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NEWS: Shopify has announced the winner of their Build-A-Biz Competition
After 6 months of fierce competition, Shopify names DODOcase the Winner
Congrats to all 500+ contestants who built their shops, w/ revenues over $3.5 Mil
Click links for STATS, Tim Ferriss’ Blog, NYTimes Article, WSJ Article, & Forbes
Since 2007, I have participated as a mentor in OCRI’s Summer Company program
This summer’s cohort seems especially strong & I am really thrilled to be advising them
Here is the announcement of the 2010 Summer Program (+ overview)
These are the sorts of initiatives that make Ottawa a true entrepreneurial hub
E-Commerce Times Article: ‘Have E-Commerce Your Way’
By: Harley Finkelstein – Part of the ‘Expert Advice’ Series
Click HERE of logo for full article
On May 21, 2010, as part of the NetImpact ‘Issues in Depth’ series, Max Anderson, founder of the MBA Oath and author of the recently published “The MBA Oath”, and Harley Finkelstein, founder of the Canadian MBA Oath, will discuss why they believe an oath is an important first step in encouraging business leaders to hold themselves to a higher standard of personal conduct
Click logo or HERE for details and registration info
From Commencement Addresses to Political Speeches…
Here is a list of 50 speeches that should not be missed
Find them free & online HERE
An excerpt from “How to Move Minds” by TheSkinnyOn.com
Very cool example of how to soften one’s pitch – A great lesson
Click logo above or HERE for article
Kentin Waits from WiseBread.com posted this article
Great food for thought – have a read by clicking HERE or on the above logo
Leximo.org Presents a Q & A on “Funding Business Ideas” on Lexiblog
Panelists include Harley Finkelstein and some really wise VCs
Click above logo or HERE for full article
Prior to taking the LSAT and applying to law school, and in an effort to evaluate whether I was fit for the legal profession, I had the chance to work at a really great business law firm in Montreal, namely Greenspoon Perreault. Most notably I had the unique opportunity to work with one of the sharpest guys I know (and a founding partner at the firm), Howard Greenspoon, who in my opinion combines an exceptional blend of entrepreneurial drive with a second to none understanding of the law – this particular synergy has led me to look to Howard often as a mentor whenever I have needed guidance with my own ventures.
Howard teamed up with fellow lawyer Lionel Perez in 1998, and created what I believe is a ‘game changer’ of a company – CorporationCentre.ca. Today the company is Canada’s leading online incorporation and corporate maintenance services provider, offering a full range of affordable, easy-to-use and convenient business formation and legal document filing services geared for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
The company has been recognized by many leading Canadian business magazines (including Profit Magazine Profit 100, Profit Magazine Hot 50, Enterprise Magazine, and L’Actualité Magazine), the company has helped tens of thousands of Canadian small businesses by simplifying and streamlining business formation and maintenance, saving them time and money. From their site, users can easily complete incorporations, business registrations, name searches and reports, government filings, trademark applications and more. They provide extensive information on starting and managing a business, and they post really great video presentations and FAQs that further simplify and explain the ins-and-outs of maintaining a business in Canada. I believe CorporationCentre.ca is a wonderful example of taking a fairly traditional/conventional type of procedure and coupling it with strong contemporary innovation to create what is sure to become the new paradigm for business incorporations. Have a look @ CorporationCentre.ca
IP Marketing Advisor provides ’Words Of Wisdom for Start-Up Entrepreneurs‘
From an Interview w/ Harley Finkelstein
Click Here or Logo Above for Full Article
Exploriem.org & OCRI are Hosting the 2nd Annual ‘Bootstrap Awards‘ on February 12th
‘Celebrating Entrepreneurship in Our Community’
Get Your Submissons in Now by Clicking HERE
In 2007 I had the fortunate opportunity of being introduced to Ian Graham and to TheCodeFactory, Ottawa’s leading business incubator and start-up co-working space. I was immediately impressed with Ian’s passion for start-ups and his unique expertise in business innovation, and this interest subsequently led to my becoming an adviser to Ian’s company and to us developing a really strong and supportive working relationship. I recently asked Ian about current student-entrepreneur initiatives/programs at TheCodeFactory, and below is his reply. On a side note I strongly suggest that any start-up entrepreneurs in the Ottawa region, student or otherwise, (who don’t already know him) get in touch with Ian for one of his ‘famous’ coffee-side chats and mentoring sessions – well worth your while.
