Business and Economics 13th annual Business Case Competition, held Thursday.

The annual event involves business students from Algoma University and other post-secondary institutions competing and working in groups to develop strategies and solutions for business cases and having their findings evaluated by the judges.

Michael Burns, Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation president and CEO, has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, financial services, technology and entrepreneurship.

“I think the secret to my success has been, to date, is that I’ve said ‘yes’ to things that I didn’t know what I needed to do to be successful. That comes from something Richard Branson said many years ago, and that was ‘when you’re presented with an opportunity, say ‘yes’ and figure it out afterwards,’” Burns said, speaking to SooToday at The Water Tower Inn (where the competition was held) Thursday.

“Being able to tackle issues or challenges and put myself in the right place at the right time has helped propel my career.”

“I think, right now, to be a young person coming out of business school and certainly being a lot smarter than the generation before them, and having the opportunities and experiences globally, my advice to them would be think big, think outside of Sault Ste. Marie and Canada. This is a big, big world and I think Canadians tend to think east to west and what we can do within our borders. We need to be thinking about what kind of impact we can have and what opportunities there are outside of Canada.”

Burns took a leave from his role as AudienceView corporate development vice president to lead the 2017 Invictus Games as CEO in 2015. With Burns at the helm, the Toronto Invictus Games were completely sold out, viewed by more than 40 million people around the world.

The Invictus Games is an international event created by Prince Harry, in which wounded armed services personnel participate in sports such as wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball and indoor rowing.

“He’s awesome,” said Burns of Harry.

“He’s the real deal. He’s a veteran who served with the British Army in Afghanistan who understands what life in the military is like, especially for those who are ill and injured and the impact that has on families.”

“To spend three to four years with him and his team and be a part of that amazing event in Toronto, which really extended across the country, was pretty special. It was certainly a highlight of my career,” Burns said.

At 21, Manu (Swish) Goswami, founder and CEO of Trufan, a tech-driven media company, has already been named ‘Startup Canada’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year,’ a past consultant for Google and American Express, a venture capitalist, a United Nations Youth Ambassador and a well-known speaker who discusses entrepreneurial hustle and the latest trends to help businesses, individuals and organizations make their mark in a fast-paced economy.

One of Goswami’s first projects was FoodShare, an app that provides an affordable and accessible food option to people in need of it by connecting them to households, events, stores, and restaurants with leftover and/or excess food.

“That was a great project. It taught me a lot,” Goswami told us.

He credited the people around him for his success, in addition to his own hard work.

“The second thing is loyalty. It’s the most undervalued value in the world. These days it’s hard to find loyal people, so once I was able to find three or four people who are incredibly loyal to me and my mission, I kept them around me, and those are the people who are currently on our team.”

His advice for young entrepreneurs?

“Two things. One is, if you have an idea, at least get feedback on it. Don’t just sit down and plan out an idea, because if you plan for too long you’ll either jinx yourself out of an idea or you’ll come up with way too many problems with it and you’ll never do it. Talk to your parents, friends and even strangers and come out to events like this. Feedback will help you determine if you want to pursue your idea or not.”

“The other thing is, make sure you have a podcast of some kind,” Goswami emphasized.

“If you want to network with people, especially across borders, you need to be able to interact with them upfront.”     

Goswami added an entrepreneur must have a knack for dealing with the unexpected.

“It’s like jumping off a cliff and figuring out how to build a glider on the way down. You have to appreciate chaos, being able to scramble, and if you’re not like that, if you need routine and structure in your life, you may not be ready for it,” he told reporters.

“For me, I wanted to do things differently, putting my own spin on things, and it was passion,” said Mandy Gilbert, founder of Creative Niche (established in 2002 for $8,000), a specialized recruitment firm which today earns more than $10 million in sales as a company, placing thousands of people into creative, digital, marketing, and advertising jobs across North America.

“It is a lot of stress, and we tend to be overly optimistic when we start our businesses, so you’ve got to have that passion and determination to get you through those hurdles and obstacles in life, and you’ve always got to reevaluate your business strategy, seeing what’s working and not working and making those tweaks in as timely a manner as possible to make sure your business model is successful and it attracts great talent.”

“People need to have what’s called a ‘Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal,’ a BHAG,” Gilbert grinned.

“If you have a conservative goal, it’s not really going to motivate you and you’re probably not going to do game changing work, but if you have a big, hairy, audacious goal and a painted picture of what your future business is going to look like, that’s going to get you motivated and your team along with you.”   

Gilbert was recognized by the United Nations as a Global Accelerator for starting up two international businesses, and also as one of Canada’s top female entrepreneurs.

“It was a real privilege, an honour. I was proud to be a part of that,” said Gilbert of being honoured by the UN.