Harley Finkelstein is a Canadian businessperson, entrepreneur and public speaker. He is best known as the president of Shopify. He is a board member of CBC, and an advisor to both OMERS Ventures and Felicis Ventures. He is also a Dragon on CBC Dragons' Den, Next Gen Den.

Early life and education

Finkelstein was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At 17, he founded a T-shirt company while attending

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. He later transferred to

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

and received a bachelor's degree in economics. Finkelstein then attended the University of Ottawa 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 "Tobi" Lütke is the billionaire founder and CEO of Shopify, an e-commerce company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He has been part of the core team of the Ruby on Rails framework and has created open source libraries such as Active Me ...

, the co-founder and CEO of Shopify, to discuss opportunities for the company, and became one of the first merchants on Shopify. Finkelstein was hired soon after and was named Shopify's Chief Platform Officer. In December 2014, Finkelstein was appointed a member of the C100 board. 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 serves as 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 areas San Mateo County ...

. Finkelstein serves as a mentor and advisor to various organizations and incubators including Felicis Ventures, FounderFuel, Invest Ottawa and CIPPIC. In January 2016, Finkelstein was named COO of Shopify. 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. In September 2020, Finkelstein was appointed Shopify President.

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 for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...

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 and is the grandson of

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

survivors. He is married to Lindsay Taub, who is also Jewish, and they have two daughters. The four of them live in

New Edinburgh New Edinburgh is a neighbourhood in Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located to the northeast of the downtown core. It is bordered on the west by the Rideau River, to the north by the Ottawa River, to the south by Bee ...

. In 2018 it was announced that Finkelstein was donating $500,000 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 an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...

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. Finkelstein has spoken about, and uses the concept of

Ikigai is a Japanese concept referring to something that gives a person a sense of purpose, a reason for living. Meaning and etymology The Oxford English Dictionary defines as "a motivating force; something or someone that gives a person a sense of ...

''.''

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 Chief operating officers Year of birth missing (living people)