"Canada is at the forefront. Yes, mistakes are being made, but at least they're doing something. The US is doing nothing. And at the end of the day, these are American companies that are destroying the world."
Post.News founder Noam Bardin shares what it's like trying to build a new social network "in public" in 2023 and why the Big Tech platforms only fear regulation before making a pitch to Canadians looking to return news to their social media.
Sponsored by TechExit.io, taking place October 25 in Toronto.
"There is especially in tech still a stigma around being a parent and being a contributing member of a company."
Founders Erin Bury (Willful) and Marie Chevrier (Sampler) join to discuss the dumb restrictions on entrepreneurs trying to receive parental leave benefits, plus tips (and encouragement) for entrepreneurs preparing to ship a new bundle of joy.
Sponsored by Zoholics Canada 2023, Zoho’s premier user conference. Use the code "BETAKIT25" for a 25% discount!
We know you love VCs on the BetaKit Podcast. So here's an all-VC episode of the BetaKit Podcast.
Featuring: Chris Neumann (Panache Ventures), Matt Cohen (Ripple Ventures), John Ruffolo (Maverix Private Equity), Michelle Scarborough (Thrive Venture Fund), Satraj Bambra (Round13's Digital Asset Fund).
Sponsored by Zoholics Canada 2023, Zoho’s premier user conference. Use the code "BETAKIT25" for a 25% discount!
"One of the things that's funniest in tech is the complete and utter lack of self-awareness."
Comedian and podcaster Alexis Gay joins to share her transition from working in tech to creating content that perfectly articulates the absurdities of working in tech.
This episode originally aired on October 21, 2022.
"I don't think our entrepreneurs are not risk takers; I just don't think our culture is set up to accept those risk takers."
It's a Canadian tech summer vibe check as the gang answers submitted listener questions: on the low government trust battery in the wake of another cabinet shuffle, cleantech tax credit delays, and a Hypergrowth program designed to pick winners; whether or not Canada can handle 10,000 H-1B visa applicants given our national housing crisis; and yes, whether or not Canadian entrepreneurs are taking risks and solving big problems. We also reveal our wardrobe and video game picks to ensure a Hot Tech Summer.
Sponsored by Dynabook. Make smart business moves with Dynabook Tecra A40 & A50 laptops.
"For a lot of Indigenous storytellers, there's a lot of interest in those [tech] platforms, because those entities haven't said no to our community for 50 years."
Indigenous content creators are caught between a rock and a hard place with the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act—it's sadly familiar territory.
Award-winning Anishinaabe writer, broadcaster, and arts leader Jesse Wente joins to evaluate the options offered by Big Tech, traditional media, and the Canadian government before providing strong prescriptions better suited to the situation.
Sponsored by Dynabook. Make smart business moves with Dynabook Tecra A40 & A50 laptops.
"The BetaKit Podcast is very much a pro-dog podcast."
Dr. Theresa Johnson (Airbnb), Harper Reed (General Galactic Corporation), and Neha Khera (2048 Ventures) join for a wide-ranging conversation on shooting particles at satellites (for science!), founder-market fit, working for Barack Obama, when to quit, shutting down your company, angel and early-stage investing, and building jetpacks for dogs (for science!). Recorded in front of a live audience on the main stage of Startupfest 2023.
Sponsored by Palette Skills.
"People in Canada are at their wits' end about areas of our economy having a lack of competition and how it impacts their pocketbook."
The Competition Bureau is the last line of defence for enforcing competition law in Canada. But our system is designed so that the line keeps moving. Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell joins to discuss the tools and powers that would help his Bureau prevent Canada's economy from becoming an endless series of three companies in a trench coat.
Sponsored by Palette Skills.
"Something else that's unique about the Calgary ecosystem...we're hungry. We're really, really hungry."
James Lochrie (Thin Air Labs) and Brett Colvin (Goodlawyer) join for an Alberta tech vibe check, discussing the recent election, big Q1 2023 funding news, and the value of community building.
Sponsored by Palette Skills. Apply now for a transformative 6-week tech sales training program.
"Unfortunately, there's a long history over the last decade that I tend to lean into controversies around any event that we're holding anywhere in the world, especially four weeks out, because the volume of tickets that are booked locally is highest in the final weeks."
