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Author Archives: Leila Pejman

Lessons Learned: Globe & Mail’s Small Business Summit 

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On May 3rd, The Globe & Mail – Canada’s leading newspaper, hosted a Small Business Summit in Toronto at the Intercontinental Hotel. The day was filled with inspirational talks and key lessons valuable for any small business. Here are some takeaways:

Opening Keynote: Harley Finkelstein, COO of Shopify
Transforming a small business into a global giant

Harley went from being a DJ to starting a t-shirt company to studying law and earning an MBA. His involvement with Shopify began in its infant years; he connected with to one of Shopify’s founders Tobias Lutke at a Meet-up like setting.

Have you read our Creative Culture Series on Shopify? At Globe’s Small Business Summit, Harley discusses the importance of building a great culture in order to achieve success. Here are a few highlights from his presentation:  Continue reading →

Creative Cultures: Wave

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In our Creative Cultures series, our writers day inside companies to learn how hiring, onboarding and company culture play a role in employee happiness. From startups to design firms and all in-between, we’re pulling back the curtain on what it’s like to work in inventive and productive environments. Today, writer Leila Pejman takes us through a day at Wave.

Toronto’s Wave is the unsung hero of Canada’s Financial Technology startup scene. A humble company that has transformed the way small businesses manage their accounting and finances, they are now expanding into the small business lending space.

Wave’s journey began with a handful of people in a sublet corner of the basement in a Leslieville building. Now, it has 90 employees and occupies a full floor of the same building. They have 1.9 million customers in 200+ countries, with 2,000 new subscribers joining every day. It has tracked 236 million transactions totalling $80 billion in income and expenses in its five-year history. Continue reading →

Creative Cultures | Uberflip: Zen and the art of H.U.S.T.L.E

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In our Creative Cultures series, our writers day inside companies to learn how hiring, onboarding and company culture play a role in employee happiness. From startups to design firms and all in-between, we’re pulling back the curtain on what it’s like to work in inventive and productive environments. Today, writer Leila Pejman takes us through a day at Uberflip.

Zen.

It’s how I’d describe my first experience at the Uberflip’s Toronto office. With its cement floors and exposed brick and beams, the open-concept space is filled with natural light – perfect for the yoga class that starts every Friday morning. While flowing through a sun salutation, you can’t help being distracted by the giant, painted wall illustrating the company’s values. “I am H.U.S.T.L.E.” gets the most exposure.

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It stands for: heart, unique, skill, tech, lean, and entrepreneurial. Yoav Schwartz, co-founder and CEO, explains that to be part of the hustle, you must be authentic. Continue reading →

Lessons Learned: Art of Sales Toronto, 2016 edition

Art-0f-Sales-Toronto-2016-Lessons-Learned

The Art of Sales conference wrapped up its Toronto edition on January 26, with an impressive lineup that included:

  • Daniel Pink – #1 New York Times bestselling author of To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others,  A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future and Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
  • Keith Ferrazzi – #1 New York Times bestselling author of Who’s Got Your Back and Never Eat Alone
  • Richard Robbins – Co-Founder & CEO of Richard Robbins International and author of Deliver the Unexpected & Six Other New Truths for Business Success
  • Mitch Joel – Bestselling author of CTRL ALT Delete: Reboot Your Business.
    Reboot Your Life. Your Future Depends On It.     and Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business To Everyone.
  • Ian Chamandy – Co-Author of Why Should I Choose You? and founding partner of Blueprint Business Architecture

Here are the key lessons from each presenter:

Mitch Joel

His speech focused on consumer behaviours and how to attract new customers. He identified three main points:

Transformation: Not on an external level but internally. What tools are you providing your sales team and organization to help them transform?

Innovation: Asking your staff to be innovative is like asking them find a cure for cancer (an analogy Mitch provided); it’s out of reach. Discover new services (like digital) that add value to your customer and become new streams of revenue. Focus on value instead of energy on a campaign to aim for more sales. For example, iTunes became a revenue model for Apple by offering value to their customers. Continue reading →

Creative Cultures: At Shopify, fit trumps skill

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In our Creative Cultures series, our writers day inside companies to learn how hiring, onboarding and company culture play a role in employee happiness. From startups to design firms and all in-between, we’re pulling back the curtain on what it’s like to work in inventive and productive environments. Today, writer Leila Pejman takes us through a day at Shopify.

Get Sh*t Done.

It’s one of Shopify’s core values, and it’s helping them become one of Canada’s fastest growing companies. In order, their other core values are: (2) building of the long term, (3) finding simple and elegant solutions, (4) acting like an owner, and (5) thriving on change.

(Fun Fact: the expletive was kept in their recent IPO filings, a first for Wall Street.) Continue reading →