"This whole thing with ChatGPT is just history replaying itself. We need to stop viewing tech and innovation as a veritable silver bullet for all the world's problems and instead understand that it can actually scale inequities at warp speed." Feminuity co-founder and CEO Dr. Sarah Saska walks through the current relationship between DEI and tech, before tracking the dangers of biased data and bad faith users on generative AI. Sponsored by ventureLAB and Invest Ottawa ....
Feb 24, 2023•44 min
"The deepfake technology that is part of this new rise of generative AI tools I think will have a very deleterious effect on the current state of cyber defences." Plurilock CEO Ian Paterson discusses the economics of AI cyber threats and Canada's response with Bill C-26. Sponsored by ventureLAB and Invest Ottawa .
Feb 18, 2023•56 min
"We all want AI to do our jobs for us—the boring parts. What we're doing here is making computers more human-like, and sadly, they're getting all the fun jobs. Because those are the jobs that don't have to be perfect." Entrepreneur and author Alistair Croll joins to discuss what will become scarce and what will become abundant in the new economy created by generative AI. Sponsored by International Women's Week .
Feb 10, 2023•45 min
"It's not like a light comes down from heaven and says 'now you shall stop your company.' But, man, was it very difficult emotionally." Entrepreneur and BetaKit Podcast co-host Rob Kenedi explains the process of launching and eventually shuttering his startup, Staid.
Feb 03, 2023•49 min
"I honestly feel as though 2023 is going to be one of those years in Canadian tech where companies are going to have to be accountable." Award-winning Amber Mac returns to the award-nominated BetaKit Podcast for the first AMA episode of 2023, answering listener questions about: mass tech layoffs and CEO departures; VCs killing rounds because LPs can't (won't?) pay up; opportunities for tech growth in Atlantic Canada; and the essential 10 minutes talking ChatGPT and 'Next Big Things'. Sponsored b...
Jan 27, 2023•48 min
"What we're dealing with here is something so profound that the changes it's going to bring are not the kind of thing that the government can alter." Generative AI could be a wonderful tool. What will be lost in its wake? Canadian novelist, essayist, and cultural commentator Stephen Marche joins to discuss. Sponsored by AWS .
Jan 20, 2023•50 min
"When you have a washout like we just had, you're really left with core fundamental value, and that's what people are building now." Satraj Bambra, Partner at Round13's Digital Asset Fund, joins for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of Web3, NFTs, cryptocurrency, the blockchain and...Roblox? Sponsored by AWS .
Jan 14, 2023•50 min
"The very heart of the bill, and the heart of the law, you wouldn't know what exactly it's applying to." Data governance and AI risk management expert Carole Piovesan joins to discuss the future of AI regulation, privacy, and Bill C-27 before it hits committee. Sponsored by AWS .
Jan 07, 2023•37 min
“We’re at a different place technologically than we were a week ago. Digesting that and figuring out the ramifications I think is a tall order.” RBCx's Anthony Mouchantaf (AKA, Tony Dagger) returns one last time in 2022 to help answer listener-submitted questions about: chatGPT, the impact of self-certified investor pilots, work-from-home, and more. Sponsored by AWS .
Dec 30, 2022•1 hr 3 min
“FTX and its collapse is just the icing on the shitty cake that has been crypto this year.” BetaKit's Meagan Simpson and Josh Scott join to unpack the year in tech and offer a few predictions as to what might come in 2023. Sponsored by AWS .
Dec 23, 2022•1 hr 1 min
“There was kind of an ‘aha’ moment last May. And it triggered a conversation that I believe was really frank on both sides.” CVCA CEO Kim Furlong joins to discuss the comments she made in May about the future of VCCI, the potential renewal of that program, selling its value to policymakers, and what Canadian venture will look like in 2023. Sponsored by AWS .
Dec 16, 2022•59 min
“If this is the environment we’re in today, what should we do?” Aleeza Hashmi (Bessemer), Michelle Yu (Georgian), and Laura Lenz (OMERS) join BetaKit senior editor Meagan Simpson for a conversation about why the beginning of 2023 will be just as hard for startups to fundraise in. Recorded live at SAAS NORTH on the BetaKit Keynote Stage. Sponsored by Caravel Law .
Dec 09, 2022•31 min
"If we take a look at some of the salaries we were seeing, it was probably four engineers and our entire round was gone." Eva Lau (Two Small Fish), Shawn Hewat (Wavy), and Kathleen Chan (Calico) discuss what it was like to raise a seed round in 2021 and what changed in 2022 so founders are ready for 2023. Recorded live at SAAS NORTH on the BetaKit Keynote Stage. Sponsored by Caravel Law .
Dec 02, 2022•35 min
"There was a bit of ego raising." "I think it has been a disaster." "I read BetaKit for the truth." Canadian tech luminaries try to make sense of a crazy year in this compilation of interviews recorded live at SAAS NORTH. Featuring: Laura Lenz (OMERS Ventures), Leo Lax (L-SPARK), Louis Têtu (Coveo), Ria Bhavnani (Shopify), Peter Housley (Unbounce), Natalie Archibald (Clio), and Sean Silcoff (Globe & Mail). Sponsored by Caravel Law ....
