For entrepreneurial students who want to be their own boss, Trailblazing is a virtual entrepreneurship program that provides funding to start your own business. Get paid to work on your future career while gaining invaluable connections, and free entrepreneurial supports.
This hybrid program utilizes Leanstack, the Business Model Canvas, and Lean methodologies to coach student entrepreneurs through their entrepreneurial journey to turn their idea into a business. Student teams receive milestone payments for completing key components of the program and to build their business.
Over the course of two semesters, students cover topics such as: the Lean Canvas, market research, customer discovery, unique value proposition, start-up financials, pitch delivery, and more! Students meet weekly with their cohort to work through these modules together, building a collaborative team environment. Throughout the program, experts are invited to cohort sessions to provide expertise and to help build a strong network of resources for our student entrepreneurs
Cohort Fall 2022 – Spring 2023
What do I need to apply?
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An elevator pitch. Follow the guide on this page to help craft your elevator pitch. This pitch can be submitted via video or written text.
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Participant information.
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Your tentative availability for the Fall semester. Weekly cohort meetings will be scheduled based on participant availability. Once availabilities are submitted, we will organize a time for everyone to meet. Please submit your tentative availability for the Fall 2022 semester. We understand there can be a lot of uncertainty, but please provide us with your best guess (ex. Monday evenings, Thursday mornings, Friday afternoons, etc.). (Cohort meetings and workshops are typically 1.5 hours long.)
Used to create interest in a project, an idea, or a product; an elevator pitch should be a quick synopsis of your idea so that it can be conveyed in 60 seconds or less.
You can use these resources to help you develop your elevator pitch:
*You can use either format to create your pitch.
To submit your elevator pitch you can either:
Write out your elevator pitch. There will be a space where you can copy and paste your elevator pitch in the application.
Record your elevator pitch. You can also choose to record your elevator pitch, upload it to YouTube, and paste the link in the application. Use the following links to help upload your video.
You’ll need to identify the sector you are most interested in pursuing.
For-Profit Business: This is a business with the goal of making money by selling a service or product to customers. Ex. Wal-Mart, Amazon
Non-Profit / Charity: Non-profit organizations aim to provide society's needs. The company's income is never to be distributed to any owners but is to be recycled back into the non-profit corporation's public benefit mission and activities. Ex. Red Cross, World Wildlife Fund
Social Enterprise: A business that has specific social objectives. They seek to maximize profits while maximizing benefits to society and the environment. Their profits are principally used to fund social programs. Ex. Ten Trees, TOMS
Grass Roots Project: This is a movement or organization that uses collective action from a local level to effect change. Ex. Black Lives Matter Movement, Earth Day Initiatives
Applications are open!
Applications Due: Friday, September 23rd
Meeting Times: Meeting times will be scheduled at a time that is most convenient for cohort members and will be determined closer to the program start date. You will be asked about your availability in the application.
Program Components
Money
Guaranteed $1,100
Course Credit
Through an Applied Study
Mentorship & Access to Local Business Advisors
1 – 1 Coaching
Professional Development
Gain skills that will help with career development.
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem & Networking
Connect with the local entrepreneurial ecosystem through RINSA
MyExperience Certification & Experiential Learning
The program will be featured on your Experiential Learning Transcript & you will receive a certificate upon completion.
Where will my idea take me?
For-Profit Business
This is a business with the goal of making money by selling a service or product to customers.
Ex. Walmart, Amazon
Non-Profit / Charity
Non-profit organizations aim to provide society's needs. The company's income is never to be distributed to any owners but is to be recycled back into the non-profit corporation's public benefit mission and activities.
Ex. Red Cross, WWF
Social Enterprise
A business that has specific social objectives. They seek to maximize profits while maximizing benefits to society and the environment. Their profits are principally used to fund social programs.
Ex. Ten Trees, TOMS
Grass Roots Project
This is a movement or organization that uses collective action from a local level to effect change.
Ex. Black Lives Matter Movement, Earth Day Initiatives
Program and Milestone Breakdown
Seed Funding
Funding to kick-start your business idea.
Course Credit (Optional)
Earn course credit by setting up an Applied Study.
Business Coaching
Mentorship to support you through your entrepreneurial journey.
Professional Development
Skills to support career development.
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem & Networking
Connect with the local ecosystem, build your network, and utilize supports through the Regional Innovation Network of Southern Alberta.
MyExperience Certification
Trailblazing will be featured in My Experience, our Work Integrated Learning portal, and you will receive a certificate upon completion.
Program Commitment
Weekly Meetings
Set bi-weekly cohort meetings.
1-1 bi-weekly mentorship meetings.
