Fellow Profile — Charlie S. Herrera

University: Johns Hopkins University

Major: International Economics

Startup: Figure 1

City: Toronto

Hometown: Montréal

What does your startup do?

Figure 1 is an online platform where healthcare professionals share medical cases with a global medical community.

Describe a typical day at your startup: (role, day-to-day)

The connecting thread in my day-to-day is helping to manage and facilitate the communication among the different parts of the business. On some days that means tracking the work being done by our developers and looping in stakeholders on the state of our product. On others, it means lending a hand to a project by coding something, conducting an interview, or scheduling a meeting.

What do you love about working at a startup? (What are the benefits of working at a startup?)

Working in a startup will force you to think creatively about how you work and it will teach you to embrace uncertainty. You’ll work with people that have a similar appetite for risk, and in the process you’ll learn if as a team you have what it takes to compete in a global economy.

Where did you work in the past?

Banks, a provincial political party, think tanks, consultancies, the government of Costa Rica, universities, a resource center. Some operational roles and a lot of writing.

What’s a social issue that you are particularly passionate about?

I am passionate about economic freedom. My intuition tells me that, in a free society, economic growth is generally the best way to reduce poverty and social inequality.

What is your spirit animal and why?

I like to think that I am clever and cunning like a fox but in reality I am probably just persistently annoying like a gadfly.

What’s your favorite book?

What are some of my favorite books, in no particular order? Glad you asked! The Prince, INCERTO, Beyond Good and Evil, Quiet, The Consolations of Philosophy, The Social Animal, The Selfish Gene, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me), The Lean Startup, The Republic

If you could tell your third year university student self one piece of advice, it would be to….

Talk less, listen more. Build things. Seek out meritocracies. Work with innovators. Steal like an artist. Ignore experts that don’t have skin in the game. Start a business. Mine Bitcoins.

What attracted you to apply to Venture for Canada?

First and foremost, I love entrepreneurship. VFC offered a great opportunity to access Toronto’s startup ecosystem. Additionally, I am strong believer in the power of networks. The VFC network was extremely attractive, the board alone is stacked with some incredible talent.

What is the best part of being a Venture for Canada Fellow?

The community. The VFC fellows are givers by nature. They are extremely supportive of each other. Fellows do not compete against each other but rather cooperate and share resources to ensure that every fellow that is placed can be an A+ player. As a VFC fellow you are also given a front seat to some fascinating talks and an extensive network of innovators.

What do you hope to accomplish in your career?

I don’t like the term career. I’ll leave that to the lawyers and consultants. I want to grow to be a better leader, a wiser thinker and a more empathetic person.

Why should someone apply to Venture for Canada?

If you have a passion for entrepreneurship and a lot of grit the program will give you an opportunity to find your purpose. The VFC partner startups are building our economic future, that is a tremendous challenge. If you are young, creative and capable you have a duty to help shape that future.