People who start companies are by definition leaders. It takes a strong character with courage to put their personal vision out in the marketplace. The risks are high – but so are the rewards. People from all walks of life embrace the entrepreneurship journey. Many have never considered doing anything else but working for themselves. Some however come to entrepreneurship through a series of experiences that pave the way.
Michael Rychlewski, MBA '23, is the latter type of founder.
His early career in provincial government provided a lot of interest and intellectual challenge. He dealt with crisis communications, logistics, and advising senior government leaders. Eventually, Rychlewski outgrew the support role and decided he wanted to be the one leading the charge.
He decided a solid business education would allow him to hone his leadership skills and make the jump to the private sector. His next step was getting an MBA at the Ivey Business School. At the time, the idea of being a corporate consultant appealed.
His first introduction to the world of entrepreneurship occurred in the second month of the MBA program. It was in the form of a bootcamp taught by Ash Singh, HBA ’04, and hosted by the Morrissette Institute of Entrepreneurship. Singh made an impression on Rychlewski by saying, “Governments don’t create jobs – entrepreneurs do." It was a blunt statement to digest - especially for a former government employee! Rychlewski thought it over and realized its truth.
Canadians enjoy a high standard of living because of ambitious people who took a chance to create businesses from scratch in everything from agriculture, manufacturing, and mining, to retail and construction. Every enterprise starts with one person having an idea and the guts to follow it through. The seed was planted.
An MBA trip to Silicon Valley in San Francisco proved transformational for Rychlewski in every sense. Great Ivey insider connections gave the group inside access to key players in the Valley. The group met with Canadians who had come to Silicon Valley either to commercialize and scale up their companies or find their dream job in tech. Rychlewski became incredibly inspired and committed by what he saw.
Like most big cities, Silicon Valley is not all technicolour glory. There is a darker and bleaker side. Rychlewski and his friends took a walking tour of the Tenderloin district. This downtown area is a stark and eye-opening contrast to the shiny success of the “valley”. All of them were profoundly moved by what they saw - people who were not merely “left behind” but never really had a fair chance in the first place.
The MBAs met local community leader Del Seymour, the street-wise founder of Code Tenderloin, a non-profit that aims to give disadvantaged people a fresh start by offering job-readiness training and coding boot camps. Code Tenderloin gives access to basic computer literacy and software experts volunteer to teach basic and advanced coding to anyone interested. The chance to make a better life suddenly becomes achievable.
The incongruence of seeing the cream de la cream of tech companies against the reality of the raw streets where people were barely surviving made a huge impact on Rychlewski. The inclination to use your own talents and ambition and use technology were common elements no matter which side of the economic curtain you happened to be on. Rychlewski saw a lot of possibilities to change a lot of things.
You could change lives and not only your own life but provide employment and a future for others.
Rychlewski came back to Canada with a plan. He joined the New Venture Project an Ivey condensed entrepreneurial course. There he learned how to create, research, and pitch business ideas to investors. Despite - or because - of the intense program demands, Rychlewski became captivated with entrepreneurship. He started working on his Entrepreneurship Certificate through the Morrissette Institute. Rychlewski teamed up with a fellow MBA, Devang Seth, MBA '23, who shared his passion for creating enterprises and added expertise within the areas of social impact, strategy, stakeholder engagement, and external affairs.
The more I learned about entrepreneurship – the more I said this is what I’m going to do. I left consulting in the dust!
The next step was entering the Western Accelerator. Rychlewski credits the importance of being in a collaborative group of other fledgling entrepreneurs. He notes, “it is a great support group, you can bounce ideas off others who are sharing the same struggle as you and going through similar ups and downs with their ventures.”
MentorFi.ai
Rychlewski and Seth bounced around various ideas for their own venture and landed on a concept that really resonated with both of them– mentorship and the human connection at work. MentorFi.ai (originally titled Nock.ai) is researching how AI technology can foster mentorship within large organizations which have a hierarchical structure and a hybrid or remote workforce. Research shows, while people do appreciate the democratic nature of hybrid work situations, they report a disconnect in personal development and a lack of connection to their colleagues personally and professionally.
Real mentorship is particularly difficult within a hybrid work setup. Rychlewski knows from experience mentorship is fundamental at all career stages. Companies continue to lose talent due to disengagement from employees both remote and in-house and it reflects on their bottom line. MentorFi.ai’s goal is to empower employees through mentorship so they can reach their personal and professional goals and allow them to navigate through the future labour market.
On the question of what makes an entrepreneur and whether anyone can become one, Rychlewski is pragmatic. Education allows you to sharpen the sword of your leadership character. But at some stage, an entrepreneur must take a leap of faith. To loosen the bowlines and set sail as Rychlewski notes, takes a certain amount of courage. You will need “realistic” resilience to weather the inevitable day-to-day struggle. A founder needs the mental strength to be completely energized and 100% focused to sell your idea to investors or partners – it’s crucial to the pitch to be super sharp on your numbers and every aspect of your company.
Rychlewski cautions the need to be strategic in networking. The tendency for many founders is to say yes to absolutely every coffee meeting or networking event. Chasing them all will not advance your cause. Ditto on taking advice. “Your Mum is always going to tell you your business is great because she’s proud of you,” said Rychlewski.
But too much advice can blur your thinking and muddy the waters. Rychlewski says it is critical to take objective advice from people who understand your business and understand you.
“You need 100% commitment to your venture – you can do one thing well or do two things – not so well.”
You can be certain that Rychlewski will be running MentorFi.ai very well indeed.