Average Time Commitment
4 – 5 hours/week to complete learning
LEANSTACK Foundation’s Playbook completion upon acceptance
After acceptance into the cohort, students must complete the LEANSTACK Foundation’s Playbook (provided) before the first cohort meeting.
Milestone Completion
All components of each milestone must be completed before being awarded money and moving on to the following milestone. All milestones must be completed in order to receive the full amount of program winnings.
Team
A key component of a start-up is having a strong team to help carry-out the vision of the entrepreneur(s). Whether you start the program with a team or bring in a team member at milestone 11, you will be asked to find at least one team member to help execute your idea.
Frequently Asked Questions
No entrepreneurial or business knowledge is needed to be part of the program. Entrepreneurial skills will be developed throughout the course of the program.
This program is for all University of Lethbridge students of:
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All majors;
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All levels (undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, post-doctoral);
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Both Lethbridge and Calgary campus;
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Full-time or Part-time status.
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Alumni (up to 5 years after graduation)
No. This program is completely virtual and help entirely online through the LEANSTACK, Zoom, and MyExperience platforms.
Turn your ideas into action.
Humans of ULETH
Humans of ULeth creates a strong community by sharing stories of the students, staff, and faculty at UofL. Humans of ULeth also hosts events on campus that allow people of UofL to have a tangible connection with each other.
Humans of ULeth is modeled after Humans of New York, a photojournalism project started by Brandon Stanton where he interviewed strangers and published their stories online. These candid stories about life resonated with readers and the “Humans of _____” movement has since spread to other cities and institutions around the world. Combining my passion for storytelling and community-building, I got the idea in early October to start a Humans of ULeth. After consulting with Humans of UCalgary for advice and resources on starting such a project, I started conducting interviews and officially started posting stories on October 22, 2018.
Student involved:
Richard Lee Thai
Up 'Nd Coming
Up Nd Coming is a social media marketing and content creation company dedicated to highlighting entrepreneurs, local businesses and creators. It is a platform that highlights Up Nd Coming people and businesses in order to help gain exposure through social media and digital collaboration. Up Nd Coming has created a community of talented, driven, and underrated brands and people.
We saw lots of our friends and peers doing amazing things and working on great ideas but did not have affordable or adequate support in order to gain exposure and social media presence. We took our passion for social media and content creation to give these entrepreneurs a place to thrive and show off their brands.
Students Involved
McKenna Layne
Tobi Dada
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/Upndcoming_/
Website
https://upndcoming.com
Roots of Growth
The project initiative is to plant a tree for l children affected by residential schools. The goal is to honor and promote growth and bring peace to the missing children and families affected. Join the U of L in recognizing the lives lost and survivors of Residential Schools in Southern Alberta. This student-led initiative aims to bring our community together to heal and reconcile. Four trees are being planted across campus in honour of the resilience and strength of First Nations people and all affected by Residential schools. This is something that should have been done long ago because there is no reconciliation without truth. This day is to bring peace and growth in a new direction and to initiate bridging a cultural gap in our community.
I don’t think we will ever heal from this but it’s about how we are going to move forward.
Aysha Partington and Cierra Ross
Students Involved
Aysha Partington
Cierra Ross
Galt Museum Project
Escape! Internment in Canada, 1914–1920
In my project with Agility, I created digital models of First World War internment camp escape tools that can be created into 3D printed models and augmented reality (AR) displays. This project which was done in partnership via applied study with the Galt Museum and Archives allows the museum to teach education programs about the internment camps more effectively by using the models to create 3D objects and realistic displays for students to interact and learn with. Additionally, this same technology is being applied to exhibits on First World War internment camps at the Galt Museum to help bring a more physical element to exhibit settings for the public. Projects like this are part of a growing innovation to include 3D and AR technology into education and is revolutionizing the way we look at historical education.
I made this project to help improve our ability to tell the story of First World War internment in Canada, an often overlooked and untold chapter of Canadian history. Additionally, I was inspired by my Ukrainian heritage to tell the story of an event that impacted many Ukrainian-Canadians in the First World War.
Ben Weistra
Students Involved
Ben Weistra
Veras
We use our phones to log-in to our banks, why not use them to vote? Veras' mission is to empower people to make informed decisions and enable them to vote on their phone from anywhere. Our goal is to advance and protect the future of democracy by connecting the people to the government and the government to the people.
The idea started when CEO Peter Hurd-Watler was talking to Veras' freelance graphic designer Divine Okonkwo when Divine said "You know, I really don’t trust the elections in Africa where I’m from. They use flimsy pieces of paper and I just don’t trust it at all." To which Peter replied "They do the same thing here in Canada except with fancier pieces of paper!"
Students Involved
Peter Hurd-Watler
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/verasblockchain
Website
https://veras.ca/