The BetaKit Podcast Channel

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"When we look at companies today, I'm reminded of what it was like - just how bleak it was - in that summer of 2000. You can play through that as an investor and an entrepreneur." Mark McQueen, President & Executive Managing Director - CIBC Innovation Banking, compares 2022 with past downturns to track what's changed and remained constant. Sponsored by Diuca.

"Trust, and Indigenous impact measurement, and the wellbeing of Indigenous families sit alongside risk and return. In fact, in our fund, sit significantly above risk and return as investment considerations." Raven Capital Managing Partner Paul Lacerte explains how the firm invests in Indigenous impact entrepreneurs in a culturally safe way. Originally aired September 30, 2021. Sponsored by Diuca.