Startup Canada Podcast: 17-year-old Alex Gillis on entering the Dragons’ Den

Startup Canada Alex Gillis

A $50,000 deal with Next Gen Den Dragons Harley Finkelstein and Nicole Verkindt has 17-year-old Alex Gillis thinking about more than grades, friends, and getting through the awkward teenage years.

“I see too many youth trying to fit the mold and they lose sight of what their true aspirations are.”

As the co-founder and CEO of Bitness, a location analytics tool revolutionizing how retail stores learn about their customers, and as the co-founder of Hoist Halifax, a monthly meetup for teens interested in entrepreneurship, design and programming, Gillis is empowering his peers to shed conformity for creativity.

In this episode of Startup Canada Podcast, host Rivers Corbett chats with Gillis, winner of the 2015 Startup Canada Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, on balancing business and school, empowering classmates, and plans for the future.

The Startup Canada Podcast Show is a production of Startup Canada, a grassroots, entrepreneur-led movement to bring together, celebrate, and give a voice to Canada’s entrepreneurship community. On the podcast, award-winning entrepreneur host Rivers Corbett speaks with the movers and shakers of Canada’s entrepreneurship community to give a glimpse into the future of business, and share insights on everything from social innovation to the future of work, investing, and why we need to think bigger to take our businesses global. Join Rivers Corbett for new episodes every Tuesday airing at 10 AM ET for lessons, trends, and opportunities in entrepreneurship from Vancouver to Fredericton; and Israel to Peru.

You can find every episode of The Startup Canada Podcast Show at www.startupcan.ca/podcasts/.

Douglas Soltys

Douglas Soltys

Douglas Soltys is the Editor-in-Chief of BetaKit and founder of BetaKit Incorporated. He has worked for a few failed companies and written about many more. He spends too much time on the Internet.

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