On October 11th, 2023, in a jam-packed venue of students and faculty, the Faculty of Business and Management (FBM) hosted Mr. Stuart Henrickson, who gave an impassioned lecture titled “The Building of University-based Global Entrepreneurship Ecosystem.”

Mr. Henrickson presenting his lecture

Mr. Henrickson is the Chairman of Red Leaf Capital, a hybrid venture capital and management consulting firm, and also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of North Forge, one of Canada’s largest technology incubators. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts (ICFA) in the U.S., and is an experienced business professional in the fields of financial investment and corporate management. Also present as a speaker was Mr. Shane Li, CEO and President of Red Leaf Capital, and adjunct professor at UIC.

Prof. Ng introducing Mr. Henrickson and Mr. Li

The guest lecture began with Prof. Adolf Ng, Acting Dean of FBM, delivering opening remarks and welcoming Mr. Henrickson and Mr. Li. Following the introduction, Mr. Henrickson described the deserted entrepreneurial ecosystem in Manitoba many years ago, where a lack of infrastructure prevented small companies from scaling, or even thinking about scaling. In building up Red Leaf Capital, Mr. Henrickson and Mr. Li set up a venture capitalist fund, helping create a framework for these businesses to “expand their horizons.”

An overcrowded room of students and faculty eagerly listening

Continuing with the lecture, Mr. Henrickson described the areas of interest that venture capitalists look for in start-ups. This includes the business’ ability to attack market pain points, its competitive advantages, its ability to scale and, the culture of its team, and its financial management.

Mr. Henrickson then summarized that an aligned entrepreneurial ecosystem, starting with university support, and further involving corporate support, culture change, and government support, was key for more successful ideas to emerge and succeed. Mr. Henrickson described that such a “university-based global entrepreneurship ecosystem” should provide guidance, mentorship, and resources for students to work on their ideas, attracting venture capitalists who enjoy seeing a processed infrastructure behind the intentions of the youth.

Mr. Li interacting with a student during the Q&A session

In the second half of Mr. Henrickson’s presentation, he described the key configurations of the university-based ecosystem, which involves both “internal” and “external” support. The internal support would include entrepreneurial education to develop students’ entrepreneurial mindsets, an entrepreneurial center to help turn their ideas into businesses, and a tech transfer office to bridge the gap between academic research and industry. The external support was referred to as the incubators, accelerators, and venture capitalists that invest in these companies to get them off the ground and running.

Mr. Henrickson concluded his lecture by reminding the audience why an effective entrepreneurship infrastructure matters - it stimulates economic growth, innovates, creates jobs, and connects our globe once the effects are realized. For the next 25 minutes, Mr. Henrickson and Mr. Li took turns responding to the questions of an eager audience, which was concluded with an ovation from students and faculty, symbolizing an hour of learning well spent.

Here are the slides: