Harley Finkelstein

And by the end of university, this is 2005, dozens and dozens of universities across the country were buying t-shirts from me and I was able to build a real business doing it. It was remarkable.

You mentioned earlier that my parents with the business card brought entrepreneurship to me. It wasn't that my parents were necessarily entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial. It's that my dad's an immigrant. My dad came from Eastern Europe to Canada in the 50s. My grandparents, his parents were Holocaust survivors. When they came to Canada, they were very poor. They didn't speak the language.

You mentioned earlier that my parents with the business card brought entrepreneurship to me. It wasn't that my parents were necessarily entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial. It's that my dad's an immigrant. My dad came from Eastern Europe to Canada in the 50s. My grandparents, his parents were Holocaust survivors. When they came to Canada, they were very poor. They didn't speak the language.

They had no money. So the only job that my paternal grandfather was able to have in Canada, in the New World, in his nomenclature, was he was able to start a little business. He was an egg merchant. He sold eggs at a local farmer's market. He didn't call it entrepreneurship. He called it survival.

They had no money. So the only job that my paternal grandfather was able to have in Canada, in the New World, in his nomenclature, was he was able to start a little business. He was an egg merchant. He sold eggs at a local farmer's market. He didn't call it entrepreneurship. He called it survival.

He knew that he wanted to put food on the table or had to put food on the table, had to put a roof over the heads of my father and my grandmother and my father's siblings. And so entrepreneurship wasn't this, what it is today, which is follow your dreams, build something with great desire and passion, something with great meaning. He was passionate about surviving.

He knew that he wanted to put food on the table or had to put food on the table, had to put a roof over the heads of my father and my grandmother and my father's siblings. And so entrepreneurship wasn't this, what it is today, which is follow your dreams, build something with great desire and passion, something with great meaning. He was passionate about surviving.

not passionate about the entrepreneurial venture themselves. And so I think the fortunate opportunity that I had was my parents didn't look at entrepreneurship as a luxury, as this creative outlet. They viewed it as a way to solve problems because that's what they saw their parents using it for as well.

not passionate about the entrepreneurial venture themselves. And so I think the fortunate opportunity that I had was my parents didn't look at entrepreneurship as a luxury, as this creative outlet. They viewed it as a way to solve problems because that's what they saw their parents using it for as well.

So I finished undergrad college and a mentor of mine, I've always had really great mentors in my life since I was a kid. Usually the group of mentors each has one, I don't know, call it a superpower that I really want to copy or really want to emulate. What I realized was there is no one person that exists on the planet who I want to copy the entirety of them.

So I finished undergrad college and a mentor of mine, I've always had really great mentors in my life since I was a kid. Usually the group of mentors each has one, I don't know, call it a superpower that I really want to copy or really want to emulate. What I realized was there is no one person that exists on the planet who I want to copy the entirety of them.

But I like one aspect of what they do. I like the way they parent. They're great mom or dads. Or they're great spouses. They have a great relationship with their wife or husband or their life partner. They're in incredible shape. They get to do crazy athletic challenges. Or the way that they articulate themselves is so interesting and so compelling. So I had a mentor of mine who convinced me that

But I like one aspect of what they do. I like the way they parent. They're great mom or dads. Or they're great spouses. They have a great relationship with their wife or husband or their life partner. They're in incredible shape. They get to do crazy athletic challenges. Or the way that they articulate themselves is so interesting and so compelling. So I had a mentor of mine who convinced me that

Well, the t-shirt business was a good business that that wasn't ever going to lead to having a large enough impact. And the t-shirt business was a good business, but it wasn't going to change an industry. It wasn't going to allow me to build something that I really wanted to build, which is something that is multi-generational and incredible. And he convinced me to apply to law school.

Well, the t-shirt business was a good business that that wasn't ever going to lead to having a large enough impact. And the t-shirt business was a good business, but it wasn't going to change an industry. It wasn't going to allow me to build something that I really wanted to build, which is something that is multi-generational and incredible. And he convinced me to apply to law school.

The idea was... I should apply to law school not to become a lawyer, but rather to become a better entrepreneur. And he was a lawyer, and he thought that law school would be like finishing school for me as an entrepreneur. I'd learn how to write and think and articulate myself and do all these things that maybe I didn't really have at that particular time when I was in college.

The idea was... I should apply to law school not to become a lawyer, but rather to become a better entrepreneur. And he was a lawyer, and he thought that law school would be like finishing school for me as an entrepreneur. I'd learn how to write and think and articulate myself and do all these things that maybe I didn't really have at that particular time when I was in college.

And he happened to be teaching law school at the University of Ottawa. And so I applied to one law school. It was just the University of Ottawa. I applied there, took the LSAT, fortunately got in, and I moved to Ottawa in 2005 to begin law school.

And he happened to be teaching law school at the University of Ottawa. And so I applied to one law school. It was just the University of Ottawa. I applied there, took the LSAT, fortunately got in, and I moved to Ottawa in 2005 to begin law school.

And I realized when I got there that this t-shirt business was never going to survive because ultimately it requires me going and meeting these student council people that were buying t-shirts face-to-face. My entire unfair advantage was I was selling t-shirts to students as a student myself. The business model just broke if I had to go to class.