NSPIRE PRESENTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP 101

>> Entrepreneurship, it's a state-of-mind.

Entrepreneurs come from all walks of life and are typically interested in generating profit, creating an impact and attaining success in their respective industry. Throughout the past few decades, entrepreneurship has helped drive industry to new heights and introduced consumers to what are now indispensable goods and services.

Now it’s your turn. Want to leverage your academic studies and use them to make money? Think you are ambitious, bold and have what it takes to make it big in industry? Nspire encourages you to join us and learn more about how Entrepreneurship is more than just running a business, it’s a state-of-mind.

Our accomplished speaker panel will provide you with invaluable insights on what it takes to successfully start and run a business. They will share the secrets to successfully competing and collaborating in entrepreneurial initiatives, whether it is for a class, competitions, or even your career. Come out and learn on how to capitalize on innovations and succeed as an entrepreneur. This is one event not to be missed!

The speaker panel :

Ray Cao, Co-Founder & CEO at EightyTwenty Group, Board Member of Impact Entrepreneurship Group
Steven Lightstone, President, Corner Office Leads

Chris Lane, Director of COMPASS Leadership Inc. 

• Location: Hart House Music Room
• Address: 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 3H3
• Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010 6-8pm
• Web: nbtc.ca (conference) | nspire.ca (organization)
• Contact: info@nbtc.ca

Speakers

Steven Lightstone, President, Corner Office Leads

Steve has been involved in Sales and Marketing for over 25 years helping organizations including IBM, SAP, Microsoft, CGI, Oracle and Peat Marwick.

Steve is President of marketing services firm Corner Office Leads which he founded in 2002.

Steve has been profiled as a “Thought Leader” by the Funnelholic and his methodologies has been the subject of articles in MarketingSherpa and MarketingProfs.

Steve is involved with Canada’s young entrepreneurial community advising three start-up companies and Epic Conferences (www.epictech.org). At gatherings like the University of Waterloo’s Velocity 101 Conference he speaks about entrepreneurship, business start-ups, and sales & marketing. Steve is involved with the University of Waterloo’s Enterprise Co-op program and is a mentor to over a dozen aspiring young entrepreneurs. He welcomes young people to meet with him one-on-one.

Steve earned his Honours Bachelor of Mathematics, Computer Science and Business at the University of Waterloo and currently represents Math Alumni on the University’s Alumni Council.

Ray Cao, President, Co-Founder and CEO of EightyTwenty Group

Ray Cao is the Co-Founder and CEO of EightyTwenty Group. Ray is responsible for the vision and strategy behind EightyTwenty’s business.

Previously, Ray was the President of the Impact Entrepreneurship Group, Canada’s largest youth-run entrepreneurship organization. He was instrumental in the founding of three satellite offices in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. Under his leadership, Ray also launched Global Entrepreneurship Week Canada, the Impact Leadership Summit, and Impact Consulting.

Ray is currently a board member for the Impact Entrepreneurship Group. He recently received the Top 40 Under 40 award for his accomplishments with Impact.

Ray played an instrumental role in the growth of Polar Mobile, a North American leader in providing end-to-end mobile solutions. He has also experienced life as a trader on Wall Street at Barclays Capital and a Management Consultant at Deloitte Consulting but quickly realized that it was a lot more fun building companies.

Ray holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Chris Lane, Director of COMPASS Leadership Inc. 

Chris Lane has spent 24 years working in the electrical industry.
Initially at Schneider Electric, a global equipment manufacturer, he spent thirteen years in Sales, Marketing and Training roles.
As lead instructor for the company's High Performance Selling program and the Presentation Skills programs, Chris explained and championed the concepts of strategic selling and delivering effective presentations.
Chris wrote an internal business case proposing the formation of a training business which won corporate approval.
During the following four years he delivered on the targets proposed in that case, building an industry-leading training organization.

Running his own consulting business, COMPASS Leadership, Chris has continued to deliver value for his clients in the electrical industry.
He has hired students and graduates into consulting roles for over ten years.

In his Nspire discussion, Chris will focus on how to present your idea or product so that others will buy it.

Participating Organizations and Companies

Hart House Investment Club

Certified General Accountants

Certified Management Accountants

Cognition LLP

>> Nspire is proud to present the 2010 National Business and Technology Conference to be held this March in Toronto.