Inspiring Young Alumni: Catching up with Michael Bakaic ’07
Michael Bakaic has continued the path of entrepreneurship, building his cybersecurity company Iceberg Cyber, a cyber threat monitoring SaaS (software as a service) platform for small and medium businesses (SMEs). He has travelled North America and the world while remaining connected to his community at St. Michael’s College School (SMCS).
Update on professional life:
For the last eight years, I’ve been learning the grind of being an entrepreneur. Sometimes it’s the fun, high life of looking cool on social media, and most of the time, it’s the unsung struggle of figuring out what problems are worth solving.
There is a brutal cliche that tells people to ‘find what they’re passionate about.’ I don’t know what that is for me. When I started being an entrepreneur, I sucked at it. In many ways, I still suck at it. I have stuck with it for eight years because I like the idea of hoisting the flag and sailing my ship. I have struggled, learned, and embraced the grind long enough to get somewhat good at some things. I have found an odd passion in that—the challenge of learning something new. Do not let the expectation that you need an existing passion stop you from taking the plunge into something. You get good at something by putting in the reps. Put in the reps.
Describe your history with St. Mike’s:
My SMCS history post-graduation is way longer than while I was in school, which is fun to think about. My pastime now is sniffing out SMCS grads in the wild. I just came back from a work trip. Someone I met said their two sons played hockey in the city, and boom, St. Mike’s. We became instant friends. It’s the simple things in life that bring joy.
How would you describe your time at the school? Please provide further details on any involvement with SMCS since you graduated.
I have sparse memories of school. It’s fun how the brain remembers things. I remember reading the newspaper in the library. I remember chemistry class. I remember the GO Train rides in and out of the city daily. This is a fun and long list. Mr. Heijmans was responsible for getting me involved after I graduated. He asked me to volunteer for the VEX Robotics competition, which started a 10-year experience of volunteering, engaging, and (when there’s no one else better) inspiring the students. I’ve had the pleasure of being a mentor at many Science Breakfasts. I was recently the keynote speaker at this year’s session with the Grade 11 and 12 students considering their career paths. A highlight of the last 10 years has been hosting the Archangel’s Den competition for recent grads pitching their ideas for entrepreneurship.
How did SMCS prepare you for and propel you into life?
The school’s lasting impression on me was the importance of finding your community and investing in it. Those around us influence our lives. The guys I went to school with influenced me, and I try to stay connected with them. The rest of our alumni have reinforced this value in me. I’m eager to help them, and they’ve all been eager to return the favour. Everyone needs their team, remember you’re on this one.
How do you live out the Basilian motto of Teach me Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge?
Discipline has been the easiest one for me. Whatever brain chemistry causes it, the borderline obsession of doing what you have to instead of what you want has become easier than other things. The pursuit of knowledge has also been a daily exercise. Learning new things scratches the itch of curiosity and is a job requirement. Goodness has been the hardest. It’s easy to devolve into a self-centred life, and I am blessed to have strong personalities around me who remind me of the importance of this quality. Mr. Heijmans also reminded me of this and gave me easy ways to balance the scales.
Do you have any advice for current students?
- Embrace the unknown and explore. Life is long. Fight the pressure to figure it out fast. Changing your time horizon is a powerful tool in judging whether something is good/bad for you.
- Find your chicken. I eat chicken every day. I’ve come to like it, it’s nutritious, and it eliminates timely decision-making. Build some stability in your life by finding things that can be your chicken. That way, you can spend your brain power on decisions that provide higher reward for the effort.
- Learning compounds. Read books and/or audiobooks. It’s the easiest way to learn new skills and value compounds. Read a book a month for a year and you’ll be way smarter than if you didn’t. Don’t pass up that chance to make yourself better.
- Fail more than others even try. Most people give up and settle. Harsh truth. Decide if that is what you want the story of your life to be. Failure is totally fine. You learn a lot from failure. Statistically, success in life will come from tail events – events that involve an element of risk. So, you have to fail a lot to get to a tail event. Keep failing, and don’t quit. You only lose when you quit.
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