Dr. Sean Wise
Overview
Dr. Sean Wise (external link, opens in new window) is an expert on startups and venture capital. He uses this expertise in his various roles as a university professor, bestselling author, international business speaker, and partner at Ryerson Futures, a seed-stage venture capital fund and technology accelerator.
Dr. Wise has mentored hundreds of technology-focused startups, collectively raising more than $2.1 billion in capital. He studied economics and engineering at Carleton University, earned his MBA and Law degrees from the University of Ottawa, and received his PhD in Business from the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow. Dr. Wise has published five books and more than two dozen peer-reviewed research papers and case studies of high-growth startups.
Dr. Wise has been an entrepreneur himself since the age of 13. He has founded five startups to date, with his most recent selling for millions in July 2018.
Dr. Wise spent five seasons as a consultant for CBC (external link, opens in new window) on the mega-hit venture reality show Dragons' Den before moving in front of the camera as the host of the Naked Entrepreneur (external link, opens in new window) , which aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
In 2018, Dr. Wise became a featured weekly columnist for Inc.com. Since then, he has written more than 100 articles that more than 500,000 people have read. Dr. Wise is the Executive Director (and founder) of TMU's Startup School, which has delivered more than 60 free seminars, keynotes, and working sessions for entrepreneurs in Toronto over the past five years.
Dr. Wise has been called the Dr. Phil of Entrepreneurship, and in 2014, Startup Canada named him Entrepreneurial Mentor of the Year.
Entrepreneurship, Startups, and Venture Finance.
| Publications |
|---|
| Entrepreneurial ecosystems and the lifecycle of university business incubators: An integrative case study. (external link) Nicholls-Nixon, C.L., Valliere, D., Gedeon, S.A. & Wise, S. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal (2020). |
| Startup Opportunities: Know when to Quit your Day Job, Second Edition, S. Wise, B. Feld, Wiley, New York 2018 |
| The Antecedents of Entrepreneurial Success: A Mixed Methods Approach, J. Overall, S. Wise, Journal of Enterprising Culture 24 (03), 209-241 3 2016 |
| Dan Martell: Opportunity evaluation by a serial entrepreneur, S. Wise, P. Raffi, SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals 2016 |
| Entrepreneurship: John W. Sleeman – a Canadian icon, S. Wise, P. Raffi, SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals 2016 |
| An s-curve model of the start-up life cycle through the lens of customer development, J Overall, S. Wise, The Journal of Private Equity, 23-34 5 2015 |
| Startup Opportunities: Know when to Quit your Day Job, S. Wise, B. Feld, FG Press, oulder, CO 2015 |
| The impact on management experience on the performance of start-ups within accelerators, S. Wise, D. Valliere, The Journal of Private Equity, 2014 |
| Entrepreneurship, Canadian Edition, W.D. Bygrave, A. Zacharakis, S. Wise, Wiley, 2014 |
| Management Experience and the Performance of Accelerators, S. Wise, D. Valliere |
| Can a team have too much cohesion? The dark side to network density, S. Wise, European Management Journal 32 (5), 703-711 62 2014 |
| Debbie Travis, Reigning Queen Of Renovations: An Entrepreneurial Case Study On Finding Your Hedgehog, S. Wise, M. Crothers, Journal of Business Case Studies 10 (4), 363-370 2014 |
| Teaching the Business Plan Within the Entrepreneurship Program, K.A. Grant, S.A. Gedeon, S. Wise, P. Kim, 10th Knowledge Globalization Conference 2014 |
| A Comprehensive Framework for Entrepreneurship Education, D. Valliere, S.A. Gedeon, S. Wise, The Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship 26 (1), 89-120 21 2014 |
| Derek Szeto: RedFlagDeals.com A Case Study On When To Exit Your Successful Startup, S. Wise, M. Crothers, Journal of Business Case Studies 10 (2), 131-136, 2014 |
| What Young Entrepreneurs Get from their Mentors, S. Wise, D. Valliere, International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching 11 (2), 2013 |
| The Impact of Financial Literacy on New Venture Survival, S. Wise, International Journal of Business and Management 8 (23) 55 2013 |
| The impact of intragroup social network topology on group performance: understanding intra-organizational knowledge transfer through a social capital framework, S. Wise, University of Glasgow 1 2013 |
| Value co-creation through collective intelligence in the public sector: A review of US and European initiatives, S. Wise, R.A. Paton, T. Gegenhuber, Vine 42 (2), 251-276, 2012 |
| Books Authored |
| HOT or NOT: How to know if your Business Idea will Fly or Fail, Ryerson Entrepreneur Institute, 2011, Wise, Sean, 1 - 245 |
| How to be a Business Superhero: Prepare for Everything, Train with the Best, Make Your Own Destiny at Work, Wiley, 2008, Wise, Sean , 1 - 276 |
| Entrepreneurship. 4th Edition; Canadian Edition, Wiley, January 2015, Bygrave, W.; Zacharakis, A.; Wise, S., 1 - 456 |
| Startup Opportunities: Know When to Quit Your Day Job, FG Press, February 2015, Feld, Brad; Wise, Sean, 1 - 245 |
| Papers in Refereed Journals |
| Prior Relationships and M&A Exit Valuations: A Set-Theoretic Approach, The Journal of Private Equity, 2008, D Valliere, N Ni, S Wise, 60 - 72 |
| Value co-creation through collective intelligence in the public sector: A review of US and European initiatives, Vine , 2012, S Wise, RA Paton, T Gegenhuber, 251 - 276 |
| Derek Szeto: RedFlagDeals.com A Case Study On When To Exit Your Successful Startup, Journal of Business Case Studies, 2014, S Wise, M Crothers, 131 - 136 |
| What Young Entrepreneurs Get from their Mentors, International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching, December 2013, S Wise, D Valliere |
| The Impact of Financial Literacy on New Venture Survival, International Journal of Business and Management , 2014, S Wise |
| Can a team have too much cohesion? The dark side to network density , European Management Journal, 2014, S.Wise |
| What Young Entrepreneurs Get from their Mentors, European Mentoring Coaching Council, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTORING AND COACHING, 2013, Wise, Sean; Valliere, Dave |
| Year | Honour / Award |
|---|---|
| 2018-19 | Dean's Teaching Award, Ryerson University |
| 2019 | Visiting Scholar, Sydney School of Entrepreneurship |
| 2016 | National Ambassador for Startup Communities, Startup Canada |
| 2015 | Coller Visiting Scholar for Venture, Tel Aviv University |
| 2014 | Senior Award, Coller Institute of Venture, Tel Aviv University |
| 2014 | Entrepreneurial Mentor of the Year, Startup Canada |
| 2010 | Canada’s Top 40 under 40, Finalist |