“The best example I can give with regard to student entrepreneurs is our “Students and Start-ups” event. This event is based on the premise that students want meaningful and relevant work experience, and start-ups want energetic and enthusiastic employees. Putting the two groups together seems like a match made in heaven. We have had 3 ‘Students and Start-ups’ at TheCodeFactory resulting in 8 hires (I witnessed the latest one today first hand), with more expected within the next few weeks. When people hire, what they are really looking for is attitude and personality; however, traditional hiring processes focus exclusively on skills. ‘Students and Start-ups’ provides a matching based on attitude and passion, free of resume bias. It is really more about you, the person, and less about how good you look on paper. Start with some introductions, add a couple of team-based challenges and the result is students getting hired and matched with great companies. This event adds value to all of the participants and is just one of the ways TheCodeFactory adds value to students and entrepreneurs.”
Martin Zwilling of Startup Professionals & Forbes.com Interviews Harley Finkelstein
Part of ‘Startup Professionals Musings’ on StartupProfessionals.com
Click Logo or HERE for Full Interview
When I moved to Toronto last year, it was strongly suggested to me that I meet with the Maple Leaf Angels. Although our paths had crossed informally at numerous venture and start-up events, I didn’t fully grasp the extent of their dynamic model. I recently had the opportunity to meet with Craig Hayashi, who is a one of their principals (and sits on their Board of Directors), for a lengthy chat about how the group operates and how they invest. Below is a brief summary of our dialogue. I must say that besides being a friend of the SuperAngel team, Craig is also a great guy and I highly recommend their dynamic group to any start-ups seeking fresh capital and experienced advice.
Maple Leaf Angels is Ontario’s leading angel investment group with over 40 investors and $6 million in financings closed since its inception in 2007. Maple Leaf Angels holds 10 investment events a year where high potential early stage companies in the high tech, medical device, and cleantech sectors are presented to their group of investors. Maple Leaf Angels’ members are experienced business professionals that have strong operational expertise and business networks (with an accompanying track record to prove it). In addition to financing capital, members help investee companies by taking board seats or advisory roles. The following provides a detailed Q/A with Craig and Rob Koturbash, who is the Managing Director of the group – click HERE.
Vanity Fair’s Bathany Mclean on Goldman Sachs – Lessons & Leadership
An Excellent Perspective & Interesting Article - January 2010 Sneak Peak
Click Logo or HERE for Full Article
The Financial Post’s Matt Hartley talks w/ Harley Finkelstein re: Facebook Privacy
Click Logo Above, or HERE for full article
For those of you who don’t know her, SPB, also known as Steph Paris Berks, has been throwing some of Montreal’s most popular student parties for a number of years. Concurrently, and along with partner Seth, she has built one of the leading student event promotion companies in the city, and has used her own academic path as the vehicle for creating an extremely far reaching customer base. Moreover, she has removed the separation that typically exists between a company and its managers, as she herself has become an extension of her business and the Fresh Productions brand. She has also parlayed her own unique identity into a quasi trademark that thousands of students, and her loyal Facebook / Twitter disciples, look to in order to get on the proverbial guest list at ‘tonight’s hot party’. She is a good example of the potential in student-backed businesses.
Here are a few words from SPB about Fresh Productions: “FRESH has been one of the largest student event planning, production & promotion companies in Montreal for the past ten years. We are the only university events company that also caters to local Montrealers, and for the past 3 years Seth Buchman and I have been hosting some of the biggest weekly events in the Montreal downtown area. Keeping our reputation strong with the promise to always deliver a banging party, we two best friends and business partners seem to run along yelling, T.G.I.F. (Thank God Its FRESH). Make sure to catch us weekly at Tokyo Thursdays or at our larger events, most recently the Kid Cudi concert at Time Supperclub. We work with the likes of Steve Aoki, DJ Klever, Barletta, Team Canada, Cobra Krames, Dj AM, LazRtag (LA), and Caroline D’Amore (LA Supermodel). Learn more and check us out at: Fresh Productions“. Make her your friend here.
Dan Shiff, a McGill B.Comm (1996) Graduate who worked most of his life on Wall Street at major firms including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley was unfortunately laid off during the recent financial crisis. Dan did what many newly terminated Wall Streeters did, he took a little time off and then hit the streets to find a job. Little did Dan know that his next job would be in a very different field with an ironic similarity.
