A bit about me, what I have built, and the timeline so far.
I am Connor Laskowski. This is my website: a bit about me, what I have built, where I have been, and what I am working on next.
No. 01 / About
I am Connor Laskowski from Guelph, Ontario. I grew up playing competitive hockey, started A Cut Above Yard Services at 13, and learned business by actually doing the work: quoting jobs, serving customers, fixing mistakes, and showing up again the next day.
I am heading to McMaster University's Integrated Business & Humanities program in fall 2026. Right now I am building A Cut Above, FoundFirst Digital, CaseAce, and whatever project teaches me the next thing.
Based in
Guelph / Hamilton, ON
Studying
McMaster IBH
ACAYS
85+ weekly / 1,000+ served
No. 02 / The Path
Sports came first. Then the business. Then the projects, the charity work, and the next chapter at McMaster.
Rep hockey with the Guelph Gryphons, from BB through AA, built the work ethic that later carried into business. Sports taught me to show up, compete, take coaching, and keep going when nobody is watching.
Founded A Cut Above in Guelph at 13. It started with flyers, lawn work, and figuring things out the hard way. Now it serves 85+ weekly properties and has served 1,000+ total properties.
acutaboveys.caBuilt through school seasons and summer days: quoting, scheduling, service quality, customer communication, SEO, invoices, equipment, mistakes, and repeat customers. In 2025, A Cut Above was recognized with a Zensurance Small Business Grant.
Guelph Mercury featureRepresented Canada at the U16 level and helped win gold in Slovakia in July 2024. Pressure got simpler after that: prepare harder than the moment demands.
Served as CFO for Beyond Borders and helped with the Evolve Gala, a student-led charity event supporting SickKids. The group set out with a major fundraising goal and ended up raising more than expected.
Beyond Borders articleStarted building websites for local businesses after proving SEO and conversion work on my own service business. Projects include FoundFirst, GuelphHomeServices.ca, and BeyondBordersEvolve.ca.
foundfirst.caBuilt and shipped CaseAce, an AI tool for DECA students. It helps students prepare faster, study better, and turn competitive-event prep into something more useful than scattered docs and last-minute panic.
caseace.appHeading to McMaster in fall 2026 for Integrated Business & Humanities while continuing to build A Cut Above, FoundFirst, CaseAce, and whatever comes next.
No. 03 / Work
Some are live. Some shipped. Some are paused. This is the honest board, not a fake portfolio.
Lawn Care & Property Services
LiveGuelph lawn care and property services founded in 2020. Owner-operated, locally ranked, serving 85+ weekly properties and 1,000+ total properties through reliable service and direct communication.
Visit ACAYS
Local Web Studio
LiveA web design and local SEO studio for service businesses. Built around a practical promise: sites should help people trust you, find you, and contact you.
Visit FoundFirst
AI Tools for DECA Students
ShippedA shipped product for DECA students. CaseAce helps with prep, studying, practice, and turning competitive-event material into something easier to work with.
View projectLocal Directory
LiveA local home-services directory for Guelph homeowners, built around search intent, service pages, and connecting people with trusted local operators.
Visit siteCharity Event Site
LiveThe website for Beyond Borders Evolve, supporting the student-led charity gala work connected to Beyond Borders and SickKids fundraising.
Visit siteInternal Software
BuildingA mobile-first CRM concept for quoting, jobs, invoices, expenses, and service-business admin, shaped by the exact mess of running ACAYS day to day.
Physical Product
DoneA toe-spacer product experiment. Useful for learning sourcing, packaging, margins, and fulfillment. Finalized as an experiment, not an active focus.
Community Concept
PausedA volunteer marketplace idea connecting students who need hours with local organizations that need reliable help. Strong idea, currently paused.
Education Tool
PausedA full suite of tools for teachers, built around spending more time on students and less time on backend work, prep, formatting, and admin.
No. 04 / Athletics
Sports came before the businesses. They still shape the way I work: standards, stamina, preparation, and the ability to keep moving when no one is impressed yet.
Column 01
Years of early practices and long seasons taught role clarity, toughness, and accountability before I had language for any of it.
Column 02
Gold in Slovakia in July 2024 with Team Canada U16. The jersey raises the standard because the work represents more than you.
Column 03
The cleanest feedback loop I know. You either did the miles or you did not. That honesty carries into business.
Column 04
University, training, running, building. The arena changes, but the standard stays useful.
Training Log
Running, training, and the quiet miles between everything else. The public profile is linked here; latest activities appear once the Strava API connection is turned on.
Open StravaNo login-wall embed here.
Strava blocks recent activity embeds for logged-out visitors. This panel is ready for the official Strava API connection, so it can show latest activities directly once the API keys are in Vercel.
Profile
Public
Embed
Blocked
Fix
API
No. 05 / Operating Principles
Rule 01
Launch, learn, tighten, repeat. I am still working on this one, but waiting until everything feels ready usually just means waiting forever.
Rule 02
Customers, invoices, routes, systems, products, follow-up. Real businesses are built in the details.
Rule 03
Reputation, skill, relationships, health, and capital. The good stuff gets built over years.
Rule 04
You can study something forever, but actually doing it teaches faster. Most of what I know came from trying, messing up, and fixing it.
Rule 05
Hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard. Sports proved it first, then business proved it again.
Rule 06
Every season should make the next version sharper: better systems, better habits, better judgment.
No. 06 / Facts & Sources
The short, source-backed version. No inflated titles, just the facts that identify the right Connor Laskowski.
Full name
Connor Laskowski
Based in
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Known for
A Cut Above Yard Services, FoundFirst Digital, CaseAce
Education
McMaster Integrated Business & Humanities, fall 2026
Athletics
Guelph Gryphons rep hockey; Team Canada U16 ball hockey
Community
CFO, Beyond Borders Evolve Gala
No. 07 / Contact
Send it over. I am interested in local business, student products, athletics, community work, and projects with real customers.