The first-ever Dal Innovation Week has rapidly become a magnet for people with big ideas and a lot of hustle. This includes Dalhousie alumnus and Wind Mobile co-founder, Brice Scheschuk, who will be judging Thursday’s Demo Day pitch competition.
Born in Saskatchewan, Scheschuk arrived at Dalhousie in 1991 to pursue degree in finance and then headed to Toronto to work on Bay Street.
“In that era, business schools trained you for roles in finance, accounting, and marketing,” says Scheschuk. “So, I went from a traditional business school into a traditional job in corporate Canada.” After completing his Bachelor of Commerce degree with honours in 1994, he started his career with Coopers & Lybrand — now PwC — where he earned his CA (chartered accountant) designation.
Earning a life MBA
Despite this traditional career path, Scheschuk had an entrepreneurial mindset. While working at PwC, he co-founded his first company, an internet-based side-hustle, that turned into a full-time gig and rode the dotcom wave before crashing in 2001. “That’s when I earned my ‘life MBA’ by doing and failing,” he says.
Scheschuk returned to corporate Canada, but his entrepreneurial journey wasn’t over. A recruiter called and connected him with Anthony Lacavera, an ambitious telecom entrepreneur who wanted to partner with someone with finance expertise.
“We’d both had the entrepreneurship bug,” Scheschuk says. “After our initial tête-à-tête, Anthony and I are still working together, 21 years later.”
Their early venture started with offering niche telecom solutions. Whether it was long-distance calling cards or telephone-operator services to hotels, Scheschuk attributes the company’s early success to talking with customers. “The win for us in the entrepreneurial journey is building an understanding of the iterative nature of what you're doing, understanding the customer feedback loops, and understanding that failure is not a negative, it is part of our job description, to fail, stand up, fail again, and stand up a little higher."
Their big break came in 2007, when the Government of Canada sought to increase competition in the wireless market. Seizing the opportunity, they raised funds to acquire spectrum licenses and launched WIND Mobile. “We outhustled the telecom oligopolies at every turn,” says Scheschuk.
In 2016, they sold WIND to Shaw Communications for $1.6 billion. The deal was a big win, enabling them to launch Globalive Capital. Scheschuk continues to pursue his passion for entrepreneurship by mentoring founders and investing in startups.
Advice for student entrepreneurs
As a Dal Demo Day judge, Scheschuk advises up-and-coming entrepreneurs to demonstrate their hustle: “I want to see what actions they’ve taken. What market research have they done? How quickly are they moving through customer discovery? How close are they to launching a minimum viable product? I want to see the hustle.”
Scheschuk’s journey from student to entrepreneur and mentor highlights the power of learning from failure and giving back. His involvement in Dal Innovation Week not only nurtures the next generation of entrepreneurs but also strengthens his bond with Dalhousie. “Part of my job is finding great investment opportunities, but really, it’s about reconnecting with a community that means a lot to me,” he says.
A champion of Dalhousie’s innovation ecosystem, Scheschuk frequently leads sessions on the founder mindset and how to build a business, inspiring students in Dal Innovates programs like Lab2Market and Collide. Through MindFrame Connect, a mentorship initiative he co-founded, Scheschuk is improving the craft of mentorship and creating more resilient entrepreneurs. He is also an associate of the Creative Destruction Lab, inspiring a new generation of student entrepreneurs.
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