On this week’s show, we spoke with Renjie Butalid, Associate Director @ McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship. Renjie Butalid is an award-winning entrepreneur whose work lies at the intersection of technology startups, social innovation, and cross-sector civic engagement. In his current role, he oversees the Centre’s entrepreneurship and mentorship programs including the McGill Lean Startup Program, the McGill Dobson Cup and the McGill X-1 Accelerator.
Prior to joining McGill, Renjie was Head of Global Expansion for the NYC-based startup NextDayBetter, a global storytelling platform for diaspora communities. Renjie led the growth of NextDayBetter’s presence from 2 cities in 2013, to 9 cities across 4 countries in 2015. Previously, Renjie was also Director of Ventures at Igniter, a digital and social innovation agency.
In 2012, Renjie was named top 40 Under 40 by the Waterloo Region Record. In 2013, Renjie was named a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum. He is also a member of the Banff Forum.
We spoke about:
- His path from entrepreneur to leading one of the most important entrepreneurship programs
- Dobson Centre’s impact so far: 125 active startups, 2.6K McGill entrepreneurs trained and $100M raised by their startups to date
- Why he’s excited about the future of entrepreneurship
- The Dobson Centre’s four core programs
- The plans for the $2M they recently raised
Renjie is soft-spoken and super smart. I didn’t know the depth and breadth of the Dobson Centre’s activities. I hope you enjoy show.
Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at nectar@thepnr.com
