Cancon Podcast

"Is class warfare good for startups?" Following a... busy week in the markets, Black Swan producer Kattie Laur joins to ensure listener questions about stonks, Robinhood, FinTech, the future of Twitch, and Canada's shameful internet accessibility issues get answered. Produced with support from TWG.

"Macro risks are hot right now."   Graeme Millen, Director, Technology Banking at Silicon Valley Bank, joins to explain why all the complicated conditions for true cleantech growth are currently aligned.   Produced with support from TWG.

"We've come to expect from company policies the norm established by public policies." As the United States undergoes a contested transition of power, public policy expert Vass Bednar joins to discuss the decision Canada's most valuable company made to (finally) deplatform an outgoing foreign leader. Produced with support from TWG.

"I don't need you to have optimism, I just need you to have urgency." Business management consultancy Raw Signal Group returns to share advice on how tech employees can approach the new year with their best foot forward (and how to spot companies pretending that nothing has changed). Produced with support from TWG.

"One of the deepest pieces of why AccessNow exists is to find the thing that shifts a culture into wanting access for everyone. Our bet is that we can use tech to do that." AccessNow founder & CEO Maayan Ziv joins to discuss why modern tech is still not designed with all users in mind, and what can be done to fix it. Produced with support from TWG.

"This year f***ing sucked. Let's review." Past Black Swan guests return to share what's changed in the COVID year since their last appearance, and what to expect in 2021. Produced with support from TWG.

"They see this big black box, which to some of them is quite frightening." Sarah Muttitt (SickKids), Brian Magierski (Care Chain AG), Mario Voltolina (Canada Health Infoway) join for a conversation on the future of Canadian institutional healthcare post-pandemic. Audio used with permission. Produced with support from TWG.

"It''s making the price of accessing public health your online data." Vass Bednar (Regs to Riches) and Joella Almeida (MedEssist) join to discuss what the flu shot rollout can tell us about the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine. Hint: it's all about privacy, equitable access, and trust. Sponsored by the #CIBCInnovationEconomy podcast. Produced with support from TWG.

"It's just a series of faceplants, misfires, and nothingburgers." Jim Balsillie and Dan Breznitz give Canada a failing grade on innovation policy. So how does COVID-19 present new opportunities for Canadian companies? Audio used with permission from a recent panel conversation hosted by the Innovation Policy Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (full remarks here). Moderated by BetaKit Associate Editor Meagan Simpson. Sponsored by the #CIBCInnovationEconomy podcast. Produced with support from TWG.

"They're not even saying, 'we're no longer shooting'. My customers are going out of business. They're asking for refunds." Set Scouter CEO and founder Alex Kolodkin shares how his company responded when one side of its two-sided marketplace disappeared overnight. Sponsored by the #CIBCInnovationEconomy podcast. Produced with support from TWG.

"We called it Canada's lost tech IPO boom." The Globe and Mail technology reporter Sean Silcoff wrote at the beginning of the year that "private is the new public." We invited him on the podcast to explain how 2020 turned into the year of the Canadian tech IPO. Sponsored by the #CIBCInnovationEconomy podcast. Produced with support from TWG.

"Startups have to move fast for survival, but larger corporations have to move fast for survival as well these days." Whitney Sales, sales mentor and GP at SaaS accelerator Acceleprise, joins to explain how the spring sales freeze thawed in late summer, and what startups can do now to get ready for the new year. Sponsored by Cisco Designed. Produced with support from TWG.

"We're very keen to create this global standard for FinTech companies." Lord Mayor of the City of London, William Russell, joins to discuss his recently completed trade mission to convince Canadian investors and startups that the UK is open for business. Black Swan evaluates the sales pitch. Sponsored by Cisco Designed. Produced with support from TWG.

"You're seeing folks from Brazil, India, China really consider Canada as an option." The US has suspended the H1B visa allowing high-skilled tech workers to enter the country. What does Canada have to lure foreign tech talent here? Billboards and the Global Skills Strategy. Benjamin Bergen, Executive Director, Council of Canadian Innovators, joins to explain. Sponsored by Cisco Designed. Produced with support from TWG.

"UP is back! Ish." Leaders from Symend, Vendasta, Bold Commerce, and 54e Dev Studios join in a discussion on hiring, onboarding, and scaling culture pre- and mid-pandemic. Recorded at UPish 2020. Sponsored by Cisco Designed. Produced with support from TWG.

"Did we vet these questions?" Black Swan producer Kattie Laur joins the gang to help answer some incredibly detailed listener questions about the recent Throne Speech, cleantech investing, and what Hootsuite doesn't understand about 2020. Sponsored by the A.I. Meets World podcast. Produced with support from TWG.

“Within the span of a week or two, it went from ‘I’m prepping for demo day’ to ‘holy shit, go raise whatever you can.'" Lilia founder and CEO Alyssa Atkins explains how her Y Combinator experience changed due to the pandemic, and provides advice for entrepreneurs now facing remote accelerators. Produced with support from TWG.

"If students don't go to university, we don't have a business." Mike Silagadze, co-founder and CEO of Canadian EdTech startup Top Hat, joins for a candid conversation on the state of post-secondary education in North America while explaining how his company went from massive fundraise to pandemic pivot in a few short months. Produced with support from TWG.

"The market's been weird. It's hot for some." Ameet Shah, partner at Golden Ventures, joins to discuss rising dealflow, shifting round focus, and increasing interest from US VC's in the Canadian tech ecosystem. Produced with support from TWG.

"Teachers across the board are anxious." Peekapak co-founder and CEO, Ami Shah, joins to explain how startups are supporting back to school this fall. Produced with support from TWG.