“Dan started with YEP! Interactive in January of 2009, and is currently a Partner and Chief Capital Markets and Biz Dev Guy. What the heck does that mean? Well, to start, check out yepinteractive & yeprevenue. But from Dan’s perspective, YEP! has three businesses: 1) an affiliate network, 2) a social currency platform, and 3) a media platform. How did Dan become a Partner in 9 months? A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF DEDICATION, HARD WORK, and a little OCD, and MOST IMPORTANTLY….. his conviction and ability to call upon relationships that go back to when he started not only McGill, but every business card he has ever picked up. “I live by a few mottos. The first one is ‘Clients first, company second, and me third. The second is: ALWAYS (no matter what) UNDERPROMISE and OVERDELIVER. Finally, always keep up with your rolodex and NEVER be afraid to pick up the phone. If you are, take a step back and ask why.”
The affiliate network, YEP! Revenue, is just like a stock/bond trading floor, but instead of securities it trades “offers”, like beauty, diet, dating, financial, business opportunities, and mobile. Essentially all the display that advertisers need on the internet to secure real estate on the internet. That is where YEP! Revenue comes in. YEP! Revenue acts as a BROKER by putting advertisers together on a cost per action basis and earning a commission in the interim. YEP! Social is all things Twitter, Facebook, Video Games, and Virtual Worlds. If a user has the ability to use a credit card and spend money to “do premium things” in a virtual concept, YEP! Social can monetize that traffic. Finally, there has been some strong buzz about YEP! Media, and Wall Street is already talking, look out for big things to come.”
And Dan? He is nuts. He lives in Venice Beach, CA with his Bulldog Dr. Freud. Hit him up on Facebook or LinkedIn. I know he would love to hear from you. Oy ya, Dan is a hobby POV movie director/producer/editor (who knows where he gets the time!). Check out his latest film here about his most recent trip to Wall Street. Click here for his other film.
A few months ago I began hearing about WallStCheatSheet, currently the fastest growing financial media site on the web. Interested in learning more about their venture, I recently caught up with their CEO, Derek Hoffman, and asked why they launched their site and what has been the key to their success. Below is his response.
“We started our business after achieving an excellent track record (63% return versus a -48% return for the S&P) picking stocks on a blog through the bull market as well as the collapse. We watched good friends and family lose hard earned money while the financial media said, “Hang in there. Everything will be fine.” Well, it wasn’t.
We’ve stepped into a market where investors now demand responsible and objective reporting. Luckily for us, it has been like offering someone gas for $1 a few days after paying $4. Beyond that, they experience elation after reading our Premium Newsletter and finding both an entry AND exit strategy to help them properly take profits while cutting losses — something you won’t find on CNBC. We have assembled a veteran Board of Directors including Larry Kramer, the co-founder and former CEO of MarketWatch and Tracy Sigler, a former VP at Motley Fool. With their help, we are quickly staking our claim as the new media guys in finance rather than an enhanced version of the old [paragidm].”
My good friend, Kyle Brack, recently left his post at E&Y in Toronto to move to Boston where he is currently an MBA student at Harvard Business School. Although I speak to him quite regularly, I asked him to send me an article every few weeks on his experiences there, and below is his first submission titled “Getting my Bearings” – a SuperAngel Exclusive. Having completed my own MBA only 12 weeks ago, I really wanted to get a sense of what is the ‘Harvard difference’.
Part 1: “Getting my bearings” – I arrived at Harvard Business School (HBS) as a Canadian student a little unsure of what to expect, not to mention having never lived in the US before. The first week, before classes even started, was very busy as I was getting settled in my new apartment, learning my way around campus, and organizing the 200 or so cases that I would be studying throughout the first semester. Then of course came the numerous student organized social events, including a 500 person boat cruise and themed costume parties (who knew?). The night before the first day of classes, we got an email announcing our section placements. The section experience is one of the most important aspects at HBS, as we are divided into 10 sections of 90 students with whom we spend every day with for our entire first year. In my section (Section C!), we have 28 countries represented with some of the most talented and diverse individuals I have ever met. The section bonding continues outside the classroom and extends into nightly section social events, retreats, dinners and trips. With section mates, I have already traveled to Las Vegas, Colombia, and have plans for upcoming trips to India and Brazil.
For the 5 courses that we take during the first semester, my professors range from ex-CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to ex-Mossad agents (very cool). In addition, we have been fortunate enough to have weekly teleconferences with current international CEOs, and often find top executives actually sitting in on our classes and taking questions as we discuss case studies that they were involved with and which include the likes of Black and Decker, Zappos.com, Eden McCallum and Sun Microsystems.There are student clubs that cater to almost every professional and personal interest, of which I am a member of 6, and each one organizes speakers, conferences, social events and trips. It is truly an unforgettable and transformational experience with so many opportunities, the biggest problem I have it trying to fit them all in. Study, Social or Sleep…good thing I don’t need much sleep.
Part 2 to come: How HBS inspires the entrepreneurial spirit.
