He Monetized Fandom Before Anyone Else

February 24, 2026 0:26:29

Nathen Mazri, who I interviewed 4 years ago is a fandom-driven entrepreneur. Widely known for breaking the internet through iconic licensing ventures that include Garfield Eats and Scooby-Doo. His work has been featured in over 500 global media outlets and has generated more than 50 million impressions, and he’s built a passionate community of about 500,000 fans and fanvestors.

Nathan is the founder of EGEEZ, creator of the world’s EGEEZ Cloud, an algorithmic verification marketplace connecting fans directly to verified licenses that brings transparency and counterfeit protection to the $70 billion global licensing industry. The platform earned a Government of Canada SHRED and will debut its beta at Bridge. He also coined Egeezment, a brand new category of real estate that merges entertainment IPs with sophisticated living.

Through EGEEZ, he represents IP giants like Mr. Bean, The Smurfs, Emoji and others to build the world’s first IP-themed residential developments, a new category beyond hotels and theme parks.
He’s also the author of Arabiolosis, and founder of EGEEZ Academy, and is currently filming a documentary drama about his extraordinary entrepreneurial journey for release in 2026.

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How Ethical Brands Win at Global Scale

February 18, 2026 0:26:46

A compelling story not just about what they built, but how they built it as partners in life and in business, balancing vision, execution, and accountability at the highest level.

Isaac Langleben and Jacqueline Prehogan recognized that the global food system is broken, and pet food, often overlooked, is one of its most powerful drivers of change. Their entrepreneurial vision emerged from a search for better nutrition for their rescue dog, revealing a deeper insight: pet food sits at the intersection of global agriculture, animal welfare, and consumer trust, yet is shaped by opaque supply chains and inconsistent welfare standards. Isaac and Jacqueline saw this disconnect as both a responsibility and an opportunity to challenge industry norms and build a business aligned with nutrition, animal welfare, ethical sourcing, and transparency at scale.

Founded in 2014, Open Farm develops premium pet nutrition with thoughtfully sourced ingredients. The company pioneered ingredient traceability, enabling pet parents to see where every ingredient originates, while holding partners to rigorous third-party animal welfare and sustainability standards. As Chief Executive Officer, Isaac provides the operational discipline and systems thinking required to scale a values-led global supply chain, while Jacqueline, as Chief Brand Officer, shapes Open Farm’s purpose-driven culture and consumer trust.

Today, Open Farm feeds more than a quarter of a million pets annually and is sold direct-to-consumer and via 8,500 global retail locations. As a Certified B Corporation and one of the fastest-growing brands in the category, Open Farm demonstrates that transparency and ethics are not constraints on growth, but drivers of long-term value. Through their leadership, Isaac and Isaac are reshaping expectations within pet food and influencing how responsible food systems are built for the future. They have recently been recognized as EY Entrepreneur of the Year Canada 2025 winners.

Isaac and Jacqueline’s entrepreneurial achievements have driven them to become the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Canada winners. This is a terrific achievement, and we look forward to them representing Canada in the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™️ Awards in Monaco.

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Why Mentorship is Non-Negotiable for Leaders

February 12, 2026 0:26:19

David Pisarek combines progressive and comprehensive digital operations expertise with needs assessments, streamlining, and hands-on collaborative leadership to every project to ensure sound solutions that meet customer requirements, capture the competitive edge, and drive growth. His ultimate goal is to drive meaningful change by helping non-profits leverage digital solutions. He is also an accomplished podcast host at Wow Digital Podcast. This is a great listen for everyone but especially those in the not-for-profit sector.

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Crossing Borders in a Tariff War: The LaunchBoost Playbook from Pure Marketing

February 3, 2026 0:20:31

Crossing Borders in a Tariff War: The LaunchBoost Playbook from Pure Marketing is for Founders who need to Stop, Think, Focus & Execute is all about crossing border to the USA and beyond. The USA is such a big market that we have to realize that it’s essential for growth — even if it means building and maintaining a US presence.

The new Canada’s Entrepreneur Marketing Podcast is a new podcast show where strategy meets action, and where Canadian founders learn how to scale smarter, faster, and further.

In this first episode the CE Marketing Podcast we’re tackling one of the biggest challenges facing Canadian growth companies:

How to expand into the U.S. market — in the middle of a tariff war.

The world of cross-border business is shifting fast. Trade tensions are rewriting the rules, and what used to be a straight road south is now full of roadblocks and opportunities. That’s exactly what LaunchBoost from Pure Marketing in New Jersey is designed to solve. It’s a 90-day marketing and go-to-market system that helps Canadian founders gain measurable traction in the U.S. market. To unpack how it works — and how founders can adapt — I’m joined by two remarkable voices and leaders of the Pure Marketing Group of companies who are shaping the future of growth and innovation:

Melanie Salvador is a venture capitalist and ecosystem strategist, focused on smart city systems and investment frameworks that align capital with civic ambition. And Jared Sanborn is a business builder, strategist, and futurist who believes the best way to predict the future is to create it.

