KuzoClass Entrepreneurship Fellow — Stories: Michael McGovern

Michael McGovern

Age: 19

Profession: Student

Hometown: Toronto, Canada

University: University of Waterloo

Fun Fact: Poker player

Michael McGovern, a graduate of Upper Canada College in Ontario, Canada, discovered a love for chess during the 10th grade. He’s read countless books on strategy games and has even sought mentorship from a chess coach. On the role chess has played in his life, McGovern explains, “Chess tremendously improved my problem-solving skills and I feel that it has helped me a great deal in academics.”

McGovern’s passion for chess and specifically its technical aspects aroused his interest in Computer Science, and he decided to pursue Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, an Ontario based university. During his first year, he pursued No-Limit Poker and ultimately joined the University of Waterloo Poker club to participate in the tournaments. On asking about his takeaways from playing strategy games, he replied, “Poker and chess have taught me a great deal about controlling emotions and not making poor decisions based on emotions.”

For his first co-op at University, Michael interned for ‘Environment and Climate Change Canada’ as a Web Developer. Most students don’t diversify their co-op experiences; instead they opt to return to the same industry year after year. Still, Michael has different plans, “I want to get a taste of all the opportunities out there before I ultimately decide my career path.” Michael aspires to intern as an instructional support assistant for a CS course at his university and is considering a Ph.D. to become a professor down the road.

An aspiring investor, Michael considers his dad, a hedge fund manager, as his mentor. Michael is planning to read “The Little Book That Still Beats The Market”, a book on investing, written by ​Joel Greenblatt​.

McGovern’s approach towards life is to maintain composure and not to rush to acting on your emotions which also resonates with his peers. McGovern says, “I can’t tell you how many times I have lost at chess and poker games, but it was followed by me beating my opponents with the same strategies to which I lost. Learning from your failures is extremely important.”

Interested in joining the KuzoClass Entrepreneurship Accelerator? Join the waitlist today at www.kuzoclass.com or email john@kuzoclass.com with your LinkedIn and a few sentences on why you’re passionate about entrepreneurship.