BComm Spotlight

Asper BComm student Anthony Theriault carefully organizes his busy schedule so that he has enough time to help fellow students with their own.

He prefers to group his management classes into late-morning blocks, leaving time to study, hit the gym, and dedicate hours to his entrepreneurial ventures. UM students may have spotted Theriault in UMSU University Centre, discussing a soon-to-be-launched app called eleven59.

An idea conceived with fellow Asper students Todd de Groot and Hazel Nguyen, eleven59 is an AI-driven calendar tool designed for students by students.

Is eleven59 your first venture? When did your entrepreneurial journey begin?

AT: “Technically everything started with magic. I’m a magician, and my first entrepreneurial experience came from being a performer and doing shows around the city.

“I was really passionate about collecting playing cards because magicians use all sorts of cards, but some were really hard to get in Canada. I thought, there’s got to be a better way, so I started my own playing card shop, Kingdom Cards.”

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Theriault has taken this entrepreneurial spirit into his Asper degree, connecting with de Groot and Nguyen in their Introduction to Entrepreneurship class, where they first devised the idea for eleven59 before taking it to the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship and engaging with the Start Up Coach program.

Could you talk a bit about taking eleven59 from an idea in class to the 2024 Stu Clark New Venture Championships and now to tabling throughout UM?

AT: “I remember seeing the 2023 Stu Clark New Venture Championships advertised online very early in my first year, and I saw it and thought, ‘I don’t have a new idea… how would I ever be able to do that?’’ And yet, the next year, we were there competing. That has a lot to do with the Stu Clark Centre because if you have any idea—big or small— they are there to help take it to the next level, whatever that means for you.

“They are there to ask, ‘how can we make this an even better idea?’”

“So much has changed in under a year with eleven59. The app is actively in development with ACE Project Space at Red River, and Todd, Hazel, and I are getting feedback from UM students with our on-campus booth.

“At our booth, we want to start by making a connection and learning about what students want and need from an app like ours. It’s not about getting someone to stand there for our spiel; everything starts with a conversation.”

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Theriault emphasizes that collaborative entrepreneurship is all about the people with whom you work and consult. At their booth, they invite all feedback, determined to surround themselves with thoughtful, curious, even skeptical, perspectives, rather than with only ‘yes.’

What makes this team of Asper students work so well together?

AT: “Of course we all bring important skills to the table—Todd knows his numbers and is very good at financials and strategy, and Hazel is really good at getting work done and crafting our B2B approach.

“So, there’s obviously those tangible skills, but I think more of it also comes down to dedication. Ben Isakov [Startup Coach], from the Stu Clark Centre really instilled in me that good people can be taught skills, but it’s not easy to find someone that has the right dedication or motivations.

“With our team, we’re just so motivated to support each other and to help students.”

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With eleven59, Theriault, de Groote, and Nguyen have embraced innovation driven by a desire to respond to needs, drawing from their own experience as students to guide their creativity. It’s this kind of entrepreneurship that lives at the Stu Clark Centre and the Asper School of Business.

For aspiring entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, the Asper School of Business offers a unique Entrepreneurship and Innovation major. Learn more about infusing your Bachelor of Commerce with an entrepreneurial mindset and read more about our programs here.

Emily Wilson