Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures

Ripple Ventures
  • 5.0 (17)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Join your host, Matt Cohen, Founder & Managing Partner at Ripple Ventures for weekly conversations with leaders in the startup ecosystem discussing the truth about investing, building and running startups. tanktalks.substack.com

  1. Toronto Tech Week and the New Era of Canadian Startup Ambition

    5d ago

    Toronto Tech Week and the New Era of Canadian Startup Ambition

    In this special episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen brings listeners inside Toronto Tech Week with a live podcast studio recorded at the Toronto Homecoming event. This episode captures a fast-moving snapshot of the Canadian tech ecosystem through candid conversations with Boris Wertz of Version One, Lawrence Mandel and Farhan Thawar of Shopify, Ben Vinegar of Modem, Andrew Chau of Neo Financial, Fahd Ananta of Opendoor, and Eliot Pence of Dominion Dynamics. Across venture capital, AI-native engineering, product management, fintech, defense tech, and startup turnarounds, the episode explores why Toronto Tech Week feels like a real inflection point for Canadian founders, operators, investors, and returning global talent. Matt and the guests dig into the biggest questions shaping startups in 2026: how AI is changing the speed of company-building, why “AI wrappers” are becoming harder to defend, how Shopify is rethinking engineering culture around AI, what agentic coding still gets wrong, why Neo Financial is taking on Canada’s banking oligopoly, what Opendoor’s turnaround reveals about velocity, and how Dominion Dynamics is building sovereign Canadian defense technology for the Arctic. The recurring theme is clear: Canada has talent, capital, technical depth, and ambition, but the ecosystem needs to move faster, take bigger risks, and stop hiding its best builders under a very polite rain jacket. Whether you’re a Canadian founder, venture capitalist, AI operator, fintech builder, defense tech investor, or someone trying to understand why Toronto Tech Week has become such a high-energy gathering for the startup community, this episode is packed with sharp insights from leaders building at the edge of what comes next. Boris Wertz on Early-Stage Investing in a No-Playbook AI Market (02:16) Boris Wertz of Version One Ventures compares Toronto Tech Week to other tech gatherings and explains why today’s early-stage investing environment is unlike anything he has seen before. He discusses the faster pace of innovation, why founders need to be nearly perfect from the start, and how AI-native companies require a different mindset than traditional SaaS startups. Lawrence Mandel on Shopify’s AI-Native Engineering Culture (07:13) Lawrence Mandel shares how Shopify’s engineering organization is building for merchants, APIs, analytics, and the third-party ecosystem while operating with a mostly remote team. He explains how Shopify’s intern program, engineering culture, and AI-first mindset are shaping the next generation of Canadian technical talent. Farhan Thawar on Remote Work, Bursts, and Shopify’s Meeting Armageddon (16:46) Farhan Thawar shares a blunt view on Shopify’s remote-first culture, saying most companies should not simply copy it unless they are deeply intentional. He explains Shopify’s “bursts,” company-wide summits, hackathons, and Meeting Armageddon, where recurring meetings are deleted so teams can rebuild their calendars from first principles. Ben Vinegar on Modem and AI Product Management (31:52) Ben Vinegar introduces Modem as an AI product management platform focused on the non-coding work behind software development. He explains why user conversations, product feedback, and customer experience are harder to understand deterministically, and why LLMs create a new way to analyze human signals at scale. Andrew Chau on SkipTheDishes, Neo Financial, and Taking on Canadian Banking (45:23) Andrew Chau shares the origin story of SkipTheDishes and how that experience led him to build Neo Financial. He explains why Neo chose one of the hardest and most regulated industries in Canada, and why the big five banking oligopoly creates a massive opportunity for a better consumer banking experience. Fahd Ananta on Opendoor, Turnarounds, and Speed (59:20) Fahd Ananta shares how he joined Opendoor during its turnaround after reconnecting with Kaz from Shopify. He explains how a simple congratulatory message turned into a strategic document, a fast offer, and a move into one of the most closely watched public-company turnaround stories in tech. Eliot Pence on Returning to Canada to Build Dominion Dynamics (01:04:34) Eliot Pence shares why he is moving back to Canada after years abroad and why he believes this is a unique moment for Canadian ambition. He explains that Dominion Dynamics is being built in Canada because the customer is here and because Canada is reinvesting in defense. About Boris Wertz