Wildcard Montreal Beta, a nightlife membership platform that is free to acquire and activate, made its return to the McGill and Montreal scene this fall. A revamped student-run business, Wildcard is managed by co-founders Tom Zheng, U2 arts, and Randeep Singh, U2 engineering.

Established two years ago by former McGill student Adam Hirsch, Wildcard began as a member card that allowed subscribers into nightclubs at a reduced rate, or for free. Hirsch passed the company off to Zheng and Singh during the summer of 2010.

Prior to taking over Wildcard, Singh and Zheng had independently  worked on a smartphone application that would inform students of local nightlife events and discounts. According to both directors, the combination of that vision with the original Wildcard was an ideal project.

“[The fusion means] no complications and easy access,” Singh said. “It [also] simplifies night-life [by letting you] know where your friends are going.”

Singh and Zheng got the new Wildcard off the ground with the help of Singh’s father, Parminder Singh—former managing director of Microsoft Canada. Along with providing baseline financial support, Mr. Singh became Wildcard Beta’s Business Advisor; he offers mostly technical strategies, while Singh and Zheng manage large company decisions.

During his experience working with Singh and Zheng, Mr. Singh stressed the importance of discipline and control when building a company.

“As newcomers to [the business world], they’re not exactly sure how it all works and how all the pieces fit … It’s about forcing [them] into discipline,” Mr. Singh said. “You [can’t get] emotional in business… too many entrepreneurs become emotionally attached and fail to make good logical judgments.”

In addition to achieving and maintaining disciplined practices, the entrepreneurial industry offers many other challenges to business hopefuls. Mr. Singh predicts that one of the greatest challenges facing Wildcard will be the young age of its co-founders.

“Having to become entrepreneurs is a challenge unto itself,” Mr. Singh said. “They’re going to make mistakes, and [the real test will be] just how fast they recover from those mistakes.”

Zheng echoed Mr. Singh’s sentiments.

“[It’s hard] to get people to take you seriously,” Zheng said. “When you meet someone who’s twice your age … they see someone who’s passionate, but they wonder if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

In order to fulfill their vision of Wildcard, Singh and Zheng sought sponsorship from many popular nightclubs and venues in Montreal, as well as local businesses that attract student clientele. To date, Wildcard has secured sponsorship from Club Entourage, La Mouche, Stereo, and Yeh! Yogurt, among many others.

Yeh! Yogurt CEO Jean-Daniel Nadeau spoke positively of Yeh!’s partnership with Wildcard, and even encouraged other local businesses to team up with Wildcard for mutual benefit.

“[For] any company with an audience of teenagers to 35-year-olds, [Wildcard] is a great marketing tool,” Nadeau said. “[Partnering with Wildcard] is better than advertising in any magazine since it [goes] straight to the students.”

Nadeau was also surprised when he learned both Singh and Zheng were students.

“I never [saw] them as students … I saw them as entrepreneurs,” Nadeau said. “They’re really motivated and passionate about their product.”

Wildcard has already attracted much student attention in Montreal over the past month. The company sponsored the faculty of arts frosh at McGill, with every first-year student receiving a Wildcard in their frosh bag. They were also involved with froshes at Concordia, Université de Montréal, HEC Montréal, and École Polytechnique de Montréal.

U0 arts student Kareem Ibrahim, although new to Montreal, is already thrilled with the product.

“I love the Wildcard program, no doubt,” Ibrahim said. “It’s cost-efficient, and a great way to both encourage people to go out and have a good time while saving money.”

Though Wildcard is already fully functional, it will officially launch in mid-October. The Wildcard smartphone application will be released in two weeks.