TYE Vancover Business Plan Competition

Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, SFU

The TiE Young Entrepreneurs (TYE) Program is an initiative spearheaded by TiE Vancouver President Vik Khanna and passionately Co-Chaired by Amit Sandhu & Rattan Bagga. In September 2011, TiE Vancouver embarked on a journey with our first TYE cohort at KPMG Offices in Burnaby and Fasken Martineau Offices in Downtown Vancouver. The aim of the TYE Vancouver program was to empower our youth not only to become the next generation of entrepreneurs but to become the next generation of business and community leaders. Our vision was to empower our youth by engaging them through quality educational programs that included instruction and mentoring designed to develop business acumen and communication skills, discover the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship and instill confidence to lead in a global environment.

In our first meeting, we had an opportunity to shatter the myths surrounding business ownership and entrepreneurship. Through an energetic panel discussion about the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship, successful entrepreneurs and TiE Charter Members shared their personal stories and inspired the students. From this first session our students went on to learn about business essentials such as Finance, Marketing, Sales, Business Law, Business Models, Presentation Skills, Leadership and Team Building. Each class in the eight-week curriculum consisted of an instructional workshop and was followed by an inspirational guest speaker.

Since January of this year, the students have been working diligently on developing business plans for ideas that they are personally passionate about. The culmination of their efforts will bring them to the TYE Vancouver Grand Finale where they will present their ideas to a distinguished panel of leaders from our Vancouver business community. The TYE Vancouver winners will be flown to Atlanta in April and will have a chance to network and compete with student teams from around the world. The TYE Global winners will take home $25,000 in prizes.

Keynote Speaker

Rahim Fazal
Founder of Involver

Guests of the TYE Vancouver Business Plan Competition will also hear from Keynote Speaker Rahim Fazal, Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of Involver. Rahim, who is originally from Burnaby, is a young entrepreneur based in San Francisco with an inspirational story. Among his many achievements, he was recently recognized by Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list, “America’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs”. In 2011, Rahim Fazal and his company Involver.com were recognized at the White House as one of the top 100 companies by revenue that are run by young entrepreneurs in the United States. His White House address and pledge to support young entrepreneurs can be viewed here.

TYE Vancouver will become an annual program and students wishing to participate will have an opportunity to apply for the September 2012 cohort shortly after the event.

For more information on registration please contact us at 2012@tyevancouver.com