This years LiON’S LAIR countdown is on! We are five weeks away from our 2018 Gala on THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27th. To kick off the countdown, we are featuring 5 iF clients and past LiON’S LAIR contestants in our Client Spotlight. In this week’s spotlight, we caught up with QReserve to ask about their personal experience with LiON’S LAIR, as well as how their business has grown since they participated in the competition.
To purchase your tickets to this year’s Gala, click HERE!
What was the experience like doing Lion’s Lair?
Lion’s Lair was a ton of fun and a great opportunity to bring our business, QReserve, into the local spotlight. The business development components were great assisting our focus on what we, QReserve, should be doing. Lion’s Lair was a busy time, but it was all useful and directly benefited our business by forcing ourselves to come up with answers to tough questions and really drive at what QReserve’s value proposition should be.
What advice would you give to the top ten finalists?
Work hard on your pitch – not only to communicate your company effectively, but also to help understand your company to offer ways to better yourself. In preparation, prepare answers for the hardest, most blunt questions you can imagine. You don’t have to have the perfect solution for every question but being prepared will make it less stressful in the moment giving your pitch.
Also don’t be afraid to give strong answers; you only have one chance to make an impression at Lion’s Lair and holding back will not benefit you or your company.
What have you been doing since Lion’s Lair? Any updates?
Since Lion’s Lair in 2015, QReserve has grown to a 6-person company with clients around the world, including major universities, hospitals, and government facilities. We are continuing to expand our business with expansions into non-research focused verticals such as businesses and communities. QReserve’s mission is to promote and facilitate #OpenResources across Canada and around the world, from your home, to your business, to cutting-edge research facilities. We are in the middle of raising our first seed-round and are excited to continue our rapid growth into 2019.
What was your favourite or most memorable part of participating in Lion’s Lair?
So much of Lion’s Lair training has stuck with me as I’ve grown as an entrepreneur. One of the most standout memories though was when we visited The Spectator for media training. This was such a unique opportunity where we learned interesting tips like the proper way to stand when being interviewed on camera and how to contact a reporter. I also really enjoyed spending time with other entrepreneurs travelling on a similar journey to me.
What did you learn that you would not have learnt if you had not participated in Lion’s Lair?
The media training was memorable, as was the confidence injection that performing a 25-minute pitch and Q&A session in-front of successful business people on camera provided. Since Lion’s Lair, experiences like that have been rare yet character building.
How has iF and Lion’s Lair helped you on your journey?
Each component of Lion’s Lair builds skills that are foundational for entrepreneurs. Experience developing a business plan, developing multiple pitches of different lengths, experience delivering those pitches in unique and stressful environments, and talking about your business to a wide variety of people. All of these have been foundational and because of the magnitude of the Lion’s Lair process, subsequent pitches and interviews have always been just a little bit easier.