Boris Wertz is the founder of Version One Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm known for backing ambitious technology companies across emerging markets and frontier categories. A longtime investor in the Canadian and global startup ecosystem, Boris brings a clear-eyed perspective on how venture has changed in the AI era, why founders now need to move with more speed and precision than ever, and what separates truly defensible companies from short-lived AI wrappers. Connect with Boris Wertz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bwertz/ Visit the Version One website: https://versionone.vc/ About Lawrence Mandel Lawrence Mandel is a VP of Engineering at Shopify, where he helps lead major parts of Shopify’s core technical infrastructure, including merchant-facing systems, analytics, API layers, and the third-party developer ecosystem. With more than eight years at Shopify and a team of hundreds of engineers, Lawrence has been closely involved in how one of Canada’s most important technology companies builds, hires, trains, and adapts in an AI-native world. Connect with Lawrence Mandel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmandel/ Visit the Shopify website: https://www.shopify.com/ About Farhan Thawar Farhan Thawar is a senior engineering leader at Shopify and one of the most distinctive voices in Canadian tech on AI, software development, and engineering culture. Known for his practical, high-conviction thinking, Farhan has helped shape how Shopify approaches remote work, engineering velocity, AI tooling, internal systems, and company-wide habits like Meeting Armageddon and Delete Code Club. His perspective blends deep technical experience with a founder-style obsession for speed, leverage, and better systems. Connect with Farhan Thawar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fnthawar/ Visit the Shopify website: https://www.shopify.com/ About Ben Vinegar Ben Vinegar is the founder and CEO of Modem, an AI product management platform built to help teams understand users, product feedback, and the non-coding work behind building great software. Before starting Modem, Ben was VP of Engineering at Sentry, where he spent years working on developer tools, engineering productivity, and software observability. His work now sits at the intersection of AI, product development, user insight, and the future of agentic software workflows. Connect with Ben Vinegar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benvinegar/ Visit the Modem website: https://modem.dev/ About Andrew Chau Andrew Chau is the co-founder and CEO of Neo Financial, one of Canada’s most prominent fintech companies, and a co-founder of SkipTheDishes. After helping build and exit one of Canada’s breakout consumer technology companies, Andrew turned his attention to one of the hardest markets in the country: banking. Through Neo, he is focused on giving Canadians a modern alternative to legacy financial institutions, with digital-first products spanning credit cards, savings, checking, mortgages, rewards, and major brand partnerships. Connect with Andrew Chau on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-chau-1046749/ Visit the Neo Financial website: https://www.neofinancial.com/ About Fahd Ananta Fahd Ananta is an operator and investor with experience across Shopify, Opendoor, and Roach Capital. He recently joined Opendoor during a major turnaround period, bringing with him the systems-driven operating mindset shaped by his time around Shopify’s culture of speed, abstraction, and company-building discipline. Fahd represents a new kind of Canadian tech operator: globally experienced, deeply technical, quietly intense, and focused on helping large, complex companies move faster. Connect with Fahd Ananta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fananta/ Visit the Opendoor website: https://www.opendoor.com/ About Eliot Pence Eliot Pence is the founder of Dominion Dynamics, a Canadian defense technology company focused on sovereign capability, Arctic security, and dual-use technology. A former leader at Anduril, Eliot returned to Canada to build a defense company designed for speed, risk-taking, and real-world deployment. His work is centered on helping Canada rebuild ambition in national security, defense procurement, Arctic infrastructure, and the kind of company-building required to create globally consequential Canadian technology. Connect with Eliot Pence on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliotpence/ Visit the Dominion Dynamics website: https://www.defendthedominion.com/ Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1 Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This episode is brought to you by Deel. Receive our exclusive offer here: https://www.deel.com/partners/tanktalks/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=partner-sourced&utm_content=rippleventures&utm_place=organic-community This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

