Editors note: This week’s Founder Spotlight is on Michael Di Genova, founder of Basilisk, an education technology company that gives university students tangible rewards for creating and studying flashcards and multiple choice quizzes. Michael competed in the McGill Dobson Cup 2015. Learn more about Michael’s entrepreneurship journey in the interview below.

Hey Mike, care to tell us a little bit about yourself before we jump into the nitty-gritty?

Hey I’m Michael Di Genova, a U4 McGill Pharmacology student with pretty much zero programming experience, and I’m the founder of MyBasilisk.com. When I initially created Basilisk back in 2014, it was just a series of website templates that depicted a web-app that would replace clickers, but I quickly realized that was the goal of many other bigger companies. It took me about a year to identify and refine the basic idea of what Basilisk is today. After that crucial pivot, I decided to enter Basilisk into the McGill Dobson Cup 2015.

What is Basilisk and who is it for? Who is it not for?

Basilisk is a free quiz creator, where students can redeem prizes for creating flashcards and multiple choice quizzes. The program is open for any university student of any language – it’s actually only available to university students. This helps with two issues our competitors had, which was sensible organization of quizzes, and content quality.

Who are your competitors and what makes you different from them?

Our top competitors are Quizlet and StudyBlue. The single biggest difference between Basilisk and our competitors is our Redeem feature that gives users tangible rewards for their work. We also have a completely different approach to design and how the user interacts with the site, giving it a much more gamified feel. Finally, there’s an algorithm that sorts the questions you got wrong in a quiz, so that the next time you take that same quiz you begin by targeting your weak points first. In the coming months, we will also be the first quiz creator website to have a chat system that will allow users to more easily collaborate when building group quizzes.

Would you care to share some of the iterations that MyBasilisk had to go through before your seed grew into a plant? How much of a role did customer feedback play in this?

Basilisk first started off as a web-app to replace clickers, with a sub-feature being that students could write questions to help themselves study for their exams. By talking to various people, I dropped the clicker idea and started focusing on the peer-to-peer question creator. Initially there was no point system, or the “Groups” section. Students could create questions and other people could take their questions, but that was where the interaction ended.

Around the same time, I wanted to implement a way to reward students for studying, because I’ve always wanted more than just a “letter” for all the hard work I put into my classes. Early 2016 is when I figured out how I was going to get free items in the Redeem section of Basilisk. It wasn’t until early summer 2016 that I got the idea (through feedback) that there should be an option to have stronger interactions between users, hence the current “Groups” section where many students can contribute to the same quiz. All in all, customer feedback has played a very important role in shaping Basilisk, and I think a large part of Basilisk’s success is due simply to just giving the people what they want.

What are some things that you didn’t know about business until after you actually started one?

Honestly, I didn’t do any research on my competitors until I had already paid my first software development bill. I knew there must have been companies doing something similar, but I told myself if the “Facebook of quiz creators” existed already I’d know about it not to mention I didn’t want their sites influencing mine in any way.

I didn’t know how hard it was going to be to write a business plan. When I was applying for my first grant, I was asked by my grant agent/advisor, if I had a business plan ready to submit. I told him I had entered the McGill Dobson Cup where they had asked for a 5-page proposal document that I was going to touch up and submit. I’ll never forget the laugh that came through the phone that day. It was followed by “I guess you haven’t seen the template we suggest you use, the template alone is 50 pages.” That was probably the most sobering conversion I’ve had with someone about Basilisk. Rest assured, I got help and now have a 68-page business plan (excluding the appendices) that details everything about my project.

Everybody has an experience or a skill in something unique that becomes a part of them over time and sprinkles over into everything they do and how they do it. You have a background in an online video game (Eve Online) that requires an implicit understanding of organizational behavior along with being able to make tough strategic decisions while leading a group. How has that influenced who you are today?

I’ve been playing Eve for about 8 years now and funny enough, I attribute most of my early business skills to when I owned an illegal drug manufacturing company on Eve Online. While running that simulated online business, it taught me how to pitch to people in order to get them to invest in an idea you have. More importantly, it taught me how to manage a group of people and get them to work together to build what was one of the most successful startup drug businesses in the game. So successful in fact, that a rival company mounted a 30-man fleet to come shut us down, and blow up our base. After that venture ended, I figured if I could build a company in a game, make spreadsheets to streamline manufacturing, and manage to sell the same product as my competitors at double the price and still acquire their clients, why not start a real (and legal) business in real life?

What’s the story behind the name of your company?

It partly originates from Eve and here’s why: I played the role of the Fleet Commander, whose job is to direct the group members to go position themselves in strategic locations, defeat certain targets and overall provide resources for the group. The thing is, I’ve always liked this one ship called the Basilisk, for its support/healing role in the fleet, but I was never able to fly it because the Fleet Commander doesn’t fly that class of ships. So when I created Basilisk, I wanted to find a name that gave me the sense that my study tool was playing a support role for the student’s education, and that’s how I picked the name Basilisk.

The other part of the story is that reptiles are amazing, versatile creatures. Some can scale perfectly flat walls, while others can change the pigment in their skin to disappear into their surroundings. In a sense, students strive to be the same way. We need to be. A basilisk can also run across water. The name Basilisk was chosen to represent those that don’t see the ocean of course material as an obstacle, but rather as an opportunity. Whereas most students will stop at a barrier like water, the Basilisk student will excel.

Here at the McGill Dobson Centre, we get approached by a lot of students who think they’re too busy to start a business while still in school.

Not only are you performing well academically, you’re also running a business and manage to maintain a fulfilling social life while also having an impressive travel history. What’s your time management secret – do you have a twin who does half your work?

Haha, I don’t have a twin. Honestly though, there is no secret to running a business: it’s hard and it takes a lot of time and energy. Starting any kind of business starts and ends with your ability to set and prioritize goals in your life. If you can’t pick honing your million-dollar idea over mindlessly scrolling through your newsfeed or partying every night, maybe this isn’t for you. To the students asking how they can start a business, I’d tell them to start by making the necessary sacrifices today. Not at the end of the show, not after the next round, and not after New Years. You have to start today, because if you don’t, someone else will, and all you’ll have to show for it are all the excuses that got in your way.

Obviously, you’ve had to learn a lot about things like web design and business along with legal stuff over the course of developing your enterprise. Right now, everybody’s heard a million times that the best way to learn is by DOING.

I want you to visualize someone who understands this notion at a conceptual level, but is just struggling to plunge in and take that first step…what would you say to just push them over the edge and get started?

Don’t stress about the fact you’re not a business major, or you’re not an expert in the industry, or you’re “too young”. You need to identify your strengths and opportunities and leverage them. At the end of the day, if you don’t do it, someone else will and trust me there is someone else out there who has the exact same idea as you and is pushing to make it happen.

You went through the McGill Dobson Cup in 2015. If you could attempt to capture it in words, what is it about the atmosphere or the tailored, actionable advice that you receive at the McGill Dobson Centre that turns startups from Charmanders into Charizards?

I think above all the advice and mentoring you can get out of the McGill Dobson Cup, it’s really the chance to compete against so many smart and talented people that pushes you to make your project the best it can be. A competitive atmosphere brings out the best in people!

Is there anything else you’d like to comment on? Go crazy.

A lot of people underestimate the importance of surrounding themselves with talented and ambitious people. Aim to keep those motivated and positive people around you and you’ll find it’s a lot easier to make those tough decisions and sacrifices that will pay off in the long run when your friends are doing the same.

Be sure to check out MyBasilisk to improve your grades effortlessly at www.mybasilisk.com!

To get in touch with Mike for business inquiries, you can email him at [email protected]