Entrepreneurs Exposed

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...

Michael Hyatt is the co-founder of BlueCat Networks, which was sold to Madison Dearborn Partners, of Chicago, IL. He serves as a board member and director of BlueCat, and ranks as one of Canada’s top entrepreneurs. Michael also sits on the Board of Advisors of Georgian Partners, one of Canada’s leading venture capital firms and was a recipient of the Top 40 Under 40 award.  Learn more about your a...

Nadeem Nathoo, is the co-founder of of The Knowledge Society (TKS), a human accelerator focused on exponential technologies as tools to solve humanity’s most important problems. His ultimate goal is to completely rethink the way young people learn and develop globally. In this episode, we dive into "learning 2.0", social media use, philosophies around thinking and doing, perceived risk vs. actual...

What is it like to grow a company out of your basement into an asset worth $1 Billion?  SOTI Inc., is the world's most trusted provider of mobile and IoT device management solutions. The business has 17,000 enterprise customers supported by offices all over the globe - and, surprisingly,  has never raised venture capital. In this episode, we discuss Carl's "no exit" mindset, the danger of Canadian...

About 1/9 earn a living in sales, yet most enter the workforce without any kind of sales training at all. In today's encore episode, we are diving back into the topic of sales, with Mike Bosworth, a seasoned author, and thought leader within the field. We talk about the power of stories and use cases in a sales context, what signals to look for to know whether a prospective buyer is warming up to...

Strategyzer is a content beast, with best-selling books, technology platforms, an app, online training, in-person workshops and of course, the Business Model Canvas itself, which is used by millions of entrepreneurs and enterprises around the globe. In this episode, the company’s co-founder Alan Smith, discusses how he went from the agency world, to an entrepreneur offering arguably, the most simp...

Melanie Travis, is the founder and CEO of Andie Swim, one of the fastest growing direct to consumer brands on the web. In this EP, Melanie discusses her shift into entrepreneurship from a background in film and comparative literature; the pain points surrounding the traditional women's swimwear shopping experience; the importance of a good manufacturing partner that can scale with your business; a...

Saud Juman is the founder, and former CEO of Policy Medical - a company he birthed in his mother's basement over 17 years ago. In this episode, we get into Saud's duties as a founder and then CEO, and why those two roles are very different; his motivation for selling the business; how the company prepared itself for sale; why Saud wanted an all cash deal and why he was adamant about not making spe...

Originally aired: Jan 3, 2018 In this episode, Aussie entrepreneur Brian Smith, founder of global enterprise UGG boots, shares his story about starting UGG with less than $500, and an idea to bring sheepskin to California. Brian shares his early stories about raising cash in the 80’s, why understanding finance is key, and how the universe conspires to help you reach your goals. Learn more about yo...

Jesse Horwitz is a co-founder and co-CEO at Hubble, one of America’s fastest growing direct-to-consumer e-commerce companies. Hubble is a new brand of contact lenses, founded on the basis of offering high quality, affordable lenses. Horwitz and his co-founder Ben Cogan have helped Hubble grow exponentially, and extend the brand's footprint around the world. In this episode, we get into how Hubble...

Dan Demsky, is a co-founder at Unbound Merino - one of the fastest growing direct to customer apparel brands on the web. In a world dominated by fast-fashion, Unbound is slowing things down by producing timeless, versatile pieces that are designed to last. In this episode, we discuss the company's amazing start on Indiegogo, what it took to create that first pitch video, Dan's system for selecting...

Josh Hix, is the Co-Founder and former CEO of Plated. To date, Plated has shipped millions of meals to over 95% of the United States. Now partnered with the Albertsons, the company has created the first truly omni-channel meal kit experience. In this episode, we discuss the origins of the company and the growth of the meal kit space, the company's experience on Shark Tank, the role and importance...

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...

In this very raw conversation, Brian shares openly about his life of entrepreneurship. He discusses how he convinced his father that dropping out of school to start a junk business was a good idea, how his company's unique philosophy of hiring has led to fostering a great team, and why hiring an ex-Starbucks executive turned out to be a huge failure.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

Heidi Reimer-Epp turned her passion for sustainability into Botanical PaperWorks, an award-winning business guided by environmental sustainability and practices. The company manufactures and markets eco-friendly seed paper that grows into flowers, herbs and vegetables when planted in soil. As CEO and co-founder, Heidi has overseen Botanical PaperWorks from start-up to international success story....

From T-shirts, to Golf Courses, Security Cameras, Insurance, Athletic Footwear & Apparel, and more recently, SpringFree Trampolines, Steven Holmes has put together a remarkable career. In this episode, we discuss Steven's involvement in the origins of ClubLink, his pivot into entrepreneurship, GOBA Sports Group, his experience with Guy Raz on 'How I Built This', and the ever increasing success of...

Named one of Forbes' “Top Networkers to Watch,” Jayson Gaignard is the founder of one of the world’s most exclusive events for entrepreneurs, Mastermind Talks. His invite-only 3 day retreat has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard University. Jayson has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Insider, and Tim Ferriss’s best selling book, Tools of Titans.   In this EP, we discuss Jayson's...

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...

Originally aired: March 2018 Matt Larochelle, is the co-founder of the Extreme Bean. His company is taking the art of picking to a whole new level. From pickling in a condo, this company is now selling en masse - with a jar of Extreme Bean sold every 11 seconds. In this fun episode, we discuss bootstrapping a vision, how to get a niche product into national retail, debt vs. equity, launching produ...

Tyler Handley is the Co-Founder and CEO of Inkbox - Canada's most heavily trafficked Shopify store, and a company on a mission to allow people around the world to express themselves without regret. In this episode, we talk about the creation of an entirely new business category, Inkbox's Kickstarter success, finding the right venture capital firm and how to vet different prospective venture partne...