Shane Fast
Connect with Shane on LinkedIn.
Shane jokes that he’s a recovering entrepreneur on the verge of a relapse at any moment.
This electrical engineer turned software developer was bitten by the business bug early in life, as he watched his father run a successful construction company. Shane always knew he wanted to own his own business someday.
After graduating from the University of Calgary he quickly turned to entrepreneurship joining with four other co-founders to launch the legal tech startup Athennian. Shane spent 7 years at Athennian, serving as Director of Cloud Security and played a pivotal role in helping the company secure Series B funding, a significant milestone in the startup world.
Currently, he’s the Director of Technical Operations at CheckFront, a Victoria-based booking and payment software company and runs his own software consulting company, Sandevistan Tech Inc.
As the lead tech facilitator at InceptionU, Shane enjoys helping learners through pair coding and “office hours” when they can drop in and talk through problems and issues they are facing. He says it’s so rewarding to see learners resolve problems they’ve been struggling with.
Shane created the Sharpen Your Pencil bursary at InceptionU which was awarded in 2023. He says it’s his way of giving back and investing in the next generation, as he believes his Grade 9 Science teacher did for him.
Shane quotes the famous proverb: “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”
Shane and his wife have three boys and loves taking them on “adventures” (aka running errands) and shuttling them to various activities. When he’s alone, Shane enjoys listening to audiobooks and playing video games, such as Dark Souls and Elden Ring.
What essential skills is helping you be future fit? A habitual problem solver
“I just sit down and start solving problems and I don’t really let myself get lost in the weeds. I say I’m addicted to solving problems because I enjoy the dopamine rush when it finally clicks together. “