Nov 25, 2022•57 min
"Are we willing to let companies die in Canadian tech?" "Yes." VC Matt Roberts joins for a special episode of the BetaKit Podcast recorded live at SAAS NORTH, answering attendee and speaker questions about the impacts of the current tech downturn, the FTX clustercuss, and Canada's next BlackBerry. Sponsored by Caravel Law.
Nov 18, 2022•41 min
"If any AI startup comes to you and says, 'we found how to evaluate truth,' you should hold a reasonable doubt. I don't think we're close to this." Ex-Googler and former Element AI co-founder Philippe Beaudoin joins to explain why the internet is broken and pitch his new company, Waverly, which hopes to fix it. We hold his feet to the fire. Sponsored by Caravel Law .
Nov 10, 2022•58 min
"If Canadian VCs weren't allowed to talk to journalists anonymously, they would never say anything." The BetaKit Podcast's monthly AMA episode answers listener questions about what the future holds for Shopify, Wealthsimple, venture funding, and tech in the 2020s.
Oct 29, 2022•55 min
"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. Sponsored by HardTech , Canada’s biggest hardware event, taking place November 9th.
Oct 21, 2022•46 min
"I think it's hard to beat the optimist out of a VC." The Globe and Mail's Sean Silcoff joins to discuss whether or not the Canadian tech boom is fizzling out. Public policy expert Vass Bednar joins to discuss which Canadian companies are quietly adopting and emulating big-tech strategies to their benefit. Sponsored by HardTech , Canada’s biggest hardware event, taking place November 9th.
Oct 14, 2022•50 min
"There's a direct relationship between the mental health of the entrepreneur and the performance of the company." Econa founder Dr. Michael Freeman returns to discuss how the current tech winter is impacting founder mental health, and how that is impacting company performance. Sponsored by GSoft and SAAS NORTH .
Oct 07, 2022•42 min
"Essentially, Amazon has failed to make this company profitable. It doesn’t make money." Streamer, YouTuber, and Novo CEO Devin Nash joins to explain the myriad ways Amazon's experiment with Twitch is failing to make money or anyone happy. Sponsored by GSoft and SAAS NORTH .
Sep 30, 2022•50 min
“Half a billion dollars for women in Canadian tech. Pretty cool!” The BetaKit Podcast's monthly AMA episode answers listeners' (tough!) questions about bad news coming from Real Ventures and exciting news coming from BDC, with some Elevate highlights thrown in. Sponsored by SAAS NORTH (use code BETAKIT20 for an early bird discount).
Sep 23, 2022•53 min
“This is the rise and fall of a company that had hundreds of millions of dollars to play with and nothing left to say about it.” Globe and Mail reporter Josh O'Kane joins to discuss his new book, Sideways: The City Google Couldn't Buy, along with BetaKit senior editor Meagan Simpson. Sponsored by SAAS NORTH .
Sep 16, 2022•50 min
"I’m just concerned about finding tech talent." Nora Jenkins Townson (Bright + Early) and Meagan Simpson (BetaKit) join to explain why over 350 companies are looking to hire Canadian tech talent in the midst of a downturn. Sponsored by Linebox .
Sep 09, 2022•46 min
"Shopify Pay still uses Stripe and they have some crazy scale." Immad Akhund (CEO, Mercury) and Jon Fry (CEO, Lendflow) join BetaKit's Douglas Soltys onstage to discuss how startups can embed FinTech into their products, increase revenue, and avoid the hidden icebergs. Recorded live at Traction Conference 2022. Sponsored by Linebox and Thinksound .
Sep 02, 2022•35 min
“Do you really want to get big fast? You take my money, I’m going to poke you in the eye every day going forward.” GrowthX CEO and founding partner Andrew Goldner shares how his Valley-founded early-stage VC firm found product-market fit with Canadian accelerators, common misconceptions founders have of the VC business model, and a bunch of go-to-market tips. Sponsored by Thinksound .
Aug 28, 2022•1 hr 3 min
"It's not as broken as other things." VanHack CEO Ilya Brotzky joins to explain what's causing the 4-6 month waiting period for Canadian tech companies using the Global Talent Stream, and shares a new petition to get the government to make necessary changes. Sponsored by Thinksound .
Aug 21, 2022•42 min
"I represent a different community that has different needs." Manzil CEO Mohamad Sawwaf explains the cultural, regulatory, and compliance roadblocks that are slowing him from financially serving more than a million Muslims across Canada. Sponsored by Thinksound .
Aug 14, 2022•47 min
"This was the moment that you knew the hangover was about to kick in." Tech reporter Isabelle Kirkwood joins to walk us through an ecosystem-by-ecosystem breakdown of Canadian tech venture funding in Q2 2022, how it compares to last year, and what it signals for the rest of the year. Sponsored by Thinksound .
Aug 07, 2022•58 min
"That's the pull quote. 'Amber Mac: things are crumbling.'" Special guest Amber Mac joins to answer listener questions on the award-nominated BetaKit Podcast. Topics include: Shopify's layoffs, Rogers' revenue resiliency following its second outage in the last year, Canada's digital divide and its impact on remote work, and early-stage fundraising tips. Sponsored by Diuca .
Jul 29, 2022•1 hr 4 min
