Former Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Lieutenant Commander (retired) Mike Nelson recalls the turning point of wanting to become an entrepreneur. He was a student in Telfer’s Executive MBA program, working on a project with the Department of National Defence (DND) as his client.
“Through my Business Development Project I was able to identify real opportunities that I knew could create a lot of value for my defence customer,” he explains. “When I asked my immediate supervisor to support me in implementing the recommendations, he told me to stay in my box. That’s when I realized that this wasn’t the right fit for me anymore.”
Nelson had served and deployed as an intelligence officer with the Joint Force and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command for years. But he eventually realized he could contribute more and continue to serve Canada from the outside.
From battlefields to business books: Moving to the private sector
Nelson soon left the military. In 2022 he founded Tactiql, a defence-tech venture that addresses a critical gap on the battlefield: Sensor systems operating in silos, leaving decision-makers with an incomplete picture. A local scale-up recently selected for NATO’s Diana accelerator program, Tactiql aims to solve that problem.
Nelson says he couldn’t have taken those first steps as an entrepreneur without the skills he learned in the Telfer EMBA.
“It gave me the confidence to operate in the business world,” he says, adding that his Telfer experience allowed him to meet established entrepreneurs and work with various startups. “It allowed me to speak the language and reframe my military experience in a way that’s relevant to the business world.
“A lot of veterans struggle with the transition process for that reason – they don’t know how their experience is relevant to the private sector. But it absolutely is. And Telfer helped give me the confidence to realize that.”
Canada’s most practical EMBA program
The Telfer EMBA program – built for mid-to-senior level leaders, averaging 15 years of experience – doesn’t just teach business. It integrates six real-world consulting projects into its curriculum, covering topics from AI to international growth. That’s far more than the one or two projects typical of most programs.
A defining feature is the Business Development Project (BDP), an individual project where students can tailor their learning to organizational or career goals.
Nelson was completing his own BDP with DND when that fateful conversation occurred. He’s now come full circle, as his company is now a client for the same project at Telfer.
Working with the EMBA allows him to bring someone into the company with the skills and “passion” to focus on specific challenges he and his staff may not have the time or skill sets to tackle.
“The Telfer EMBA program gives you the opportunity to pursue what you’ve always wanted to do,” he explains. “It helps you break through barriers if you’re at that midpoint in your career, and gives you the confidence to show you have what it takes.
“If you’re looking to break through whatever barrier it is you’re facing to that next phase in your career, the Telfer EMBA program is an accelerant of your success.”
