Cancon Podcast

"Thirty percent of input costs, every year, are chemical. In no other industry in the world should you have something representing 30 percent of your costs operate at something like an 80-90 percent inefficiency. It's mind-blowing." Precision.ai CEO Dan McCann joins to explain how his AgTech company is really a Cleantech company, and why well-intentioned federal regulations are preventing farmers from saving tons on herbicide use. Produced with support from TWG.    

"Can we expect that Canadian tech will start paying talent what they're worth?" Co-hosts Douglas Soltys and Rob Kenedi are joined by producer Kattie Laur to answer listener questions about US companies nabbing Canadian talent; under-the-radar unicorns, what's happening in cleantech and healthtech; and employee mental health. Sponsored by Nugget.ai. Produced with support from TWG.

"This is not just at a federal or provincial level, it's also municipal. The City of Vancouver, in my nine years, hasn't done anything in the tech space." Launch Ventures CEO Ray Walia and VRARA Vancouver President Dan Burgar join to discuss Vancouver tech: with excitement, optimism, and perhaps a sense of foreboding. Sponsored by Nugget.ai. Produced with support from TWG.

"It's hearing those stories of small business owners literally losing everything overnight... that prompted me to look at ways of leveraging technology to solve this problem for them." Heirlume co-founder and CEO Julie MacDonell explains the Byzantine process of trademark registration, the potential risks for startups, and the importance of building diverse companies. Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

"When you look at the Big Five banks today, they all have the same technology stack, the same products, the same features, and the same fees. There isn't truly competition."   Neo Financial co-founder and CEO Andrew Chau talks Open Banking, financial innovation, and how he plans to compete with the Big Five banks (and Wealthsimple).   Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.  

"There's an administrative burden to being a public company that I think most private companies don't necessarily appreciate." Will Shaw, partner and leader of the Toronto Emerging Technology practice group at Fasken, explains the process of going public for Canadian tech companies. Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

"I am shocked at how fast it's happening... If you're not in early, you're not in." Matt Golden (Golden Ventures) and Paul Parisi (SVB) join to unpack a bonkers Q1 2021, and what rising numbers across the board might mean for Canadian tech. Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

"We've seen a lot of restaurants developing virtual brands." Deliverect's Jerome Laredo and Noah Hayesv explain how restaurants have become digital brands due to the pandemic, and why your favourite restaurant might not even be a restaurant. Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

"Innovation and biotechnology was the star of the day." Anne Woods (SVB) and Andrew Casey (BIOTECanada) join to discuss one of Canada's hottest sectors, and the impact of recent biotech commitments in the federal budget. Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

"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.

“If there’s ever been a 12-month period where the connection between online behaviour, online disinformation, and real-world harm, this is it.” BuzzFeed Media Editor Craig Silverman joins to discuss the losing battle against social media misinformation (and disinformation), and how that's impacting the global fight against COVID-19. Produced with support from TWG.