Manuelle Côté’s background is unquestionably eclectic. After evolving in marketing, education and the energy sector, she consolidated her experiences by studying for an MBA at HEC Montreal. Her degree allowed her to change paths and make her way to Cycle Capital, a venture capital platform.
Manuelle Côté first studied public relations at the University of Calgary and worked in marketing in the hotel industry, promoting the Banff, Lake Louise and Emerald Lake area.
She continued her journey under the Californian sun by working for a publisher specializing in educational technologies, before joining the start-up Filld to lead marketing, communications and business development efforts in Canada. “My boss and several of the company’s vice presidents were educated at Stanford University,” she said. They advised me to do a certificate there in innovation and entrepreneurship, which I did afterwards. »
After a stop at the Creative Destruction Lab, an acceleration program for high-potential scientific enterprises whose Montreal chapter was attached to HEC Montreal, the MBA project took hold. “I wanted to do this for a long time. When I returned to Montreal, I felt I couldn’t wait any longer. My education and work experiences were scattered. »
This professional turn may be explained by the fact that the director at Cycle Capital is a former skier who has developed a competitive streak and an ease with risk through sport. “The reason I moved out west when I was younger was to ski off-piste, in the arid wilderness, with lots of obstacles like rocks and trees. It is very different from more traditional downhill skiing. »
That said, the MBA has played a vital role in its repositioning. First, by allowing him to develop many technical skills as a manager: understanding finance, explaining a financial report, doing accounting, thinking about marketing.
Without forgetting relational skills: networking, “reading” people during an interview, convincing a team to adhere to an organizational change, etc. “I put a lot of emphasis on that without knowing what it would bring me in the end. Since I’ve been at Cycle Capital, I’ve come to realize that these skills serve me immensely in my new role. »
The program has also helped her find work with greater impact.
Since her final MBA project focused on nature-based solutions to reduce CO2 emissions and monetization with carbon credits, she stood out from other candidates wishing to work with the company. “The MBA allowed me to redirect my career towards sustainable investments, something I probably wouldn’t have been able to do without this degree. »