SAAS NORTH gets real | BetaKit

Bankruptcy, imperfections, and immigration policy aren’t normally topics raised on the mainstage.

But, well, it’s been a year.

Get ready for tech to get candid at the SAAS NORTH conference on November 13-14, 2024, at Ottawa’s Shaw Centre.

The BetaKit Keynote Stage will serve as a front-row seat to the most compelling conversations at SAAS NORTH 2024.

BetaKit is proud to support Canada’s go-to event for scaling SaaS founders and startups, a staple in the Canadian tech scene since 2016. 

And this year’s BetaKit Keynote Stage is about to serve some tea, with speakers Marie Chevrier Schwartz, Andrew Mcleod, and Martin Basiri stepping into the spotlight to provide a rare glimpse into the realities of failure, determination, and innovation in SaaS. 

The trio of big names will talk about the unexpected hurdles, mistakes, and personal growth that comes with leading high-growth companies through good times and bad.

For the fourth consecutive year, the BetaKit Keynote Stage will serve as a front-row seat to the most compelling conversations at SAAS NORTH 2024. You may want to grab your popcorn for these highlight sessions.

Marie Schwartz: Failure IS an Option – The Story of Sampler

For a long time, she was Marie from Sampler. 

This summer, the Toronto-based company filed for bankruptcy, and the founder who had raised more than $13M with her product sampling platform had to figure out who she was going to be now.

BetaKit Editor-in-Chief Douglas Soltys will sit down with former Sampler CEO and founder Marie Chevrier Schwartz for an intimate conversation about the rise and fall of her company.

Originally from Montreal, Chevrier Schwartz started her venture in 2013 after stints in advertising and a NYC venture capital firm.

She soon became a prominent figure in the Toronto tech scene, and the comments of support she received on her Linkedin post announcing Sampler’s bankruptcy came from a who’s who of investors, founders, and high-profile admirers.

Since that post, Chevrier Schwartz has been reflecting on her lessons learned.

“A big lesson I learned from mentoring startups and building my own is that there’s way too much focus put on raising venture capital,” she wrote recently. “This is setting so many early-stage startups up for failure. Raising money does not make your business viable… paying clients does.”

In what promises to be a raw, real, and thought-provoking conversation, Chevrier Schwartz will confront the power of honesty and vulnerability in leadership, and share what she’s learned about reframing the idea of what success looks like.

This cathartic session will be a unique opportunity to hear a founder mourn the loss of their former company and level with the  audience about the impacts on their approach and identity.

Just don’t expect this compelling speaker to be focused in the rearview mirror.

Chevrier Schwartz recently announced that she’s joined TechTO as “CEO in residence,” the next step in finding the “new and improved” Marie after Sampler.

Andrew McLeod: Global Growth and Goofs – Certn’s Journey of Expansion and Lessons Learned in the “Oops” Moments

While working at a company that allowed people to pay their rent online, Andrew McLeod and his colleagues came up with the idea for a background check tool that would allow good applicants to stand out for qualities besides a high credit score.

Years later, the CEO of Victoria-based Certn will hit the SAAS NORTH stage to provide a background check on his own company.

McLeod will share firsthand accounts of the mishaps and humorous missteps from Certn’s international expansion journey, as it quickly scaled as one of Canada’s fastest-growing companies.

Billed as a session “about embracing imperfection, learning from mistakes, and navigating the challenges of scaling a company globally” McLeod promises to assess his own record with wit and wisdom.

McLeod will discuss the realities of scaling a company globally, how to turn mistakes into growth opportunities, and the importance of agility and resilience in moments of failure.

Martin Basiri: From Record-Breaking Seed Round to Unicorn – Finding Product-Market Fit as a Visionary Founder

The Canadian government continues to announce increased restrictions on international students in Canada.

It’s a policy shift that is surely resonating both personally and professionally for Martin Basari, who immigrated to Canada from Iran to study, along with his brothers. The sibling’s experience prompted them to found Applyboard, a Canadian Unicorn company that helps international students apply to post-secondary institutions.

Applyboard recently announced a $100 million CAD raise that they will use to expand beyond English-speaking countries to 20 new destinations, with a particular eye on bringing European and Asian schools to the platform by 2030.

Basiri has shifted his focus too, having transitioned from Applyboard, (where his brother is now CEO) to his new venture. His new company, Passage, will focus on enabling employers to attract top talent to Canada.

SAAS NORTH is a unique opportunity to hear from one of Canada’s most successful CEOs, as Basiri discusses his own inspiring journey, from starting Applyboard as a first-time founder with no funding to launching Passage as a unicorn founder with more money than any other Canadian seed-stage company. 

Basiri will compare and contrast his experiences of finding product-market fit in different stages of his career, providing insights into the challenges and strategies involved.

---

Don’t miss this chance to hear candid insights from founders who have navigated both success and failure—lessons that could help shape the future of your company. Dive deeper into all of SAAS NORTH’s offerings this year — from breakouts to breakfasts and ‘Founders Fued’ — by viewing the full agenda here.

All photos provided by Cube Business Media Inc.