Mentor Corner: Meet David Weekes
Mentor Corner is a monthly feature highlighting the incredible contributions made by our mentor network to our venture community.
At entrepreneurship@UBC, we are privileged to work with a pool of 250+ mentors across the Vancouver and BC innovation ecosystem who invest their time, expertise and insights into growing the early-stage ventures of tomorrow. From entrepreneurial leadership development to scaling venture creation, our mentor network is fundamental to what we do here and we are excited to introduce you to them in our monthly feature, Mentor Corner!
Meet David Weekes.
David Weekes is the Business Innovation Manager at UBC's Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute. He moved to Vancouver from the UK in 2011, mostly to ski in the mountains, but also to do a PhD in chemistry at UBC. Since then, he has taken on various roles where his aim is to bridge the gap between scientific research and the private sector, both through strategic partnerships and new venture creation. David's passion lies in helping scientists rethink how they tell the story of their research, which is often the most important first step when considering starting a company. At UBC’s Quantum Matter Institute, where researchers work on everything from clean energy materials, to next generation electronics, to quantum computing, he has the privilege of learning about truly groundbreaking discoveries as they happen.
As part of our Mentor Network, David has worked with venture teams for the past year and a half, lending his expertise to Lab2Launch venture teams including ThorTech Reactors, Spire Health, GelPower, and Dream Photonics.
Learn more about how David works with ventures as a mentor, what advice he’d give to our community and the most important lessons he’s learned along the way.
How did you get into mentorship? What brought you here? What keeps you coming back?
As a former UBC grad student, I have known about entrepreneurship@UBC for a long time! But my first formal introduction came in 2020 when I partook in Lab2Launch Phase 1 as a venture founder. I absolutely loved the style and structure of the program (even as it was forced to migrate 100% online), and found the depth and breadth of knowledge from the mentors to be particularly valuable. Therefore when I was invited to join the following cohort as a mentor I jumped at the chance! I have always had a passion for teaching and I was eager to share what I myself had learned. It was also an excellent opportunity to discover an entirely new set of awesome companies coming out of UBC.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your mentorship career?
Getting to know a venture’s founders is just as important as (if not more important than) getting to know the technology. You can learn so much from the “who” of a company, rather than just the “why” and the “what”.
Working with early-stage startups, you have the opportunity to make a huge impact on the founders you are working with. What impacts have founders made on you?
The founders make an impact on me every single session. I am constantly learning new things from the teams – whether it’s a new way of solving a problem, a new way of presenting data and information, new insights into something I thought I knew well! The Thursday morning sessions are a genuine highlight of my week.
"The founders make an impact on me every single session. I am constantly learning new things from the teams – whether it’s a new way of solving a problem, a new way of presenting data and information, new insights into something I thought I knew well!"
- David Weekes
If you could impart one piece of sage advice for our community, what would it be?
As an entrepreneur you are constantly going to be surrounded by people who want to provide you with advice and feedback. Some of it may be conflicting! So rather than hanging on every word of advice you are given, look for patterns in feedback, things you hear again and again from different people. This is likely the most worthwhile advice to follow. (You also don’t have to agree with every single piece of advice you get… and that is ok!)
"As an entrepreneur you are constantly going to be surrounded by people who want to provide you with advice and feedback...rather than hanging on every word of advice you are given, look for patterns in feedback, things you hear again and again from different people. "
- David Weekes
What book are you reading? What playlist are you listening to? What is the app you can’t quit?
Reading: Dune (currently on Book 3, Children of Dune). I was inspired to start reading it shortly before the movie came out and have not been able to stop. It is mind blowing.
Listening to: Worldwide FM. The best radio station in the world.
App I can’t quit: Chess.com. davidweekes7 if you fancy a game ;)
Any last words for our community?
This is a special community, one where I feel everyone who gains something is motivated to give something back. If you are just getting introduced to the entrepreneurship@UBC community, I encourage you to embrace it wholeheartedly!
Thank you David for your expert insights and continued impact on our community!
Are you interested in joining our mentor network? Learn more here.