Catching Up with Ben Tanenbaum ’21: From Campus Start-Up to World Traveller

What started as selling prints out of the trunk of a car has turned into a growing business and a ticket to see the world.

We recently caught up with Ben Tanenbaum '21, the ambitious founder of Freshman Prints and a passionate world traveller. Ben recently returned to Toronto after an incredible journey exploring the globe. 

"The poster company is actually my eighth business venture," Ben laughs. "I’ve always had something on the go, but I never thought the posters would be the most successful idea. I’ve learned that progress comes from putting ideas into the world, not waiting for the perfect one.” 

That willingness to try paid off in a big way. Ben and his co-founder, Leo, launched Freshman Prints during his third year at Dalhousie University. As an Entrepreneurship student with a knack for spotting gaps in the market, Ben realized Dalhousie lacked something his friends at Western, Queen’s, and McGill took for granted: a campus poster sale.

“It’s something every student wants,” Ben says. After securing a wholesale supplier in Montreal, the duo used their social networks to spread the word.

The response was positive. In their very first year, Freshman Prints visited schools around Halifax. The business's steady growth led it to expand across Atlantic Canada, reaching nine universities and selling over 3,000 posters. This year, Ben and Leo are aiming even higher, with plans to reach 15 universities across Canada.

It is exactly this entrepreneurial success that has granted Ben the ultimate luxury: flexibility.

When Ben graduated from Dalhousie in May 2025, he and a group of friends kicked off a summer-long adventure, beginning with a 10-day Birthright trip to Israel. From there, Ben’s itinerary reads like a travel magazine - camping through Southern Japan, riding high-speed trains across mainland China, surfing and diving in the Philippines, hiking volcanoes in Indonesia, and motorbiking through Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia.

By September, Ben was back in Toronto managing Freshman Prints, but the travel bug had bitten. Just a few months later, he was off again, this time to Australia, then to Central Asia to join a volunteer program, pairing his love for exploration with helping others.

While in Sri Lanka, he volunteered for two weeks, teaching English and fully immersing himself in the culture of a Buddhist monastery. Next was Delhi, India, where a stint as an English tutor quickly evolved into a unique opportunity to provide medical assistance in remote villages. His timing also allowed him to experience the vibrant colors of the Holi festival, marking the arrival of spring.

Ben’s final stop was Nepal, where he lived alongside monks in another monastery, continued his English teaching, and capped off his rewarding volunteer program with a trek in the Himalayas.

Reflecting on his whirlwind year, Ben credits his unconventional path with shifting his worldview. “Travelling has given me perspective on the many ways to live life," he says. "You don’t have to follow the straight and narrow path.”

With 15 campuses on the horizon for Freshman Prints and a passport full of stamps, Ben is living proof of exactly that.