The Founder Institute
Or How It Helped Me Stand Up To A Bully: Depression
1 year and a half ago (it almost feels like it was in another life), I was diagnosed with a severe depression. I never even thought that could be possible. I had everything I needed. Amazing girlfriend, very comfortable salary, brand new condo, great car… But that was my body cringing, telling me that I had to find my way. My body and I, we were not happy. I thought I was, but obviously, I thought wrong!
Mind you, I have wonderful friends and a very loving & supporting family. I think that also helped me get through this rough patch. But what really saved me, is my passion for entrepreneurship (and some pills!). But joking aside, I’ve always had this burning desire to start something. You know, to build it with your own two hands. Working in construction for 12 years didn’t satisfy that “building” desire, obviously. So in February 2014, I quit my manager position at a local floor sanding business and started reflecting on my life.
I thought many many times before, about having my own company. Being my own boss. Something I could build from the ground up. That dream business. But where do you start? Who do you talk to? How do you get access to mentors? How can you spend money building a business when you‘re not making any? What is that first step you have to take? That’s when I started researching “how to become an entrepreneur”. I found out about the Founder Institute and their first ever Cohort in Montreal, let alone in Canada.
The Founder Institute looked like a challenging program, but the model had been proven in many other cities around the world (across six continents and 100+ cities to be exact). It looked very well structured, had guidelines, a huge network of mentors and many companies already graduated and got to be successful (1,550 companies launched with a 87.5% survival rate since October 2013). What was I waiting for?
One morning, I took a chance and applied for the program. After all, I needed to make something happen. I had faith that I would eventually find my way, even if it was not with the FI.
I got through step 1 (the application) and was selected for a weird, very long and challenging test. It’s an online questionnaire, that you complete from home, to measure your skills and character traits in a very precise way (and most likely your QI… so I must be very smart! :). I completed it, sent it back and a couple days later, I was selected to be part of the first ever cohort in Canada. I was thrilled!
To keep this post short, I won’t go through all the challenging weekly assignments, the sleepless nights, the special assignments, the business pitches, the mentors’ constructive but brutal feedback, the struggle to be clear and concise about the business idea… But I’ll tell you this: I’ve never been happier in my entire life. My girlfriend and I broke up, I moved back to my mom’s, sold my car and bought a smaller and cheaper one (it’s still a very sexy Mazda3 though ;).
Some people would’ve been destroyed by the above;
“You‘re unemployed? Your 4 years girlfriend broke up with you? Moved back to your mom’s at 32 years old? C’mon man, there’s noooo way you can be happy!”.
But I was… I still had a car after all ;)
For some reasons that were unrelated to my health issues at that time, I had to quit the program midway to re-enroll the following year. That was in 2014.
Now, fast forward to today, June 30th, 2015. We’re 14 short-days away from graduating from the FI’s second Montreal Cohort. I’m top 3 in this cohort, we opened our first office at Notman House, I work at least 80 hours per week and I love coming to work every . single . morning .
Nukern will be the most trusted billing software for web hosts around the world and I have an amazing team who’s helping me build that vision of Nukern. We raised more than $250,000 in funds to help us grow the company, we have signed letters of intent from web hosts all around the world for over $450,000 in value, we got interviewed by Tuts+, we’re part of the Zone Montreal Inc… and I’m still living at my mom’s (Love you Mom!).
Don’t worry about me, I’ll find another amazing girlfriend. We’ll make babies and build our very own happily ever after. But in the meantime, I’ve never been happier. I know I’m doing what I was meant to do. Even if Nukern was to fail in a couple years from now, I know what I want to do with my life. And for that, I have to thank my passion and the Founder Institute. Because of this program, I was awakened to the real world of entrepreneurship.
A special thank goes to my beautiful, amazing, supporting & loving mother and sister (interior designer — shameless plug — I know, I know!). I love you, women of my life. Another special thanks to Sergio Escobar, co-director of the FI Montreal Chapter. If you’re in the startup world, you need to meet this amazing man. He’s traveling all around the world, helping startups be the best version of themselves. He’s gonna push you hard, but it’s always with the best intentions. If you’re struggling with something, you can always reach out, he’s got your back!
I never thought I’d have that much to share with you, but I hope this post inspired you in some ways or another. If you’re thinking about starting your own business, if you’re questioning whether you’re really doing what you were meant to do, take that first step and look around.
I’ve been hinting at it throughout this post, but for clarity, I’ll just come out and say it; Founder Institute is the best thing that ever happened to me.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I’ve been out of this depression for more than a year now. If you’re finding yourself in the same shoes as I was, talk about it, it’s the best thing you could possibly do :)
Philippe Rivard is the Founder & CEO of Nukern Inc., a cloud billing software for web hosts. You can reach him at phil [at] nukern.com.