    1h 18m
  2. The Rundown 6/23/26: The AI Hype Machine, Canada’s Capital Gap, and the Return of Hard Tech

    Jun 23

    The Rundown 6/23/26: The AI Hype Machine, Canada’s Capital Gap, and the Return of Hard Tech

    In this episode of Tank Talks, recorded live at the Global Startups Conference, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo take the stage for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of Canada’s innovation economy, the AI infrastructure race, and why this moment feels different, even if John still refuses to fully believe “this time is different.” The conversation opens with SpaceX’s historic IPO, massive valuation hype, and the question of whether public market demand can support a new wave of AI and frontier tech giants like OpenAI and Anthropic. Matt and John then dig into one of the biggest strategic questions facing founders today: should startups build on top of frontier AI models, or will those platforms eventually come for their margins? John draws a sharp comparison to Hootsuite’s dependence on social media APIs, warning founders not to build businesses where a monopolistic platform can eventually “come calling.” From LLM unit economics and inference costs to local models, edge compute, AI sovereignty, and Canada’s weak position in the full AI stack, this episode breaks down why real moats may come from deep tech, defense, energy, chips, space infrastructure, and hard-to-build businesses. The discussion also tackles Canada’s AI strategy, the tension between innovation and regulation, the rise of dual-use defense startups, the shortage of domestic growth capital, and whether Canada is becoming a farm team for U.S. acquirers. John and Matt close with a candid look at family offices, immigrant founders, Canadian ambition, and what actually separates fundable founders from the noise: purpose, focus, and the ability to build something hard when everyone else is chasing the latest shiny object. SpaceX’s IPO and the return of the hype machine (02:48) Matt and John open with the massive SpaceX IPO, its soaring valuation, and whether the market is being driven by fundamentals or pure scarcity-fueled hype. John argues that discounted cash flows still matter, even when investors are caught up in the next great frontier tech story. Satya Nadella’s warning to AI founders (05:56) Matt brings up Satya Nadella’s warning about relying too heavily on frontier models. The discussion explores why businesses built on top of OpenAI, Anthropic, or other LLM platforms may eventually face direct competition from the very infrastructure they depend on. Canada’s AI strategy: long overdue, but too unfocused? (16:14) Matt and John assess the government’s AI strategy and the promise that Canadian AI adoption could add massive GDP growth. John says the strategy contains useful objectives, but risks becoming a laundry list without a clear answer to the question: which pedal are we actually pressing? Building trust in AI without creating regulatory capture (21:46) The audience asks how Canada can build trust in AI adoption. John argues for clear guardrails, but warns that large AI players may eventually welcome heavy regulation because it protects incumbents and locks out smaller competitors. Defense tech is hot again, but not every startup is real (25:19) Matt and John discuss the surge of interest in dual-use defense technology. John warns that when government money appears, everyone suddenly claims to be a defense company, making it harder to separate serious builders from PowerPoint tourists. Is building in Canada patriotic or financially irrational? (33:19) Matt asks the blunt question: in 2026, is staying in Canada a patriotic endeavor or a financial mistake? John argues Canada has the talent, ecosystem, and raw materials, but lacks confidence and ambition at the capital layer. Why Canada needs real growth capital, not just early-stage funding (37:34) John explains why he created Mavericks to address the gap in Canadian growth equity. The issue is not founder ambition, but the lack of domestic capital willing to write meaningful checks once companies need to scale past the early stage. Family offices, education gaps, and Canada’s missing innovation capital (43:56) Matt explains why many Canadian family offices are still learning how venture and startup investing work. Unlike real estate or private equity, venture requires patience, a tolerance for the J curve, and a different understanding of risk and return. Canada’s AI edge may be hiding in resources, minerals, and chip substrates (49:43) The episode closes with a discussion of Canada’s possible edge in AI infrastructure through natural gas, rare earth materials, zinc byproducts, indium phosphide, and semiconductor supply chains. Matt and John argue that Canada’s issue is not a lack of resources, but a lack of permission, capital, and long-term conviction to build around them. Connect with John Ruffolo on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/joruffolo Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1 Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

    53 min
  3. Why Canada’s Trading Market is Ready for Disruption with Michael Arbus of moomoo Canada

    Jun 17

    Why Canada’s Trading Market is Ready for Disruption with Michael Arbus of moomoo Canada

