Experience Ventures Program

Experience Ventures offers five types of entrepreneurial thinking placements. Some involve students working on individual projects, while others are team efforts. Each placement involves actual companies, and a project students actively focus on.

Individual Opportunities

• Project: An opportunity to work with a company. VentureLabs helps to match a student to a specific project proposed by a company. Each Project is 80 hours in duration.
• Student-in-Residence: An opportunity to work with the VentureLabs team as we support and work with our member companies on specific projects. The placement is 80 hours in total.

Team Opportunities

• Non-Technical Hackathon: Students compete as a team to tackle a real-world challenge a partner venture faces and offer potential solutions. Each student contributes 16 hours.
• Challenge: A challenge is put forward by a partner venture for students working in a team to build a more complete solution. Each student contributes 40 hours.
• Interdisciplinary Project: Students collaborate in a team with members from a variety of programs in close partnership with a sponsoring venture to complete a defined project (this is effectively a team-based version of the “Project” placement). Each student contributes 80 hours.

Placements are intended to be part-time commitments, with the understanding that students are in school taking classes with multiple priorities outside the placement.

1. Apply to participate in the Experience Ventures short-term entrepreneurial thinking placement.
   
   • Students apply for an entrepreneurial thinking placement facilitated by VentureLabs
   • Companies apply after identifying opportunities within their organization for students to gain meaningful short-term placements by working on a project
2. SFU VentureLabs matches students based on their skills and aptitudes to businesses offering opportunities:
   • Students get the chance to review the details of their potential placement
   • Companies get a curated match to evaluate for cost-free work on their project
3. If accepted, students and companies undergo an onboarding process before the placement begins.
4. Students engage with the company during the placement and experience an entrepreneurial environment first-hand.
5. Companies provide in-kind support, such as time or expertise, and receive the benefit of having students contribute to projects at no cost.
6. At the end of the short placement, students are paid by Experience Ventures through SFU. Students and companies are also asked to complete a quick evaluation.

Placements are intended to be a part-time commitment, with the understanding that students are in school taking classes with multiple priorities outside the placement.

Individual Opportunities

• Project: 80 hours in total, part-time, at a schedule determined between the company and the student.
• Student-in-Residence: 80 hours in total, at a schedule determined between VentureLabs and the student.

Team Opportunities

• Non-Technical Hackathon: A total of 16 hours for each student over a few days (specific dates will be announced).
• Challenge: 40 hours total, part-time, for each student, at a schedule determined between the company and the student team.
• Interdisciplinary Project: 80 hours in total, part-time, for each student, on a schedule determined between the company and the student team.

Experience Ventures is actively recruiting both students and ventures to participate.

• For Individual Opportunities the program runs from September 2022 to March 2023 or until all positions are filled. After receiving an application to participate, VentureLabs will reach out if there is an opportunity to match.
• For Team Opportunities, specific opportunities will be announced between September 2022 and March 2023.