The BetaKit Podcast Channel

"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. Sponsored by Goodlawyer, your one-stop-shop for all your corporate, commercial, and IP legal needs.

"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.

Is Collision staying in Toronto (and for how much)? Is Collision coming to Vancouver? Why are Canada's governments paying foreign companies to compete against local events? Are we a branch plant innovation ecosystem? Do we secretly believe we can't do it ourselves? Did Collision ban journalists at The Logic from attending? Is BetaKit filled with 'scumbag journalists?' People across Canada are asking questions about Collision. The answers say a lot about Canadian tech. Sponsored by Goodlawyer, your one-stop shop for all your corporate, commercial, and IP legal needs. Reference links: Mayor Tory's departure, competing bids, and financial pressure on province and feds place Collision's future in Canada in doubt With Collision nearing a one-year Toronto extension, efforts are mounting for a West Coast alternative Good riddance, Collision tech conference and its $40-million ask. Canada can do better Letter from the editor: An update for readers on The Logic and Collision Paddy Cosgrave's invitation tweet

"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.

"We have industrialized grift in a way that is kind of unprecedented in human history." Canadian YouTuber Dan Olson (Folding Ideas) explains his battle against internet grifts, how his career changed after a viral video on NFTs, why Bill C-11 is a "legislative mess" and the future is a dead mall. Sponsored by Goodlawyer.

"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.