And importantly we look at this through the eyes of our own Entrepreneur marketing process. The STFE mindset — Stop, Think, Focus, Execute — is not just a process — it’s a way of leading when everything feels uncertain. And it’s a perfect method from growth founders to shape there business in new markets.

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How This Founder Is Reinventing Clean Energy

January 21, 2026 0:24:15

Arshia Jahangiri is the Founder and CEO of Solenery, a Canadian clean-energy platform built to make the transition to sustainable living effortless for homeowners, builders, and energy providers. Since founding Solenery, Arshia has led its vision to simplify how people discover, compare, and act on clean-energy incentives, turning complex data into instant, actionable insights through smart technology and design.

Born with an entrepreneurial spirit, Arshia moved to Toronto with a mission to combine creativity, business, and technology to solve real problems that matter. His journey started with a high-school patent for a rooftop energy system, evolved through graduate studies in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Queen’s University, and materialized into Solenery.

Under his leadership, Solenery has developed a suite of intelligent tools, including its Energy Insights Widget, an AI-powered system that analyzes property data, ROI, and rebates for any postal code in Canada. The company is expanding its ecosystem through Builder and Partner platforms, connecting the clean-energy industry across property owners, builders, and providers.

As a multidisciplinary founder, Arshia blends design thinking, product innovation, and market strategy to bridge the gap between sustainability and adoption. Beyond Solenery, he is building a family of brands under Brinalle Group, fostering ventures that intersect design, technology, and experience.

Arshia’s mission is simple yet ambitious: to create systems that make sustainable choices mainstream, profitable, and personal. Whether through clean energy, design innovation, or business ecosystems, his work reflects a belief that impact starts with clarity, and clarity begins with design.

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Numbers Matter—Smart Entrepreneurs Prioritize Them

December 31, 2025 0:29:34

Matt Giffen is the Founder and CEO of Bench Brewing Company in West Lincoln, Niagara. Matt has built an innovative brewery that prioritizes sustainability and conscious business practices within the beverage industry, these are topics that align well with your thoughtful discussions about craft beer.

Matt shares his journey from a 24-year banking career to founding a farmhouse brewery in Lincoln, Ontario, which opened in 2018. He explained how he combined his passion for beer with the local agricultural community, establishing a brewery that now ranks sixth among craft breweries in Ontario.

Bench Brewing is an award-winning craft beverage company dedicated to “craft beverages with a conscience.” Since 2018, they’ve been at the forefront of sustainable brewing practices, implementing innovative solutions like zero wastewater process and closed-loop water system where every drop used in brewing is repurposed to nourish our onsite hops and adjacent local farms. Matt would be happy to share insights about:

Matt has built a sustainable brewery from the ground up and implemented conscious and sustainable business practices in the beverage industry. Matt operates at the intersection of craft brewing and environmental stewardship.

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Dr. Oriuwa Fuses Medicine, Performance, and Entrepreneurship

December 23, 2025 0:31:47

Dr. Chika Oriuwa is a child of Nigerian immigrants to Canada, who experienced many challenges including racism, sexism and financial precarity on her way to realizing her dream of becoming a doctor. Upon arriving at medical school, she discovered she was the only person of colour in a class of over 300 students. This inspired her to become an entrepreneur of her own life and career and led her to become a cultural icon whose story resonates globally.

Dr. Oriuwa has been recognized internationally for her accomplishments and was named one of TIME magazine’s “Next Generation Leaders” in 2021 and was honoured with one-of-a-kind Barbie doll for her contributions as a frontline healthcare worker, Dr. Oriuwa is Her accomplishments exemplify the potential of women who harness their power to break barriers and inspire others.

She is currently touring North America with a keynote sharing her blueprint for innovation, a neuro-science driven, three-pillar framework designed to revolutionize leadership and organizational success on both an individual and organizational level for lasting impact – from boardrooms to the psychiatric emergency room and from billion-dollar problems to toddler meltdowns, Dr. Oriuwa is combining storytelling, science and strategy to unlock entrepreneurial ingenuity at home – or the boardroom.

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Growth Gets Harder, But You Get Better

December 17, 2025 0:27:32

Today, we meet Ben Taylor, the founder behind the marketing and business growth of the Beachman. It’s a great Canadian entrepreneur story. Ben is the Co-Founder of Beachman e-bikes. In 2019, Beachman’s two founders

Ben Taylor and Steve Payne had a chance encounter at a coffee shop. Ben is the creator of the Beachman name with the dream to build a wildly new electric cafe racer, and Steve, the cafe racer builder who could bring that dream to life. Ben comes from an entrepreneurial family, with parents that were co-founders of the now famous SteamWhistle Brewery. In the fall of 2020 Steve completed work on the first prototype, a modified 1979 Kawasaki KZ200, which they refer to as “Zero”. With a battery system hand-built by Steve, a modern electric drivetrain, and authentic café racer styling, the pair knew they had something special, so let’s find out more.

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From Fruit Farm Roots to Industry-Defying Winery

December 9, 2025 0:23:39

Alicia Hardman grew up on a fruit farm just down the ridge from Shale Ridge Winery and always dreamed of tying her roots to a place of her own, where craft and hospitality meet. Years later, she left a full-time job and went all-in on that vision. It wasn’t a retirement project. It was an underdog leap, capital-heavy, complex, and humbling.

