Douglas Soltys

Ah yes, the Homer Principle

Also: maybe technology without constraints is *bad*?

Gen Z wants BlackBerry back. Why? A few weeks back, a bunch of gadget heads descended upon a Brooklyn café to kick off the campaign to Bring Back BlackBerry.

On a recent podcast about BBM, The Verge's @reckless.bsky.social correctly summarized BlackBerry as a company built on navigating technical constraints.

For the newsletter, I wrote a few words about why Gen Z is looking for new constraints in their tech use. betakit.com/gen-z-wants-...

Hey look, it's me referenced by my friends at BetaKit.

Also what domain should I map it to?

Also what domain should I map it to?

I disagree but happy to have this convo. Right now my read is you saying the equivalent of ‘downloads solves the MAU problem’

But what if I also want @trondizzle.gandersocial.ca?

Can Canada build its own social network? | BetaKit Gander CEO Ben Waldman explains his vision for sovereign social media.

“It’s one thing to say ‘let’s do this in a sovereign way.’ It’s another to actually do it.”

^Ben spoke to @trondizzle.bsky.social from @betakit.com about being children of CanCon, giving people control of their feeds, and why sovereignty doesn’t mean isolation.

More👉 betakit.com/canada-gande...

Thanks so much for having me on this week's episode of the @betakit.com podcast 🇨🇦!

Working in #CDNmedia can be fun AND interesting AND important.

@betakit.com wants to tell every #CDNtech story across the country.

Come join us. ⤵️

Opinion | Charlie Kirk Didn’t Shy Away From Who He Was. We Shouldn’t Either.

wrote on charlie kirk for the newsletter this weekend

tagging in @criseyde.bsky.social because she's always heading to Berlin and gets up to stuff.

Big @betakit.com scoop on changes at @omersventures.bsky.social.

One #CDNtech #VC just told me that the "pensions are all retreating back to Canada."

@madisonmcla.bsky.social has a first file with more coming from her and Josh Scott.

Is this abundance?

Bruce Arthur: Everything Masai Ujiri did — his dreams and his success with the Raptors — was big. Maybe too big for the team’s owner MLSE CEO Keith Pelley said the decision to replace Ujiri was his, without explaining why. We can put the pieces together.

Goodbye to Masai Ujiri as president of the Raptors. The dreams stayed big: it was the owners who got small. www.thestar.com/sports/rapto...

This time, Eric Migicovsky won’t let anything get in his way A decade after the death of Pebble, the company's founder is still chasing his dream smartwatch.

Ambition is the word of #TorontoTechWeek, but #CDNtech ambition didn't start on Monday.

For more than a decade, @ericmigi.com has been chasing a specific dream. He won't let anything get in his way.

For #MostAmbitious, the rise and fall of Pebble, and why this time will be different.

I’m deadly serious about my feeds lol

Was great chatting with @aaron.bsky.team today (twice!). Looking forward to dropping our podcast next week.

Breaking: Toronto Mayor @mayoroliviachow.ca kicked off BetaKit Town Hall #MostAmbitious by announcing 50 percent off city bike share for @TOtechweek attendees all week!

They kick you out so early!

In the US, money is speech.

Canada has robust laws to regulate political fundraising & spending by parties, candidates & 3rd party groups. They ensure free & fair elections, & help protect against foreign interference in our politics.

Rubio doesn’t mention Canada, but we should worry.

Do you guys shop for shirts at the same store?

Speed to posting was a Buffer issue. Might spend more time on Bluesky after listening to @jay.bsky.team talk tonight.

Web Summit Vancouver’s kickoff offers thoughtful critiques and alternatives to current tech Gary Marcus and Bluesky CEO Jay Graber discuss the limitations of LLMs and the future of the open web as Web Summit’s first West Coast edition kicks off.

Let us know how you think we did: betakit.com/web-summit-v...

Oh that looks like it was more fun. Getting a little Bluesky with your Bluesky

Hearing @jay.bsky.team talk at Web Summit Vancouver reminds me of why I fell in love with social media in the first place.

The open web can still be a beautiful thing.

Canadian VCs arrive at annual industry gathering in need of a “wake-up call” Venture leaders publicly grapple with weak performance and uncertain future ahead of CVCA Invest Canada conference.

A new BDC Capital (@bdc-ca.bsky.social‬) report urges a "collective wake-up call" for domestic #VC investment as CVCA conference Invest Canada kicks off in Calgary. #CDNtech

BetaKit (@betakit.com) bopped around Alberta this week, hitting up Inventures in Calgary and Upper Bound in Edmonton.

BetaKit wants to report locally and connect nationally. Today's announcement is a big step forward in achieving that mission.

No better time to announce than during #Inventures2025 and #UpperBound25.

YEGAF? YEGAF!