The BetaKit Podcast Channel

"We have a solution and they're not paying attention to this. You have zero acknowledgement from this government. Zero." BookJane CEO and founder Curtis Khan explains why Ontario's vaccine rollout has been so bad, while expressing frustrations over the lack of support from the Ford government. Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

“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. Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.      

"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. Sponsored by Arbor. Produced with support from TWG.

"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. Sponsored by Arbor. Produced with support from TWG.

"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.