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This Startup Didn't Think Twice When It Came to Taking a Bold Chance It's not the first time a 'fake it until you make it' strategy reaped big rewards.

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In this video, Entrepreneur Network partner MaRS Discovery District talks with William Zhou, CEO of Chalk, a startup dedicated to personalizing education. Chalk grew from an idea while Zhou was in college studying computer science. He and a few friends hoped to improve the education system. Zhou recalls the early days of powering through the startup lifestyle when he and his fellow employees would stay at their co-working office until 2 a.m., eat fast food, sleep and then start the entire process again the next day.

Zhou admits after the team's first year working on Chalk, there wasn't much revenue to speak of. Fortunately, after a discussion with a current customer of the company, who was curious about a certain function of Chalk, the team was able to build a unique addition to make it more applicable to the user's needs without giving too much away. Zhou and his team's ability to push through the tough times, rely on skill, rely on luck and maintain belief in their company helped them to meet their most profitable opportunity.

Click play on the video to hear more.

Related: Why Investing in Diverse Companies Will Keep Future Mistakes at Bay

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MaRS Discovery District is the world’s largest urban innovation hub. Located in the heart of Toronto, MaRS supports impact-driven startups tackling key societal challenges in the health, cleantech, fintech and enterprise sectors.

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