BetaKit's one-on-one interview with Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave on the eve of Collison 2023 after the tech conference announced a (one-year) return to Toronto for 2024.
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"They're trying to invent the next product category—that's what they want to do. They want to have some sort of hardware to push into the future. They just haven't convinced me that this really is the future yet."
Apple just announced the most impressive—and expensive—AR/VR/MR device ever made. But who is the device for and how will they use it? MobileSyrup editor-in-chief Patrick O'Rourke joins to answer these questions fresh off of strapping Apple's spacial computer to his face.
Sponsored by Goodlawyer, your one-stop shop for all your corporate, commercial, and IP legal needs.
"We are in a time of the worst health care crisis we've seen in Canada. It is really close to a collapse of the system across the country."
Brett Belchetz (Maple) and Alexandra Greenhill (Careteam Technologies) join to diagnose the failings of Canada's health care system before offering a prescription. How can innovators help? Can a balance be struck between public and private care? The doctors will see you now.
Sponsored by Goodlawyer, your one-stop shop for all your corporate, commercial, and IP legal needs.
“That is a deeply unhealthy way to live and to work and it’s ultimately not a successful way to sustain a publication.”
CANADALAND news editor Jonathan Goldsbie joins to discuss the rampant demise of digital media publications launched in the 2000s and how they compare to the slow death of traditional media. Advice for aspiring young journalists comes mixed with an investigation of the ideal media business model in 2023.
Sponsored by Goodlawyer, your one-stop shop for all your corporate, commercial, and IP legal needs.
"This announcement communicated two things: this thing we're getting rid of isn't primary to our mission—it's a side quest, we don't actually care about this; and we have a cultural problem at our company with who we've hired and what they're focused on."
Madeline Stone, retail and e-commerce writer for Business Insider, joins to discuss the future of Shopify's "main quest" after cutting staff and selling off its logistics division. Co-hosts Rob & Doug then take over to discuss whether or not Shopify is the victim of Canada's tall poppy syndrome.
Sponsored by Goodlawyer, your one-stop shop for all your corporate, commercial, and IP legal needs.
"I don't necessarily know if the government understands what an innovation strategy is."
Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) president Ben Bergen joins to answer listener-submitted questions about: the Canada Innovation Corporation, open banking, SR&ED reform, and why the feds are so behind on so many innovation files.
Warning: listening to this podcast could be hazardous to your health while playing any "innovation policy" drinking games.
Sponsored by Goodlawyer, your one-stop shop for all your corporate, commercial, and IP legal needs.
"Once Apple showed up, BlackBerry had to do everything right and get on it on the double. And they did everything wrong."
"And for whatever reason we thought, oh, there's something to this story that feels funny to us."
Losing the Signal co-author Sean Silcoff and BlackBerry producer and co-writer Matthew Miller join to discuss Canada's former tech darling ahead of the forthcoming major motion picture release.
Sponsored by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Read the Deal Points Report: Venture Capital Financings.
"The goal here is not that Canada is the largest market for AI in the world—it's never going to be that. But if we make it the most willing to try new solutions, or to work with startups, that's where we might have an opportunity."
Clément Bourgogne, Chief Operating Officer at Scale AI, joins to discuss Canada's limitations and opportunities when it comes to AI, and why his organization is more focused on supply chains than generative AI.
Sponsored by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Read the Deal Points Report: Venture Capital Financings.
"So this is the big pitch, right? There are all of these problems in the transport system; we are going to invent these new technologies that will solve it."
Flavio Volpe (Project Arrow, APMA) and Paris Marx (Road to Nowhere) join for a conversation on electric vehicles (EVs) and what the future of transportation in Canada might look like.
Sponsored by Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP. Read the Deal Points Report: Venture Capital Financings.
"Nobody is cheering you on for reaching the top of Everest if you don't make it back down to base camp."
Matt Cohen, Managing Partner at Ripple Ventures and host of the Tank Talks podcast, joins to unpack the complicated spot Canadian startups find themselves in.
Sponsored by Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP. Read the Deal Points Report: Venture Capital Financings.