重口味SM

Eva Lau, co founder of Two Small Fish Ventures, says universities key to Toronto's growth in tech

U of T alumna is among the members of the U of T community speaking at this year's Collision conference
""

Eva Lau, pictured here speaking U of T's at True Blue Impact Day, will speak about the importance of diversity in entrepreneurial mentorship at a special session on June 28 (photo by Polina Teif)

As one of the entrepreneurs on the front lines of , Eva Lau says the 重口味SM will play a critical role in keeping the city on the cutting edge by fostering the next generation of innovators.

鈥淚鈥檝e been in this ecosystem long enough to see how it has matured,鈥 says Lau, managing director and co-founder of , which invests in early-stage tech companies and has backed successes such as SkipTheDishes, Sheertex and U of T drug discovery startup BenchSci.

 鈥淎nd I have to give credit to the universities.鈥

An alumna of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Lau is among 鈥 a list that includes  Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton, known as 鈥渢he Godfather of AI,鈥 who has garnered global attention for sounding the alarm about the existential risks of the technology he helped developed.

, Lau 鈥 who was formerly the head of community at online storytelling platform Wattpad 鈥 will talk about the positive impact that diverse mentors can have on founders as they go through the accelerator and incubator experience.

She recently spoke to U of T News about the benefits of diverse mentorship and how U of T鈥檚 emphasis on entrepreneurship has bolstered Toronto鈥檚 startup scene.


How does having diverse mentors help founders and startups grow?

Mentorship is something that a lot of founders may take for granted. They鈥檒l say, 鈥淚 need someone who understands this space.鈥 If they鈥檙e building financial products, they鈥檒l look for someone in the financial sector, for example.

But if we continue to iterate in a domain, we will always get incremental improvements of existing products. Disruption actually happens when people put their minds together and think outside the box. You need to surround yourself with people who think differently from you, who bring different perspectives.

Mentorship is more than getting advice about how to follow other people鈥檚 paths to success. It鈥檚 about building your own DNA, looking at things from a 360-degree perspective and making use of the advice around you so that you can chart your own path to build a product that works for everyone.

How did your education at U of T Engineering help you as an entrepreneur?

When I was at U of T, I studied industrial engineering. One of the subjects that intrigued me most was human factors 鈥 the product-human interface, designing products that suit human needs.

Addressing human issues is what innovation should be all about. When you design a product, you need to understand how humans will interact with it, because that鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to drive user adoption.

That was a real eye-opener for me. It鈥檚 not enough to create something that solves a problem for people. You have to think about how people are going to use your product to solve that problem. I鈥檓 not only the creator; I鈥檓 creating a solution for an actual person.

How have you seen Toronto鈥檚 startup scene evolve and where do you see it heading?

I鈥檝e been in this ecosystem long enough to see how it has matured. And I have to give credit to the universities. Back when I was at U of T, entrepreneurship was barely mentioned. Nowadays, entrepreneurship is a building block of education.

At U of T, there鈥檚 the at the Rotman School of Management, the at U of T Engineering .

That seed of entrepreneurship gets planted very early on, right after high school. And in the past couple of decades, we鈥檝e seen more and more tech companies founded in Canada 鈥 Shopify, Wattpad, Wealthsimple and many others. That鈥檚 inspiring a lot more young people to follow suit.

We鈥檙e also seeing more budding entrepreneurs get first-hand experience working at companies as part of their education. For example, the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering has the , where students can earn up to 20 months of work experience before they graduate. That鈥檚 a game-changer.

That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e seeing the maturity of the startup ecosystem. Our young generation is no longer limited to learning from textbooks, professors and parents. They can get a diversity of mentorship during their formative years.

What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs at U of T, particularly women or people from diverse backgrounds?

Absolutely reach out to our amazing alumni network. And don鈥檛 limit yourself to alumni from your faculty. Reach out to alumni from the engineering school, or perhaps in philosophy, or physics, or history or business. Bring in different experiences to create your own recipe for success.

What will you be keeping an eye out for at the Collision?

I am so keen to listen to Geoffrey Hinton and other U of T co-founders . I鈥檓 absolutely a believer that AI is going to bring so much more productivity improvement 鈥 or even disruption 鈥 to our ecosystem.

Certainly, there are concerns around AI. But the history of technology shows that innovation always creates some friction in the beginning, but the long-term gains are beneficial to everyone.

I want to hear from the people who are at the forefront of AI, and as importantly, see how their messages are received. How is the crowd reacting to what these influencers are saying? Because that鈥檚 a good temperature check.

 

 

The Bulletin Brief logo

Subscribe to The Bulletin Brief

UTC