Startup 50+

A Startup Canada Community

About Startup 50+

Who we are

“COVID has impacted everyone in some way shape or form. For people over the age of 50 the impact has been devastating,” says Wendy Mayhew, President at WISE – Seniors in Business and Community Leader at Startup 50+. “In January 2021, more than 600,000 people over the age of 50 were unemployed. These were people that were actively looking for work as they weren’t ready to retire or couldn’t afford to.” Although there are many that can’t wait to retire so they could start a business, most have never thought of being a business owner and are looking at it as their only option. What these two groups have in common is that they don’t know what is involved when you start a business.

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Community Leader

Wendy Mayhew

Wendy Mayhew has been an entrepreneur for the past 35 years. Drawing on early experience in the telecom and satellite technology sectors, and on later experience as the owner-manager of a ll-service communications firm and a promotional products production house, Wendy is always on the watch for innovative ways to harness technology in the service of business needs. Among the first to recognize the potential of social media to gather business intelligence, engage clients, and market products and services, Wendy’s perspective on web-assisted business development is particularly appealing to today’s generation of would-be entrepreneurs.

Why hasn’t anyone done this before? That’s the response of many learners encountering the Real Time Entrepreneur Training video series for the first time. Wendy drew her inspiration from reality TV. She asked: Why not take viewers behind-the-scenes to see how real entrepreneurs and their advisors tackle the many challenges of establishing a business?

What Wendy realized is that new entrepreneurs need insights into the human challenges, costs and rewards of establishing a new business even more than they need the facts, figures and templates provided by most start-up manuals. The resulting 13-module learning program meets that need – and more.

When Wendy began exploring the increase of new entrepreneurs over the age of 50, she quickly realized the challenges older entrepreneurs face as well as the lack of support and information available to help them start a business. Wendy now guides and helps the 50+ generation discover entrepreneurship through speaking engagements and workshops. Wendy has global ties with groups and organizations supporting older entrepreneurs who are moving to become business owners for the first time. Wendy is Canada’s most influential advocate and catalyst for senior entrepreneurship.

Wendy is a sought after speaker at Colleges & Universities and organizations focused on entrepreneurial development, regardless of age.

In 2013, Wendy took over authorship of the 9th edition of Building Your Dream, a textbook on entrepreneurship published by McGraw-Hill Ryerson. Having just completed the 10th edition, Building Your Dream has been deemed the most practical textbook on Entrepreneurship in the Canadian higher education market.

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Whether you’re a tech, social or creative entrepreneur, we’re looking for Startup Community leaders to help entrepreneurs of all types and at all stages of their entrepreneurial journey. Everyone and anyone is welcome to start a community in their area.

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