    In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Michael Arbus, CEO of moomoo Canada, for a wide-ranging conversation on Wall Street trading floors, Canadian fintech, crypto regulation, AI-powered investing, and what it really takes to build and scale financial technology companies. Michael’s career has taken him from the chaos of Bay Street and Wall Street desks at firms like RBC Capital Markets, TD, UBS, and Merrill Lynch to operating industrial businesses, helping scale Bitbuy into a regulated Canadian crypto marketplace, and now leading moomoo Canada as it pushes into self-directed retail trading, AI tools, options education, and investor communities. Michael shares the lessons he learned from covering major hedge funds, why one trade during the financial crisis made him rethink his role as an advisor, how spreadsheet-driven decision-making helped him turn around operating businesses, and why retail investors in Canada are ready for better tools than the legacy banking platforms have historically offered. They also dive into moomoo’s AI-native product strategy, agentic investing, algorithmic trading in natural language, Canada’s loyalty to big banks, the rise of retail options trading, and the founder advice Michael wishes more entrepreneurs would hear before wasting years on a business that cannot support them. Whether you’re a fintech founder, startup operator, retail investor, trader, or Canadian tech ecosystem builder, this episode is packed with sharp, practical insights on the future of investing, AI, and financial platforms. From Trading Floor Chaos to Wall Street Scar Tissue (03:30) Michael describes life on massive institutional trading floors as a “casino with pumped oxygen and insanity.” The early mornings, morning meetings, nonstop client calls, and constant pressure to be relevant. Why the trading desk taught him how to process information quickly and turn noise into action. Investing in Businesses vs. Investing in Stocks (12:12) Matt and Michael break down the difference between knowing a ticker and understanding the actual company underneath it. Why some good businesses can be bad stocks, and some bad businesses can still become great trades. Scaling Bitbuy and Learning the Reality of Regulation (22:33) Michael shares how he joined Bitbuy when the business was growing but still needed operational structure. The shift from institutional finance to B2C financial services. Why serving retail customers creates a much deeper sense of accountability, especially when people are trusting a platform with their hard-earned money. What moomoo Actually Is and Why Canada Matters (27:41) Michael explains moomoo’s global footprint across markets like Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, the U.S., and Canada. The scale of Futu Holdings, the role of product and R&D, and why joining a 4,000-person global fintech machine was very different from building Bitbuy from a smaller startup team. Canada’s Loyalty Problem With Big Banks (29:44) Why Canadian retail investors are deeply loyal to legacy banking brands. Michael explains how trust, safety, and brand recognition are baked into Canadian financial behavior, and why moomoo believes a regulated challenger brand can win by offering a product Canadian investors have not seen before. AI Trading Inside the moomoo App (35:55) How moomoo became one of Canada’s first AI brokerage platforms. Why its AI tools are different from generic public LLMs because they are connected to paid, live market data behind the platform’s firewall. How this changes the quality of answers retail investors can access. Can moomoo Challenge Canada’s Banking Giants? (41:24) Michael explains who moomoo is built for and who it is not built for. Why the next generation of investors may care more about control, education, and outperformance than branch loyalty. How AI, job market uncertainty, and personal financial pressure could make self-directed investing more important. Canada’s Top Trader and the Nasdaq Partnership (43:20) Michael shares moomoo Canada’s trading competition, including real prize money, a $100,000 top prize, and partnership with Nasdaq. Why the initiative is designed to bring retail investors into the market in a more systematic, educated way. Can Your Startup Actually Pay for Your Life? (47:42) Michael explains why founders need to calculate their personal take-home pay before committing years to a venture. The danger of getting caught in a self-fulfilling story that feels exciting but cannot support the builder behind it. The Leadership Lesson That Still Matters Most (51:32) Michael closes with a simple but powerful lesson: kindness goes a long way. After scaling multiple teams from small groups to dozens or more than 100 people, he explains why intelligence is common, but kindness is what compounds in leadership, hiring, and company building. About Michael Arbus Michael Arbus is the CEO of moomoo Canada, a global self-directed investing and trading platform under Futu Holdings focused on retail investors, trading tools, market data, options education, and AI-powered investing experiences. Before joining moomoo, Michael built a diverse career across institutional finance, entrepreneurship, industrial operations, crypto, and fintech. He spent years on Bay Street and Wall Street trading desks at firms including RBC Capital Markets, TD, UBS, and Merrill Lynch, working with global hedge funds and covering M&A event-driven situations, mining, and energy stocks. He later moved into operating businesses, including oil, scrap metal, industrial recycling, and crypto mining, before helping scale Bitbuy into one of Canada’s leading regulated crypto marketplaces. Today, Michael is focused on expanding moomoo Canada, bringing institutional-grade tools to retail traders, and helping Canadian investors understand the future of AI, options trading, and self-directed financial platforms. Connect with Michael Arbus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-arbus-cfa-mba-299a49/ Visit the moomoo Canada website: https://www.moomoo.com/ca Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1 Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

