Skip to main content

The Globe and Mail's Report on Small Business hosted a Young Entrepreneurs Night in October at Vancouver's historic Railway Club. Scroll through the following gallery to see photos and to learn more about the entrepreneurs who attended the event. For video, click on the related links below. Photos by Katherine Scarrow for The Globe and Mail.

Open this photo in gallery:

Dozens of young Vancouver-based entrepreneurs gathered for a night of food, drinks and networking, sponsored by The Globe and Mail's Report on Small Business

1 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

The event took place on Oct. 3, 2012, at the historic Railway Club, which first opened its doors in 1931

2 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

Entrepreneurs in attendance came from various industries, including arts & crafts, social gaming, education, environmental and digital marketing

3 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

Claire Madill, founder of heyday design, was a student at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Her porcelain jars were featured on The Marilyn Denis Show

4 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

Report on Small Business editor Sean Stanleigh speaks with Paul Lambert, founder of Learndot (formerly Matygo), a learning software company

5 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

Guests, included Jamie Garratt of Ideal Rebel (in black) mix and mingle over a table of refreshments

6 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

Michael Lee is the founder of Panda Games Manufacturing. He started the company in 2008 after noticing a major resurgence in the popularity of board games

7 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

The Globe and Mail and Marie Hunt, our bartender at The Railway Club, sent the extra to the Aboriginal Friendship Centre Support Shelter. CLICK NEXT TO VIEW PROFILES OF THE ENTREPRENEURS

8 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

MATT MICKIEWICZ. Company: 99designs // Founded: 2008 // Business in a nutshell: marketplace for graphic design services such as logos // Motto: get stuff done // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: take the first step, no matter how small it is.

9 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

ERIN IRELAND. Company: To Die For Fine Foods // Founded: 2011 // Business in a nutshell: Rooted in the belief that dessert should be 'to die for,' my sweet & salty, super moist, hand-made banana bread is worth the splurge // Motto: It's the little things that count. Go the extra mile for as many people as possible and success will come // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Ignore the textbooks and trust your gut. The only way to learn is by doing.

10 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

PAUL LAMBERT. Company: Learndot // Founded: 2010 // Business in a nutshell: We are the world's first cloud platform for corporate universities. We help businesses deliver learning content to onboard employees, educate partners, or get customers up to speed – and provide detailed tracking and analytics to correlate learning with business metrics // Motto: People first – get team right and everything else will follow // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: A PhD is better preparation for being an entrepreneur than an MBA - be a researcher, not a manager.

11 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

JORDAN GUTIERREZ. Company: Librerialeo.com.mx // Founded: 2009 // Business in a nutshell: We sell any piece of medical book or medical equipment to doctors in the developing world. Or Amazon for doctors in the developing world // Motto: "Don't focus on making money, focus on solving a problem" // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Be flexible with your ideas, don't be scared to fail, MVP is your best friend.

12 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

LISA VON STURMER. Company: Growing City // Founded: 2009 // Business in a nutshell: Growing City's composting and recycling programs make it easy to reduce your waste by up to 50% - overnight! // Motto: Turn fears into opportunities - then you can live free // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Find a few heroes, study them and follow their paths (you don't always have to reinvent the wheel!).  Ask every entrepreneur you admire what their favourite books are (and why) and then read them.  Have a detailed vision of what your company will look like in the future (the dream version of your company), write it down and reflect on it regularly.  Stay positive, roll with the punches and keep on going!

13 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

CLAIRE MADILL. Company: heyday design // Founded: 2008 // Business in a nutshell: Modern porcelain with a vintage beat // Motto: More of an inner rhythm of:  'go-go-go-GO-GO-GO-GO-GO!' // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: fFind some entrepreneur-friends in your field that can act as mentors when you have questions, want advice, or maybe just a sympathetic shoulder to cry on :)

14 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

J. JOLY. Company: CineCoup Media Inc. // Founded: 2012 // Business in a nutshell: Disrupting the way $1-5 Million independent feature films are packaged, marketed and financed // Motto: Be brave! // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: You need to be 100% committed for long hours, little pay and high chance of failure. If any of this sounds unpleasant then you are not ready to be an entrepreneur.

15 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

JESSE HEASLIP. Company: BirdBet // Founded: 2012 // Business in a nutshell: Analyze Twitter feeds of NFL Players to help predict team performance and outcomes // Motto: Hustle hard // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: It will be the most rewarding and terrifying experience of you life.

16 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

KANAKO HEINRICHS. Company: Queensberry Flower Company Inc. // Founded: 2009 // Business in a nutshell: A chain of Tokyo-style flower shops located at SkyTrain stations in Downtown Vancouver, specializing in cute floral creations and wedding & event flowers. // Motto: Your personal motto when it comes to entrepreneurship: Always consider mistakes as the great opportunity to learn and grow // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Do what you love.  Do it because you love it so much, not just because you think there's an opportunity to make money.

17 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

JAMIE GARRATT. Company: Idea Rebel // Founded: 2008 // Business in a nutshell: Idea Rebel is a Digital Marketing Agency that specialized in creative solutions for brands on Web, Social, and Mobile platforms // Motto: The sky is the limit // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Start organically, grow organically and focus on your core competencies

18 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

MICHAEL LEE. Company: Panda Game Manufacturing // Founded: 2007, incorporated in 2008 // Business in a nutshell: Overseas manufacturing services for board game publishers // Motto: the best salesperson is a happy customer // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Test out your business ideas on the smallest scale possible. Take action, analyze, and repeat!

19 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

JOELINE HACKMAN. Company: Tingle.com // Founded: 2010 // Business in a nutshell: The way dating should be - compatibility and proximity to meet or block people - all in your pocket // Motto: Listen to your market and adapt quickly. Build loyalty by responding to what your clients want before your competitors have even scheduled a meeting to discuss it // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Build an advisory board. Collaborate with experts. Give something back to them. You'll be surprised how helpful it is to discuss components of your business with people who aren't within millimetres of day-to-day operations, and what networks and opportunities become available as a result.

20 of 21
Open this photo in gallery:

TEANG TANG. Company: Mingle Event Management Inc. // Founded: 2008 (Currently in transition) // Business in a nutshell: We provide sustainable event planning solutions. The event industry is the 2nd most wasteful industry in the world. We work with clients to reduce the impact of the environmental footprint or their event // Motto: "Don't waste your time living someone else's life" which is a summary of a motto from Steve Jobs that I have on my wall... // Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Be passionate about what you are doing. You will eat sleep and breathe your business, so you better love it.

21 of 21

Interact with The Globe