Entrepreneurs Exposed

David Priemer is widely recognized as a thought leader in the area of sales and sales leadership. Often referred to as the "Sales Professor", David helps organizations drive revenue growth, people development, and winning cultures by infusing the core principles of science, empathy, and execution into their sales operations. In this deep dive into sales, we discuss why people buy, objection handli...

This episode was recorded back in early March 2020, with Satish Kanwar, the current GM, and VP of Product at Shopify. Because things were developing so quickly related to the Coronavirus, we never did get a chance to release it, so here it is! Satish oversees the development of eCommerce, retail, and multi-channel shopping for over one million merchants globally. He previously co-founded Jet Coope...

Isaac Langleben, is the co-founder of Open Farm Pet Food, one of North America's fastest-growing premium pet food companies. In this episode, we discuss the growth of the pet industry, and how Millenials have changed the entire market for pets and related products; we also discuss how shopping behavior has changed during the pandemic; Isaac's plan to crystalize the customer experience online; work...

Steven Holmes is the President of GOBA Sports group, and the co-founder of Springfree Trampoline. In this one, we discuss how the virus has impacted Springfree's business, in particular, how it's bolstered demand for trampolines in every major market across the globe; how the company has responded to this shift to backyard play; GOBA's supply chains, Chinese manufacturing, why preserving quality i...

Brian Smith, is the founder of Ugg, one of the biggest global footwear brands. He is back on the show for a second time to discuss his pivot out of public speaking in the wake of the pandemic, and his latest start-up; we also discuss key lessons from Brian's book, The Birth of a Brand; his experience navigating through recessions; why Brian ultimately decided to sell UGG in 1995, and more. "It tak...

Bruce Linton is the former Chairman, Founder, and CEO at Canopy Growth. In this EP, we discuss his departure from Canopy, and what he plans to do next; his philosophy around the 3 P's, and why each is critical to hypergrowth; the role of leader, vs. CEO; the commercialization of Cannabis both in Canada and in the US; the role of psychedelics as therapeutics, and much more. Learn more about your ad...

Philip McKernan is one of the most sought after executive leadership coaches globally. He is also in demand in the world of entrepreneurship as well as sports where he works with individual athletes as well as professional teams. In this interview, we discuss the difference between control and influence; the state of relationships in the wake of the pandemic, why working parents are often more pat...

John Ruffolo is the founder of OMERS Ventures and the co-founder of the Council of Canadian Innovators. He has invested over $500 million of capital in over 40 technology companies including Shopify, Hootsuite, Wattpad, and others. John also sits on the board of Canopy Rivers, Continuum Residential REIT and Ether Capital. In this EP, we discuss Canada's response to COVID19, and the first phase of...

Marc Antoine Bovet, is the co-founder and CEO of Oatbox. Focused on delivering healthy breakfast cereal products to consumers in North America, Oatbox delivers direct to subscriber doors on a monthly basis. Things have changed in a big way as a result of the pandemic. In this EP, we discuss Oatbox's demand crunch, how team culture has improved despite working remotely, challenges related to hiring...

Vanessa Iarocci is the CEO & President of McCarthy Uniforms, Canada’s largest public sector school uniform manufacturer & distributor. With schools closed due to COVID-19, McCarthy has pivoted to manufacturing PPE at scale, serving custodians in the workplace and on the front lines. We discuss how Vanessa's company has executed this phenomenal shift, what manufacturing PPE at scale looks like, the...

Jay Berard is the founder and CEO of Jagger, a modern headhunting firm that works with companies to help them find the right people to accomplish their goals. In this EP, we discuss who is hiring, and the state of recruiting during COVID-19; how companies are onboarding new employees (virtually), how to land a job in today's market; whether big ticket salaried jobs are still being filled, what you...

Shant Mardirosian is the founder of The Burger's Priest - which sold to Recipe Unlimited in 2017. Shant's new restaurant initiative, called the Fourth man in the fire, is taking shape in ways he couldn't have imagined in a food scene plagued by a global crisis. In this one, we discuss Fourth Man's unique business model, the death of the food critic, why many restaurants will never open again, and...