    53 min
  4. The Brutal Truth About Hardware Startups and Physical AI with Aidan Madigan-Curtis of Eclipse Capital

    Jun 8

    The Brutal Truth About Hardware Startups and Physical AI with Aidan Madigan-Curtis of Eclipse Capital

    In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Aidan Madigan-Curtis, Partner at Eclipse, for a sharp conversation on physical AI, frontier tech, robotics, manufacturing, and the future of building in the real world. Aidan shares her unlikely path from a small mountain town in Penticton to Harvard, Bridgewater, Apple, Samsara, and now Eclipse, where she invests at the intersection of atoms and bits. She breaks down what factory floors taught her that most software-first founders miss, why physical AI is becoming one of the biggest venture capital opportunities of the next decade, and what the U.S. and Canada must understand about China’s manufacturing advantage. From launching the first Apple Watch manufacturing lines to scaling Samsara’s hardware operations and investing in autonomous excavation, robotics, energy, defense, and supply chain technology, Aidan brings a rare operator-investor perspective to one of the most important shifts happening in tech today. Buckle up to understand why the next wave of AI won’t just live in software; it will reshape factories, robots, infrastructure, and the physical world around us. The Unlikely Path from Penticton to Harvard (00:04:25) Aidan shares the wild story of growing up in a tiny Canadian mountain town, applying to Harvard almost by accident, and nearly missing her acceptance letter because it sat undelivered in a PO box. She reflects on how community support, risk-taking, and a willingness to swing big shaped the rest of her career. Bridgewater, Systems Thinking, and Conviction Investing (00:09:00) Aidan explains how Bridgewater’s fundamental, systematic approach to markets shaped how she evaluates venture opportunities today. She breaks down why Eclipse starts with deep theses, pressure-tests industries, and backs founders before the market fully understands where the world is going. The Factory Floor Lesson Every Founder Needs (00:17:27) Drawing from her time launching Apple Watch manufacturing lines, Aidan explains why the best founders must balance brutal honesty with extreme optimism. She argues that founders who get “high on their own supply” lose touch with reality, while founders without belief cannot rally a team to do the impossible. Why Physical AI Was the Bet Before It Was Cool (00:20:34) Aidan walks through her career pattern of choosing the “unsexy” path before it becomes obvious: Bridgewater before it was famous, Apple supply chain when software was eating the world, Samsara before industrial IoT was hot, and Eclipse before physical AI became a major venture category. China’s “Vibe Manufacturing” Advantage (00:28:37) Aidan unpacks Eclipse’s China Field Notes and explains what “vibe manufacturing” really means: a deeply layered, highly competitive, fast-moving manufacturing ecosystem that can turn ideas into physical products at extraordinary speed. She discusses China’s compounding advantage in tooling, suppliers, human capital, robotics, and government-backed industrial competition. Where the U.S. Is Ahead and Behind in Robotics (00:37:18) Aidan breaks down the robotics race between the U.S. and China. She says the U.S. remains highly competitive in embodied AI, autonomy, and goal-oriented machine intelligence, but lags badly in manufacturing depth, actuators, magnets, physical iteration speed, and lower-level robotic control. The Robotics Data Problem (00:41:14) Aidan explains why video data alone is not enough to build general-purpose robotics. She discusses the need for proprioception, haptics, physics data, and real-world interaction data, plus why China’s robotic data farms could become a major strategic advantage. Canada’s Opportunity in AI, Energy, and Deep Tech (00:44:47) As a Canadian-born investor, Aidan lays out where Canada can win: talent attraction, smart immigration policy, abundant clean energy, AI infrastructure, university research, biotech, quantum, defense, and strategic government offtake. She argues Canada has the raw ingredients to become a major player if it moves with urgency. Eclipse’s Interest in Canadian Founders (00:49:20) Aidan shares that Eclipse is already investing in Canada, including companies in Toronto and Vancouver, and is actively interested in deep tech and physical AI founders coming out of Canada’s strongest ecosystems. About Aidan Madigan-Curtis Aidan Madigan-Curtis is a Partner at Eclipse, where she invests in physical AI, robotics, manufacturing, energy, defense, supply chain, and frontier technology companies. Before Eclipse, she was an early executive at Samsara, helping scale the industrial IoT company from pre-product to public company. She previously worked on Apple’s manufacturing team for the first Apple Watch and began her career at Bridgewater, where she developed a systems-thinking approach to markets and complex industries. Connect with Aidan Madigan-Curtis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidan-madigan-curtis/ Visit the Eclipse website: https://eclipse.capital/ Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1 Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

