How a business hackathon full of surprises sparked big ideas for Vraj Dudhat
By Anders J. Svensson
Experience Ventures placement brings students together to pitch real-world solutions
Vraj Dudhat is a second-year computer science student at the University of Calgary with a strong interest in blending technical expertise with real-world business skills. When he spotted a LinkedIn post about an upcoming entrepreneurial thinking placement, he didn’t hesitate.
“It was a 48-hour program taking place in Vancouver, and I’m currently in Calgary. So I thought, why not be a part of this program?”
After applying and being selected, Dudhat travelled to Vancouver to participate in a business hackathon organized in cooperation with Simon Fraser University — which belongs to the Experience Ventures partner network — and SFU VentureLabs.
Experience Ventures is powered by the Hunter Hub of Entrepreneurial Thinking at the University of Calgary and funded by the Government of Canada. The program’s goal is to enable college and university students to practice entrepreneurial thinking alongside real-world innovators.
Innovators like the hackathon’s host, Kurt Kolb. He’s the founder of Perpetual Motion Patents — a patent agency that files design and utility patents for inventions — and his clients are typically small startups.
“That’s why we’re well-connected to SFU VentureLabs and now Experience Ventures,” Kolb says. “Perhaps they’ve been growing for a while and have some innovation, but they’re looking for some sort of growth and they’ve got ideas. They need to figure out: is it worth patenting? Is this important to my strategy to grow?”
The workshops Perpetual Motion Patents facilitates for those clients are what inspired the hackathon.
“The idea was to see how university students would react and how next-generation entrepreneurs think,” Kolb explains.
Dudhat’s approach to entrepreneurial thinking is rooted in confidence and altruism.
“Having the courage to bring myself forward and say that I have the capacity to bring a solution that’s going to ease the troubles of other people.”
The students were divided into teams of six or seven, with one team to a table. Each team was tasked with inventing a product idea and workshopping it through all of the different types of IP — trademarks, brand names, visual identities, and user interfaces.
“We chose a randomized product space: virtual reality with dry cleaning,” Kolb says with a grin. “That was intentional, instead of doing something dry that’s been done a thousand times.”
“That caught everybody off guard,” Dudhat says. “The topic was a bit mind-boggling. We didn’t know how we were going to build a brand around that, much less integrate it with virtual reality.”
But his team didn’t waste any time getting started.
“I tend to thrive in intense environments. We brainstormed. We created a brand logo, came up with ideas for how virtual reality could integrate with dry cleaning. How it could help people globally.”
The students had eight hours for their initial education and ideation, before working out their IP elements — all ramping up to a mock presentation with an investor.
“Having a mentor like Kurt was fantastic,” Dudhat says. “If there was anything we weren’t confident about — especially around patents — we could ask him. He had so much knowledge and created an environment where we could debate and learn.”
“I really enjoyed the energy,” Kolb says. “Seeing everyone brainstorming and coming up with different ways of working. Some people really amazed me with their slick presentation style. They used Figma to storyboard and even built user interfaces for the virtual laundromat.”
But Kolb had one more surprise in store.
“The final deliverable was that you had to sue each other.”
The teams had been given prop currency at the beginning of the hackathon. The faux legal battle is where it came into play.
“If we lost, we had to pay,” Dudhat explains. “If we won, they paid us. We sued Team 2 but lost because our patent was dated after theirs. We made great points and debated hard, but we lost because we didn’t realize they had the earlier patent.”
Asked whether he would repeat his role as an Experience Ventures partner, Kolb doesn’t hesitate.
“I would do this again,” he says. “I love applying something practical to the theoretical. I’d like to see more universities do this on a broader scale.”
Kolb wanted the students to leave knowing that they ideate on anything — and that they all have a role to play when teamed together.
“At the end, they were all taking photos together. People were exchanging numbers, forming groups. I hope some of those friendships last.”
For Dudhat, the hackathon experience has inspired him to consider business classes to augment his computer science focus. He also encourages other students to look outside of their classrooms for learning opportunities.
“I’ve already referred this program to my friends. These experiences elevate your skills and help you grow. Even if you have to travel across the country like I did, it’s worth it.”