Innovation breeds success two years running

by Joel Barde

Mike Tan, a 24-year-old UVic graduate, was awarded $10,000 by UVic’s Innovation and Development Corporation’s (IDC) annual entrepreneurial competition on Sept. 19.

The IDC Challenge, which is open to anyone attending a post-secondary institute on Vancouver Island, was created to encourage students to explore their business ideas.

Competition manager Kirsten Vliet said students are full of brilliant business ideas, yet they rarely put them into action after graduation, due in large part to the debt associated with a degree. By combing three seminars, hooking each team up with mentors and giving away over $23,000 in financing, IDC has created a way for students to move on their ideas.

“It’s like correspondence: they give you a little bit of framework to do it, but it’s up to you to keep pushing,” said Tan, who has won the competition two years in a row.

This year he worked with Nikolas Laufer-Edel on an online content management system marketed towards amateur sports teams. The project, called Team Pages, is still “really, really rough,” but when completed, it will give teams the opportunity to post stats, photos, news and player profiles on their own website.

“Think of it as MySpace or Facebook for sports teams,” said Tan.

ESPN has recently launched eteamz, a similar product with big-name backers such as Lance Armstrong.

Yet Tan is far from intimidated by the sports-entertainment giant’s product.

“It’s MySpace 20 years ago,” he said. “There is huge room to move in.”

While Tan’s 2005 winning venture never panned out (the prize money was invested into his consulting firm), he is committed to Team Pages’ success. Currently, he is working alongside two website designers (his original partner, Laufer-Edel, moved away for a student exchange) to finish a prototype.

“It’s gonna happen.... Right now we’re bootstrapping it,” said Tan. “We are just pouring sweat equity into it, working on the weekends, trying to get this together.”

Tan’s entrepreneurial prowess was forged long before he won the IDC Challenge, entered UVic’s bachelor of commerce program or set up an Indonesian Sauté stand on Government Street. His first business in “Grade 2 or 3” was started in his Catholic school days in Ottawa.

“I was riffling through the Sears catalogue and all of the sudden I stumbled over the lingerie section,” he said. “So, what I did is: I ripped it out, went to all my neighbours, ripped out all their lingerie sections, went to school the next [day] and sold them for like three bucks apiece.”

Tan has recently given notice to his full-time employer, Advanced Economic Research System, in order to pursue the Team Pages project, a move that his parents question. Tan sees the risk involved with Team Pages as part of the journey.

Tan said he realizes he will “make a lot of mistakes, but in the end it’s going to be something that’s mine.... I can be really happy making no money doing this, as long as teams are seeing the value.”

2006-10-05 Volume 60 No. 9
Download latest CUPcast Advanced search We're Hiring! Contact Us Unarchived Issues Advertising Rates Statement of Purpose Submission Guidelines Writing/Style Resources		Innovation breeds success two years running by Joel Barde Mike Tan, a 24-year-old UVic graduate, was awarded $10,000 by UVic’s Innovation and Development Corporation’s (IDC) annual entrepreneurial competition on Sept. 19. The IDC Challenge, which is open to anyone attending a post-secondary institute on Vancouver Island, was created to encourage students to explore their business ideas. Competition manager Kirsten Vliet said students are full of brilliant business ideas, yet they rarely put them into action after graduation, due in large part to the debt associated with a degree. By combing three seminars, hooking each team up with mentors and giving away over $23,000 in financing, IDC has created a way for students to move on their ideas. “It’s like correspondence: they give you a little bit of framework to do it, but it’s up to you to keep pushing,” said Tan, who has won the competition two years in a row. This year he worked with Nikolas Laufer-Edel on an online content management system marketed towards amateur sports teams. The project, called Team Pages, is still “really, really rough,” but when completed, it will give teams the opportunity to post stats, photos, news and player profiles on their own website. “Think of it as MySpace or Facebook for sports teams,” said Tan. ESPN has recently launched eteamz, a similar product with big-name backers such as Lance Armstrong. Yet Tan is far from intimidated by the sports-entertainment giant’s product. “It’s MySpace 20 years ago,” he said. “There is huge room to move in.” While Tan’s 2005 winning venture never panned out (the prize money was invested into his consulting firm), he is committed to Team Pages’ success. Currently, he is working alongside two website designers (his original partner, Laufer-Edel, moved away for a student exchange) to finish a prototype. “It’s gonna happen.... Right now we’re bootstrapping it,” said Tan. “We are just pouring sweat equity into it, working on the weekends, trying to get this together.” Tan’s entrepreneurial prowess was forged long before he won the IDC Challenge, entered UVic’s bachelor of commerce program or set up an Indonesian Sauté stand on Government Street. His first business in “Grade 2 or 3” was started in his Catholic school days in Ottawa. “I was riffling through the Sears catalogue and all of the sudden I stumbled over the lingerie section,” he said. “So, what I did is: I ripped it out, went to all my neighbours, ripped out all their lingerie sections, went to school the next [day] and sold them for like three bucks apiece.” Tan has recently given notice to his full-time employer, Advanced Economic Research System, in order to pursue the Team Pages project, a move that his parents question. Tan sees the risk involved with Team Pages as part of the journey. Tan said he realizes he will “make a lot of mistakes, but in the end it’s going to be something that’s mine.... I can be really happy making no money doing this, as long as teams are seeing the value.”