    53 min
  5. The Rundown 6/4/22: Alphabet’s $80B AI Bet, Anthropic’s IPO Push, and the New AI Capital War

    Jun 4

    The Rundown 6/4/22: Alphabet’s $80B AI Bet, Anthropic’s IPO Push, and the New AI Capital War

    In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo unpack the latest leaked details around Canada’s national AI strategy, including a proposed Canadian Tech Growth Fund that would take direct equity stakes in AI startups and scale-ups. John pushes back on whether creating yet another government-backed fund solves the real problem or simply adds more confusion to an already crowded funding landscape. The conversation then moves into the AI capital arms race, where Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX, and Alphabet appear to be racing toward public markets and massive equity raises at the same time. Matt and John unpack Anthropic’s reported path toward a late 2026 IPO, Alphabet’s massive $80 billion equity raise to fund AI infrastructure, and why even companies with enormous free cash flow may be rushing to secure capital before debt markets tighten further. The episode closes with what Matt calls the “fugazi” layer of the AI boom: complex GPU financing structures, off-balance-sheet debt, SPVs, and Michael Burry’s criticism of NVIDIA’s xAI-related financing arrangement. From Canada’s AI strategy to Alphabet’s infrastructure spend to opaque AI financing models, the core question is clear: is this the beginning of a new AI-driven market cycle, or are the biggest players trying to raise capital before the music stops? Canada’s New National AI Strategy & Tech Growth Fund (00:52) Matt introduces leaked details of Canada’s expected national AI strategy, including a new Canadian Tech Growth Fund that would take direct equity stakes in AI startups and scale-ups, along with additional funding for the AI Compute Access Fund. Direct Investment vs. Backing Canadian VC Funds (05:02) John argues that government capital may be more effective when deployed through BDC, EDC, and Canadian venture funds, rather than direct government selection of startups. The concern is that direct investment could create political complications and distort private capital markets. Anthropic’s $65B Raise and Potential 2026 IPO (09:02) The conversation shifts to Anthropic’s massive fundraising round, reported $900 billion pre-money valuation, and potential late 2026 IPO path. Matt frames it as part of a broader wave of trillion-dollar AI and space-related public market activity. The IPO Race Between Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX (10:04) Matt and John discuss whether the IPO window is reopening or whether the biggest private companies are rushing to get out before capital markets become less forgiving. John speculates that Anthropic may want to reach public markets before OpenAI captures investor attention. Alphabet’s $80B AI Infrastructure Raise (12:18) Matt outlines Alphabet’s reported $80 billion equity raise, including a private placement to Berkshire Hathaway, a public offering, and an at-the-market equity program. The raise is positioned as fuel for Alphabet’s unprecedented AI infrastructure build-out. The AI Infrastructure Cold War (14:41) Matt argues that hyperscalers like Google are proving that frontier AI economics are fundamentally different from prior technology waves. John compares the AI arms race to baseball owners escalating salaries because no one can afford to fall behind. Michael Burry, NVIDIA, xAI, and “Fugazi” GPU Financing (16:01) Matt breaks down Michael Burry’s critique of NVIDIA’s GPU financing structure involving Valor, xAI, Apollo, Athene, and an SPV. The arrangement raises questions about revenue recognition, asset ownership, credit risk, and who ultimately carries the liability. The Real Question: What Happens When the Music Stops? (17:55) The episode ends with Matt and John questioning how these layered financing structures will play out as AI CapEx continues to explode. From public markets to SPVs to off-balance-sheet risk, the AI boom is starting to look less like a clean growth story and more like a capital market stress test. Connect with John Ruffolo on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/joruffolo Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1 Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

    20 min
  6. The Rundown 5/25/26: SPACs Are Back: Xanadu, UniUni, and Canada’s Capital Gap

