“Maybe it’s not quite good enough to just be a collision space. Maybe we have to add a new capability to the arsenal.”
Matthew Lombardi, new Managing Director of the new OneEleven, joins to discuss the tech hub’s new focus on talent upskilling, and what it means to run a “collision space” in the midst of Canada’s third wave.
"We want to make a 10-year vision into a two-and-a-half-year vision with money."
Flinks founder and president Frédérick Lavoie joins to explain how his growing Montréal-based startup can become a North American FinTech leader with better tech and the right culture.
Produced with support from TWG.
"'I think General Assembly needs to get into e-commerce and food tech.' And that was the moment that changed everything."
General Assembly Pizza CEO and founder Ali Khan Lalani joins to describe his company's remarkable journey from pizza to Pizza-as-a-Service across North America.
Produced with support from TWG.
"I will eat my shirt if they don't."
In celebration (?) of one year of Black Swan, co-hosts Douglas Soltys and Rob Kenedi are joined by producer Kattie Laur to answer listener questions and reflect on what's been learned from a COVID-focused podcast.
Sponsored by Cisco Designed. Produced with support from TWG.
"Our expectations as consumers have fundamentally shifted. There's a new gold standard in town."
Retail Prophet Reilly Stephens joins to discuss how COVID has shifted retail strategy, which brands are succeeding, and how one app might be the frontline in the looming war between Shopify and Amazon.
Sponsored by Cisco Designed. Produced with support from TWG.
"Thank god we make a tool that helps me sleep."
InteraXon founder Ariel Garten joins to share insights gained from reading people's (anonymized) brainwaves during a pandemic.
"Once the pandemic hit, 50% of Canadians overnight said they wanted to do more of their transactions online."
Bōde Canada CEO Robert Price joins to explain how COVID-19 and the shift to remote work made some Canadian real estate markets red hot and others ice cold.
"What COVID did last year was reset expectations on everything. It reset the X and the Y-axis."
The Globe and Mail's Sean Silcoff and BetaKit Associate Editor Meagan Simpson join to discuss recent leadership turnover at Shopify, Top Hat, Real Ventures, FreshBooks, and more.
Produced with support from TWG.
"There's this risk of being consumed by the journey of entrepreneurship to exclusion of everything else."
Entrepreneur mental wellness expert, Michael A. Freeman, M.D., joins to discuss how entrepreneurship amplifies certain mental traits (for good and bad), and steps founders can take to promote positive mental health during trying times.
Produced with support from TWG.
“If there’s ever been a 12-month period where the connection between online behaviour, online disinformation, and real-world harm, this is it.”
BuzzFeed Media Editor Craig Silverman joins to discuss the losing battle against social media misinformation (and disinformation), and how that's impacting the global fight against COVID-19.
Produced with support from TWG.
"Is class warfare good for startups?"
Following a... busy week in the markets, Black Swan producer Kattie Laur joins to ensure listener questions about stonks, Robinhood, FinTech, the future of Twitch, and Canada's shameful internet accessibility issues get answered.
Produced with support from TWG.
"We've come to expect from company policies the norm established by public policies."
As the United States undergoes a contested transition of power, public policy expert Vass Bednar joins to discuss the decision Canada's most valuable company made to (finally) deplatform an outgoing foreign leader.
Produced with support from TWG.
"I don't need you to have optimism, I just need you to have urgency."
Business management consultancy Raw Signal Group returns to share advice on how tech employees can approach the new year with their best foot forward (and how to spot companies pretending that nothing has changed).
Produced with support from TWG.
"One of the deepest pieces of why AccessNow exists is to find the thing that shifts a culture into wanting access for everyone. Our bet is that we can use tech to do that."
AccessNow founder & CEO Maayan Ziv joins to discuss why modern tech is still not designed with all users in mind, and what can be done to fix it.
Produced with support from TWG.
"This year f***ing sucked. Let's review."
Past Black Swan guests return to share what's changed in the COVID year since their last appearance, and what to expect in 2021.
Produced with support from TWG.
"They see this big black box, which to some of them is quite frightening."
Sarah Muttitt (SickKids), Brian Magierski (Care Chain AG), Mario Voltolina (Canada Health Infoway) join for a conversation on the future of Canadian institutional healthcare post-pandemic. Audio used with permission.
Produced with support from TWG.
"It''s making the price of accessing public health your online data."
Vass Bednar (Regs to Riches) and Joella Almeida (MedEssist) join to discuss what the flu shot rollout can tell us about the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine. Hint: it's all about privacy, equitable access, and trust.
Sponsored by the #CIBCInnovationEconomy podcast. Produced with support from TWG.
"It's just a series of faceplants, misfires, and nothingburgers."
Jim Balsillie and Dan Breznitz give Canada a failing grade on innovation policy. So how does COVID-19 present new opportunities for Canadian companies?
Audio used with permission from a recent panel conversation hosted by the Innovation Policy Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (full remarks here). Moderated by BetaKit Associate Editor Meagan Simpson.
Sponsored by the #CIBCInnovationEconomy podcast. Produced with support from TWG.
"They're not even saying, 'we're no longer shooting'. My customers are going out of business. They're asking for refunds."
Set Scouter CEO and founder Alex Kolodkin shares how his company responded when one side of its two-sided marketplace disappeared overnight.
Sponsored by the #CIBCInnovationEconomy podcast. Produced with support from TWG.
"We called it Canada's lost tech IPO boom."
The Globe and Mail technology reporter Sean Silcoff wrote at the beginning of the year that "private is the new public." We invited him on the podcast to explain how 2020 turned into the year of the Canadian tech IPO.
Sponsored by the #CIBCInnovationEconomy podcast. Produced with support from TWG.
"Startups have to move fast for survival, but larger corporations have to move fast for survival as well these days."
Whitney Sales, sales mentor and GP at SaaS accelerator Acceleprise, joins to explain how the spring sales freeze thawed in late summer, and what startups can do now to get ready for the new year.
Sponsored by Cisco Designed. Produced with support from TWG.
"We're very keen to create this global standard for FinTech companies."
Lord Mayor of the City of London, William Russell, joins to discuss his recently completed trade mission to convince Canadian investors and startups that the UK is open for business. Black Swan evaluates the sales pitch.
Sponsored by Cisco Designed. Produced with support from TWG.
"You're seeing folks from Brazil, India, China really consider Canada as an option."
The US has suspended the H1B visa allowing high-skilled tech workers to enter the country. What does Canada have to lure foreign tech talent here? Billboards and the Global Skills Strategy.
Benjamin Bergen, Executive Director, Council of Canadian Innovators, joins to explain.
Sponsored by Cisco Designed. Produced with support from TWG.
"UP is back! Ish."
Leaders from Symend, Vendasta, Bold Commerce, and 54e Dev Studios join in a discussion on hiring, onboarding, and scaling culture pre- and mid-pandemic. Recorded at UPish 2020.
Sponsored by Cisco Designed. Produced with support from TWG.