As a student, I was convinced I would build a career in buy-side finance and venture capital (VC). I was a passionate entrepreneur but thought I would invest in startups, as opposed to building one.
Therefore, I chose to attend McGill because it is a reputed institution which ranks as Canada’s top university and a leader in finance education. I owe a lot to McGill. I am fortunate to have studied at the best university in the country and to have graduated without debt, thanks to part-time jobs as a teaching assistant and in research labs.
After graduating, I joined a hedge fund in Boston that was led by a McGill alum. In 2018, after spending a few years at early-stage startups and building companies, I became an entrepreneur in residence (EIR) at a top VC fund where the Head of Growth Equity was also a McGill alum who I met at a Bay Area alumni event.
While I was working as an EIR, I built MaintainX with two fellow Canadians. An idea that started as a casual conversation over a dinner in San Francisco became a world leading mobile-first workflow management platform for industrial and frontline workers. Today, we are improving operational efficiency for 2,000+ businesses including Univar, Quikrete, ABInBev, Duracell, Marriott and McDonalds.
We've raised $54 million USD in venture capital following a recent Series B funding round led by Bessemer Ventures, August Capital, Amity Ventures, Ridge Ventures as well as the founders of UiPath and Thumbtack.
McGill’s international reputation and global alumni network have been valuable throughout my career – whether I was raising capital, recruiting for roles at MaintainX (whose fastest growing office is in Montreal!), building connections, or pinging a fellow alum for business insights.
My advice to today’s students who may want to follow a similar path is to first gain experience at a fast-growth company. Find a startup that is scaling up and cut your teeth there first. You will have the opportunity to learn how to build a business, take ownership, have a real impact, experience a huge learning curve and gain exposure to fast-paced decision-making strategies. This will equip you to take on a broader leadership role, potentially at an even earlier stage company and/or equip you to build your own.