The BetaKit Podcast Channel

"What happens when the technologists decide what they do is more important than the government and they don't want to play by those rules? Rob and Douglas hold a post-mortem on the fever dream that was financial innovation and competition in Canada before discussing what Minister Freeland's recent announcements signal about the government's intentions. Your interlocutors then unpack Marc Andreesse...

"When you're a FinTech you're a second-class citizen when it comes to accessing infrastructure, and so you're spending a lot of time trying to innovate on table stakes, which takes away from the actual innovation that you want to offer." Wealthsimple VP and chief compliance officer Hanna Zaidi joins for a wide-ranging conversation on what's impeding financial services modernization, and what Canad...

"So many Canadian organizations today are sending their dollars, their economic capital, to AWS, to Azure, to Google. There really is no Canadian response to this today." Tenstorrent senior director of business development Eric Duffy explains why the company's leadership pedigree and open standard tech have attracted interest from Korean auto manufacturers and consumer electronic companies alike,...

"So there are good things about the state of the market today compared to where we were in the 2000s. There are things that are not as good, and then you have fundamental issues that occurred in the aftermath of the dotcom era that never got solved." Investor and Canadian tech archeologist Matt Roberts (CMD Capital) discusses his journey to investigate the last 20-plus years of venture capital in...

"I profoundly believe that open source is the way forward for AI so that we avoid this monopoly of power."   Hugging Face Climate Lead + AI Researcher Dr. Sasha Luccioni discusses the need to make AI "less bad for the planet," how tracking carbon impacts and sharing data can help, and how the company she works for is trying to be the GitHub for AI. Recorded live at ALL IN 2023 in Montréal.   Spons...

"We don't need more referees in Canada. We need more builders. Let other countries regulate while we take the more courageous path."   A COVID isolation emergency podcast, Rob and Douglas catch up on the latest tech news, which—surprise!—is AI-focused. Featuring: hot takes on the latest AI lawsuits, new uses to help combat climate change and the just-announced Voluntary Code of Conduct for generat...

"Everybody's trying to run their own business. Apple's trying to sell you devices. Google's trying to sell you ads. Our job is only to make you more secure."   Passkeys are here, and along with them renewed interest in the future of passwords from Apple and Google. 1Password CEO Jeff Shiner joins to discuss how passkeys will change the internet, and what they change (and don't change) about his co...

"Canada is at the forefront. Yes, mistakes are being made, but at least they're doing something. The US is doing nothing. And at the end of the day, these are American companies that are destroying the world." Post. News founder Noam Bardin shares what it's like trying to build a new social network "in public" in 2023 and why the Big Tech platforms only fear regulation before making a pitch to Can...

"The company was my identity. I had this huge void to fill and I didn't know what to do with it."   Boast.ai and Traction co-founder Lloyed Lobo shares his personal struggles managing his self-described addictive personality after leaving the day-to-day business before digging into the keen insights contained within his new book "From Grassroots to Greatness - 13 Rules to Build Iconic Brands with...

"There is especially in tech still a stigma around being a parent and being a contributing member of a company." Founders Erin Bury (Willful) and Marie Chevrier (Sampler) join to discuss the dumb restrictions on entrepreneurs trying to receive parental leave benefits, plus tips (and encouragement) for entrepreneurs preparing to ship a new bundle of joy. Sponsored by Zoholics Canada 2023, Zoho's pr...

We know you love VCs on the BetaKit Podcast. So here's an all-VC episode of the BetaKit Podcast. Featuring: Chris Neumann (Panache Ventures), Matt Cohen (Ripple Ventures), John Ruffolo (Maverix Private Equity), Michelle Scarborough (Thrive Venture Fund), Satraj Bambra (Round13's Digital Asset Fund). Sponsored by Zoholics Canada 2023, Zoho's premier user conference. Use the code " BETAKIT25 " for a...

"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. This episode originally aired on October 21, 2022.

"I sometimes feel like Canada needs to up [its] risk-taking ability." "It's the latest shiny thing that a lot of people are running after." "Markets are now audiences. Your competitive moat is your community."   Canadian tech luminaries brave tornados and beanbag chairs to discuss renewed due diligence, DEI, and AI's impact on investment theses in this compilation of interviews recorded live at St...

"I don't think our entrepreneurs are not risk takers; I just don't think our culture is set up to accept those risk takers." It's a Canadian tech summer vibe check as the gang answers submitted listener questions: on the low government trust battery in the wake of another cabinet shuffle, cleantech tax credit delays, and a Hypergrowth program designed to pick winners; whether or not Canada can han...

"For a lot of Indigenous storytellers, there's a lot of interest in those [tech] platforms, because those entities haven't said no to our community for 50 years." Indigenous content creators are caught between a rock and a hard place with the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act—it's sadly familiar territory. Award-winning Anishinaabe writer, broadcaster, and arts leader Jesse Wente joins...

"The BetaKit Podcast is very much a pro-dog podcast." Dr. Theresa Johnson (Airbnb), Harper Reed (General Galactic Corporation), and Neha Khera (2048 Ventures) join for a wide-ranging conversation on shooting particles at satellites (for science!), founder-market fit, working for Barack Obama, when to quit, shutting down your company, angel and early-stage investing, and building jetpacks for dogs...

"The crux of the Girlboss movement's problem is that it wants women to behave more like men and the answer is for men to behave more like women at scale."   Elizabeth Holmes is now in jail, her imprisonment signalling a clear end to the Girlboss Era. Chelsea Fagan (The Financial Diet) joins to discuss what killed the Girlboss, the cynicism and superficiality behind the term, and the need for bette...

"People in Canada are at their wits' end about areas of our economy having a lack of competition and how it impacts their pocketbook." The Competition Bureau is the last line of defence for enforcing competition law in Canada. But our system is designed so that the line keeps moving. Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell joins to discuss the tools and powers that would help his Bureau preven...

"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...

"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 t...

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...

"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 wi...

"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...

"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...