From chemistry to telecom

Last Wednesday’s Entrepreneurship 101 lecture featured David Neale, Senior Vice President of Telus, talking about going from a chemist to a telecom executive responsible for new technologies across the  spectrum from wireline to wireless to apps.

Many people trained as lab rats ultimately go on to careers that are (seemingly) unrelated to their science background. What is it about scientific training that allows it to be a base upon which to go practically anywhere? (Particularly training as a chemist, says the former chemist.) Is it the discipline of the scientific method that brings comparable discipline to making business decisions? Is it the openness to new ideas that research training exposes us to that positions us well to be receptive to new technologies, new business models? Or are chemists just naturally clever?

Downloads and Resources

• Class Summary: Building a Business Model
• Webcast: David Neale’s “Lived It” Lecture
• Join the Facebook Group: CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101

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