Alicia says starting from the bottom meant ups and downs, tough lessons, and a lot of perseverance. But when heart and vision stay aligned, you find your way. Every bottle, every table we set, and every smile at the door is a thank-you to the people who believed with us, and to you for being part of it.

Alicia didn’t arrive with all the answers. She learned fast, sought out seasoned growers and makers, invested in the right equipment, and kept listening, to the land and to the guests. The result is a Shale Ridge Winery, Cidery and Spa. A place that feels personal: with swings, sunshine, seasonal plates, and glasses that tell the story of where they came from.

From the beginning, Alicia carried with her a deep respect for the rhythm of the land—an instinct shaped by early mornings in the orchard and long afternoons watching the seasons shift across the ridge. That upbringing taught her that good things grow slowly, with intention, and only when nurtured with patience. It’s a philosophy she wove into every decision, from the varieties planted to the way guests are welcomed through the gates. She wanted Shale Ridge to feel like the kind of place where people could breathe a little deeper, settle into the moment, and reconnect with something real.

As the dream took shape, the landscape itself became a silent partner in the journey. Rolling rows of vines and fruit trees framed the horizon, while the textured shale of the ridge—once a familiar backdrop from her childhood—began to inspire the identity of the winery. Its layered, resilient character mirrored her own path: strong, weathered, and quietly beautiful. Alicia often says that the land tells its story to anyone willing to listen, and she built spaces that invite guests to do exactly that—spaces meant for lingering, laughing, and letting the outside world slow down for a while.

Guests who visit today often describe the experience as warm, effortless, and immersive. The swings overlooking the vineyard aren’t just a novelty; they embody the playful spirit Alicia wanted to preserve, a reminder that joy and craftsmanship can coexist. Seasonal plates arrive at the table with colours that echo the nearby orchards and gardens, creating a seamless link between what’s poured, what’s plated, and what’s grown just steps away. And every glass—whether wine or cider—carries a sense of place shaped by years of dedication, risk, and unwavering belief.

In many ways, Shale Ridge stands as both a tribute to her roots and a celebration of what can happen when someone chooses not only to dream, but to follow that dream into the unknown with courage and heart.

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From Engineer to Entrepreneur: The Leap That Changed Everything

November 28, 2025 0:36:04

Anslem’s insightful and deeply thoughtful perspectives for engineering entrepreneurs are absolutely terrific, offering valuable, experience-based guidance for those aspiring to navigate complex technical and business landscapes. What it takes to step out of multi-national engineering companies to start up your own venture… so interesting, especially when viewed through the lens of someone who has actually lived through the intense pressures, difficult crossroads, and exhilarating opportunities of such a transition.

Anselm Viswasam graduated from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) with a degree in Electrical Engineering and is a professional engineer licensed in the province of Ontario. This strong and academically rigorous foundation provided him with the technical depth, analytical discipline, and professional credibility necessary for a successful engineering career. He also holds an MBA in Technology Management and New Ventures Development, from Queens University, in Canada, a program that equipped him with comprehensive business strategy skills, innovative leadership training, and entrepreneurial awareness that would later support his transition into the startup world.

Anselm co-founded Hyperion in July 2015 – with the intention of developing the first implementation of a distributed sensing solution for the electric grid. This bold and forward-looking vision was rooted in his commitment to improving grid reliability, efficiency, and intelligence. Essentially, Hyperion brings assets to life by taking each of the elements that comprise a high voltage asset and adding intelligence to it, enabling real-time monitoring, data-driven insights, and predictive capabilities. In essence, a smart grid is smart because it is made up of smart assets, and Hyperion’s transformative approach helps utilities modernize their infrastructure with cutting-edge, field-ready technology.

Prior to this, Anselm successfully led ABB’s Substation Automation Products Division for North America and in this role, he was responsible for sales of Transmission and Sub-transmission products to Utilities in Canada, the US, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. This demanding leadership position required a deep understanding of complex power systems, cross-border market dynamics, and customer-specific technical needs. Anselm spent over 14 years at General Electric (Multilin – substation protection and control products) holding positions in engineering, operations, marketing and in new product development. These diverse roles allowed him to build a well-rounded professional portfolio and understand how engineering innovation moves from concept to commercialization. He was an integral part of the team that developed the world’s first microprocessor protection relays – which are now ubiquitous across the power grid globally, marking a groundbreaking technological shift. He also worked in GE’s Wire & Cable group and developed cables for niche applications such as mineshaft power cable, cable buses and high performance fluid filled cable systems, showcasing his technical creativity and problem-solving capabilities.

Anselm prides himself on being a true “international” Canadian. Born in Sierra Leone, West Africa to parents of ethnic Sri Lankan origin, his first ten years were spent growing up in Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Tanzania, immersing him in diverse cultures and global perspectives. After a short stint in boarding school in the United Kingdom, his father retired from the United Nations and moved back to Sri Lanka. The ensuing civil war in Sri Lanka forced Anselm and his parents to immigrate to Canada in 1989 – 35 years and counting as a Canadian!

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