I became an engineer because I wanted to improve the social systems that affect us all. Although health care has provided me with great opportunities to positively impact lives, I always felt constricted on how much I can do in the public health care setting, particularly as an employee of a public health care provider in Ontario.
I want to use my full potential to positively impact society by tackling the issues related to sustainability, health, energy, the environment, lifestyle and youth mentorship and careers. I see disruptive innovation through new ventures implementing new technology and methods in agriculture, health care and other traditional industries as a effective way to improve our society by creating a more sustainable future and creating new jobs.
Why did I attend the Boot-camp?
Agriculture is an area undeserved by disruptive innovation. It is plagued by issues of sustainability, environmental impact, fair trade and has potential to create many jobs with disruptive technology. I had some ideas of disruptive technologies and methods that could be introduced in my local climate and globally, but no idea how to get started.
That is when I learned about the MIT Global Entrepreneurship Boot-camp focused on sustainability, transparency and health of food. I learned of the successes of past Boot-campers, the knowledge and network of the Mentors, Lecturers, Organizers and Attendees. I became convinced that I should attend because it will help me achieve my dream of founding a venture, with like minded individuals who are equally passionate about new ventures, disruptive innovation and social impact!
After a series of video interviews and screenings, I was one of a fortunate 44 accepted into the program, from 17 different countries. I took out a loan and borrowed from family to attend the bootcamp in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The costs included flight to and from, accommodations and the bootcamp ($6000 USD for just the bootcamp!!).
What Happened at the Bootcamp?
In preparation for the Bootcamp, all the attendees had to complete 3 courses on entrepreneurship from MIT, available online on edX, and read three books. The focus of the boot-camp was to use the framework developed by Bill Aulet in his book Disciplined Entrepaneruship, which walks us through 24 steps to successfully launch a startup.
We had Mentors from former boot-campers, to MIT professors, and founders of startups to coach us through the entire process of building a team, understanding our problem and customer, developing a solution, testing, and pitching to a VC.
My team was composed of Canadians, Taiwanese, and Thai members from a diverse background such as Engineering, Biotech, Law, Biology, and Education. Our focus was on empowering small-hold farmers (particularly in South East and South Asia) to increase their crop yields and profitability so their families could continue to farm the land. We came up with a solution to give them access to modern farming equipment so they could use modern techniques that could boost their production by over 40% without any upfront costs.
We spent 5 days, working almost 24-7 to derive our product and prepare for our pitch on Demo day. Our team and I, went to the producers and farmers in Taiwan and Thailand to gather insights on the problems faced by them. We understood their pain points and found the most suitable equipment to help them significantly while allowing the business to be sustainable. We created a very strong value proposition and business model that could be cash-flow positive in just over a year, scalable (across regions and countries) and significantly beneficial to ensure farmers can continue their business.
At the end of the Boot-camp, we had the opportunity to pitch to judges such as PinTang Chang (CEO of Heysong Corporation) and Eric Sun (Bits X Bites).
Takeaways
I was proud of what my team accomplished and how hard we worked. We have put together a product that is sustainable and can positively impact the lives of thousands of farmers around the world.
I also learned about a lot about myself. Confirmed what my strengths are and what I need to continue to work on. The most important thing I learned about myself is that I do have a lot of the skills required to start a new venture, and I have my work experience and education to thank for that.
I am confident in my skills and have a great network of fellow Boot-campers, Boot-camp alumni, Mentors, Coaches, Founders and the MIT network who I can reach out to in order to seek guidance, build teams, and gain mentorship. I also know I have a lot to contribute back to this great network, and look forward to doing my utmost to serve our society.
I hope you will consider donating to my cause, or would consider reaching out to me to see how I could help you. And please come by shortly to see my blog post on the MIT Bootcamp experience!
We received extensive media coverage in through our partners the Hao-Shi foundation. Here is more and more. Thank you to the MIT Bootcamps team, the Hao-Shin foundation, our Mentors, Judges, Coaches, and MIT Bootcamp Alumni for making this experience possible!