Ilana Ben-Ari is a multiple-award-winning design entrepreneur, TEDx Speaker, and founder of 21Toys; a company that has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, and Bloomberg, ... her invention, The Empathy Toy was praised by TIME magazine as a “technology that is reshaping the future”.  In this conversation, we discuss how 21Toys has gone from a company running in-person training, and workshops all...

In this first episode of our special series focused on businesses and their founders navigating these unchartered waters, we are in conversation with Founder/ CEO of Kognitive Marketing Josh Singer. In this conversation, we are focusing on how Kognitive has gone from millions in revenue to near zero, and from 546 employees down to 20 as a result of the pandemic. And despite this new reality, Josh...

Chris Ronzio is the founder and CEO of Trainual, a leading SaaS company helping fast-growing businesses automate their onboarding and training by documenting every process in one simple system. In this episode, we get into the origins of the Trainual, whether a start-up's geographical location matters, the concept of tool overload, email hacks such as getting to "inbox zero", why deleting your ema...

Lisa Owen, is the co-founder at one of Canada’s most promising e-commerce businesses, Rent Frock Repeat. Lisa's team is turning the retail model on its head, and leading the sharing economy while ensuring women across Canada of any age, race, or economic status have the opportunity to access amazing fashion while also reducing their collective carbon-footprint. In this episode, we dig into the bur...

Ben Gallacher is the Chairman, and co-founder of Performance Phenomics — a health care company at the edge of stroke and concussion research. Drafted to the NHL in 2010, Ben played Division I NCAA hockey, before graduating from the University of Massachusetts and then subsequently pivoting away from a career in hockey in favor of entrepreneurship. We hit on the company's big pivot after a target m...

Scott Marcaccio is the Co-Founder and CEO of the budding lifestyle physical therapy brand, Myodetox. Through the power of a brand-first approach and an industry-leading social media strategy, Myodetox has forged partnerships with global brands including Nike, Equinox, and Lululemon. In this EP, we discuss the pull of Instagram as a customer acquisition tool, the explosion of boutique fitness, buil...

Shant Mardirosian, is the founder of The Burgers Priest - arguably the biggest Canadian burger success story in recent memory, and a chain that has changed the entire culture of the food scene. Shant, a dedicated Christian, went from pastoral ministry into entrepreneurship, and his story is unbelievable. In this episode, we get into Shant's journey, which begins with his desire to find purpose, hi...

Cameron Herold is a lifelong entrepreneur, and the head of the COO Alliance, the largest global network for the second in command. In this conversation, we dive into the differences in personality traits with respect to CEOs and COO's, leadership topics such as conflict management, and getting to inbox zero; why meetings are often unproductive, how to calculate the cost of a meeting, the real stre...

In this special 60th EP, we chat with Dani Lipkin, Innovation Sector Head for Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV). In this deep dive into technology IPO's, we discuss steps to a public offering, the right company profile, common misconceptions about going public, some of the Canadian tech unicorns that went public early and more.  Support E2 here! https://glow.fm/e2/  ...

Dan Debow was CEO and a co-founder at Helpful.com, a startup backed by Bessemer Ventures that was acquired by Shopify in 2019. Prior to Helpful, Dan co-founded Rypple which was acquired by Salesforce. He is also a founding Partner of the Creative Destruction Lab at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and an early investor in over 50 technology companies including Wealthsi...

Mitchell Stern, is a co-founder of Station - a Canadian category leader in cold brew coffee, and a beverage company at the forefront of quality and functionality. In this EP, we talk about the company's rise of its amazingly popular Station Cold Brew coffee, how Mitch and his other co-founders came to the CPG world without any prior industry experience, the advantage of being naive, and the exciti...

Farhan Thawar is currently VP, Engineering at Shopify after the acquisition of helpful.com, where he was co-founder and CTO. He is an avid writer and speaker, recently named one of Toronto's 25 most powerful people. In this episode, we discuss Farhan's journey growing Helpful.com, his approach to finding and hiring talent, the shortcomings of doing interviews, Shopify's unique work culture, the im...

Chad Olin is the founder of Cuba Candela. After receiving an MBA from Harvard Business School, Olin decided to pursue his passion for travel, launching CUBA CANDELA in 2016. And, in this EP we talk about his transition from Wall Street to entrepreneurship, meditation self discovery, and insulating yourself from negative emotions, the history of the Cuban revolution and the impact of US politics, b...