Harley Finkelstein (born November 8, 1983) is a Canadian businessperson, entrepreneur and public speaker. He is best known as the president of
Shopify
Shopify Inc., stylized as ''shopify'', headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, operates an e-commerce platform for retail point-of-sale systems that offers payments, marketing, shipping, inventory management, transaction management, and customer eng ...
.
CBC CBC may refer to:
Media
* Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico
* Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster
** CBC Television
** CBC Radio One
** CBC Music
** ...
,Dragons' Den
''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it ...
, Next Gen Den.
Early life and education
Finkelstein was born in Montreal, Quebec
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Canada.McGill University
McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
.[ He later transferred to ]Concordia University
Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...
and received a bachelor's degree in economics.[ Finkelstein then attended the ]University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...
where he founded the JD/MBA Student Society and the Canadian MBA Oath while working towards his Juris Doctor and MBA.
Career
After completing his JD and MBA, Finkelstein worked at a law firm in Toronto for a year. In 2009, Finkelstein met with Tobias Lütke
Tobias Lütke (born 1980) is a German-Canadian entrepreneur and racing driver who is the co-founder and CEO of Shopify, an e-commerce company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He competes in the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship driving in LMP2 f ...
, the co-founder and CEO of Shopify, to discuss opportunities for the company,[ and became one of the first merchants on Shopify.][ The C100 is an organization that supports the Canadian technology community and is a bridge between Canada and ]Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
. Finkelstein serves as a mentor and advisor to various organizations and incubators including Felicis Ventures, FounderFuel, Invest Ottawa and CIPPIC.[ That same year, he was inducted into the Order of Ottawa by Mayor Jim Watson.
In December 2017, Finkelstein joined the board of directors for CBC.][
]
Other activities
In November 2021, Finkelstein and DavidsTea's cofounder David Segal launched an e-commerce tea retailer called Firebelly Tea. The duo also started a podcast titled ''Big Shot'' in 2023.
Awards
Finkelstein was named Angel investor
An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible de ...
of the Year at the Canadian Startup Awards in March 2017.
In 2017 Finkelstein was awarded Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.
Personal life and philanthropy
Finkelstein is Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and is the grandson of Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
survivors. He is married to Lindsay Taub, a psychotherapist and entrepreneur, and they have two daughters. The four of them live in Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. In 2018 it was announced that Finkelstein was donating $2,000,000 to establish the new Finkelstein Chabad Jewish Centre in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa. After attending the Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...
centre when he was a student at the University of Ottawa and realizing that there was not enough room to fit all the students who wished to attend events, he promised the Rabbi he would donate to pay him back for the generosity of his family in welcoming Jewish students in Ottawa.
References
External links
Harley Finkelstein for ''The Globe and Mail''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finkelstein, Harley
Businesspeople from Montreal
Businesspeople from Ottawa
Canadian Jews
Concordia University alumni
Living people
Canadian chief operating officers
1983 births