About Experience Ventures
Experience Ventures, powered by the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking at the University of Calgary, enables college and university students to make an impact alongside real-world innovators through entrepreneurial thinking placements.
This program is delivered across 14 post-secondary institutions in Canada, with Conestoga College joining the network in 2024 and leading its implementation through the Conestoga Entrepreneurship Collective.
We believe entrepreneurial thinking isn’t limited to a personality type or a discipline or to entrepreneurs alone. It is an accessible set of skills that everyone can leverage to make an impact, big or small, in any career. The hallmarks of entrepreneurial thinking – creativity, resiliency and future vision – will be critical factors to ensuring Canada’s success today, and tomorrow. The initiative has benefits for both students and companies:
Become future ready
Students can hone the entrepreneurial and digital skills they’ll need in their careers. Participating companies benefit from fresh perspectives and insights, at no cost.
Make an impact
We are energizing new companies with the next generation of talent, and innovating across disciplines to amplify impact.
Build innovation networks
Companies can tap into more multi-dimensional innovation networks, and a diverse talent pool.
How does the Experience Ventures work?
- Students apply for an entrepreneurial thinking placement through Experience Ventures, with placements pre-designed and scoped in collaboration with host ventures.
- Companies provide in-kind support, such as time, space or expertise, and benefit from having students work on projects at no cost, while students receive an honorarium for their time through Experience Ventures.
- Both students and companies go through an onboarding process and participate in one of five types of entrepreneurial thinking placements. After they have completed the placement, both students and companies evaluate their experiences.
What is an entrepreneurial thinking placement?
An entrepreneurial thinking placement is a structured, short-term opportunity (with honorarium) with a startup or social venture that has partnered with Conestoga Entrepreneurship Collective. The goal is to empower students to develop and apply entrepreneurial thinking skills aimed at making them future ready.
Experience Ventures offers five types of entrepreneurial thinking placements:
- Hackathon or ideathon: A short-term event in which companies present students with real world challenges and ask them to provide innovative solutions.
- Sustainability Solutions Lab: Taking place over several weeks, these require students to build out more complete solutions to social, business, design or community challenges.
- Projects: Companies present students with a specific project, and we match it to talent from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds.
- Student-in-residence: Students selected in this placement receive unique opportunities to work with several companies over the course of a term.
- Interdisciplinary team projects: Teams of students from more than one discipline are created and provided with a project for a venture or group of ventures.
Entrepreneurial thinking placements build a bridge between today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges. Students experience innovation first-hand and learn how to apply its principles in their careers. Startups and social ventures can plan for the future knowing they have the right talent to power their growth.
What are entrepreneurial thinking skills?
Entrepreneurial thinking placements teach students five key entrepreneurial thinking skills and help them become future ready for careers in the innovation economy:
- Resiliency: Develop a growth mindset to persevere through challenges.
- Opportunity recognition: Reframe problems as opportunities for innovation.
- Action orientation: Accelerate learning through real-world feedback.
- Risk management: Develop strategies to manage ambiguity.
- Systems thinking and/or trans-disciplinary thinking: Design innovative solutions across traditional boundaries.
We believe entrepreneurial thinking isn’t limited to a personality type or a discipline, or to entrepreneurs alone. It is an accessible set of skills that everyone can leverage to make an impact, big or small, in any career.
Contact
Connect with Experience Ventures at Conestoga College to learn more about available placements and discuss opportunities for partnership and collaboration.
