JUNE 2023 ISSUE 5
THE ROCKIES' REPORT
A Note From Heather Marshall Welcome to The Rockies' Report, a quarterly newsletter providing Site updates to the community that fuels our work at CDL-Rockies.
The CDL-Rockies community is ever-evolving. However, over the past six years, the commitment to supporting ventures, accelerating their commercial potential and creating a positive economic impact has been unwavering.
In 2017, a group of visionary leaders saw CDL as an opportunity to leverage Alberta's entrepreneurial spirit to create greater impact. One of those leaders was Dr. Jim Dewald, Dean of the Haskayne School of Business. As Jim’s term as Dean concludes on June 30, we asked him to share his reflections on CDL-Rockies.
Jim Dewald: First, I want to acknowledge the Jim group of people who helped bring CDL to Calgary: Chen Fong, Elizabeth Cannon, Michael Robinson and Alice Reimer. Without them, we may not be having this conversation today. When I learned about CDL in 2015 after meeting with Ajay [Agrawal, the founder of Creative Destruction Lab], the concept was very exciting to me. Calgary had a number of incubators at the time, but CDL stood out because it was a program that people could follow, all based on a no-fee model. It would allow us to build a marketplace with no cost of entry. That sounded like a great idea.
It was also a time when Calgary needed to start thinking about an economic shift. CDL offered investors interested in technology, but unsure where to start, a way to support innovation with less risk and more guidance.
Photo by Kelly Hofer.
Heather Marshall: Marshall: When CDL-Rockies launched in 2017, what were your hopes for the program?
Jim Dewald at a CDL-Rockies session.
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