    May 25

    The Rundown 5/25/26: SPACs Are Back: Xanadu, UniUni, and Canada’s Capital Gap

    In this episode of Tank Talks: The Rundown, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo break down a huge week across Canadian tech, quantum computing, SPACs, AI infrastructure, vertical SaaS, and the reported SpaceX IPO filing. They start with Xanadu’s $300 million at-the-market equity facility and what it reveals about the funding challenge facing Canadian quantum companies that need billion-dollar scale capital to compete globally. John argues that Xanadu should use current market hype to fully fund the business now, even if short-term shareholders hate the dilution. From there, Matt and John unpack why quantum remains a long-term binary bet, why SPACs may be coming back for Canadian growth companies like UniUni, and why Clio’s jump from $100 million to more than $500 million in ARR proves vertical SaaS is far from dead, especially when the product is mission-critical and deeply embedded. The episode then shifts to OpenAI, Anthropic, and the AI infrastructure boom, with John warning that massive top-line revenue can hide dangerous burn and accounting optics. Matt and John close with a deep debate on the reported SpaceX IPO, Starlink’s growth, Starship risk, xAI, and Cursor being folded into the story, SPV cap table chaos, and whether trillion-dollar tech IPOs could pull capital away from the Mag Seven. Listen to this episode for a sharper read on where capital is really flowing across AI, quantum, SaaS, and space. Matt and John cut through the hype to show which tech narratives are built to last, and which ones could crack under pressure. Xanadu’s $300M ATM Facility and the Quantum Funding Problem (00:49) Matt opens with Xanadu’s $300 million at-the-market equity facility, explaining how the structure gives the company access to capital while raising questions about dilution, public market volatility, and the long-term cost of funding a quantum data center. John Ruffolo’s Advice: Fund the Business While the Market Is Hot (02:45) John explains why Xanadu should take advantage of momentum in the public markets and raise as much primary capital as possible, even if short-term shareholders dislike the dilution. Why SPACs Are Coming Back for Canadian Growth Companies (07:17) Matt brings up UniUni’s $1 billion SPAC agreement to list on the TSX, and John explains why companies struggling to raise late-stage private capital may see SPACs as their best path to primary money. Could Clio Be Canada’s Next Major Tech IPO? (10:56) As Clio’s valuation grows, John argues that the universe of private equity buyers gets smaller, making an IPO one of the more realistic paths for investor liquidity. The Accounting Trick John Says AI Investors Need to Watch (12:23) John criticizes the capitalization of compute, infrastructure, sales, marketing, and partnership costs, arguing that burn may be a better proxy for the real economics than adjusted profitability claims. The Reported SpaceX IPO and the $1.75 Trillion Valuation Debate (14:20) Matt introduces the reported SpaceX IPO valuation and breaks down how much of the story depends on Starlink growth, Starship launches, and the company’s ability to scale space-based broadband. Why Everything Hinges on Starship (18:51) John explains that Starship is the key dependency behind the SpaceX story, because Starlink’s ability to scale depends heavily on launch capacity, satellite economics, and execution. SpaceX vs. Canadian Banks: The Scale Shock (22:37) Matt points out that the reported SpaceX valuation could be roughly twice the combined market cap of Canada’s big six banks, underscoring the staggering scale of the next wave of tech IPOs. The Early Investors Who May Win Big (25:26) Matt and John close by highlighting early institutional bets from Washington State University’s endowment and Ontario Teachers, showing how patient capital in breakthrough companies can create generational outcomes. Connect with John Ruffolo on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/joruffolo Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1 Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

    27 min
  7. The Case for Concentrated Seed with Jason Shuman of Primary Ventures

    May 21

    The Case for Concentrated Seed with Jason Shuman of Primary Ventures

    In this episode of Tank Talks, host Matt Cohen sits down with Jason Shuman, General Partner at Primary Ventures, New York’s largest dedicated seed fund. With a journey that spans from raising money for a nonprofit at eight years old to driving Uber at night while sourcing deals like Latch, Jason’s experience offers valuable insights for founders, especially those navigating the challenges of building companies in the AI era. Jason shares his entrepreneurial beginnings, the painful lessons from shutting down his DTC footwear brand Category5, and how that shaped his investing philosophy at Primary. He also discusses why software-only moats are dead, how Primary’s 60-person impact team delivers customers (not just capital), and the firm’s unique incubation model that backs founders only after the wedge is validated. From vertical AI to hardware-activated agent networks, Jason dives into the key principles he follows in his investing and why he still believes backing great founders beats incubating anything. Whether you’re interested in AI, venture capital, or building deep-tech companies, Jason’s story provides inspiration and practical wisdom. From Sick Kid to Serial Founder: Jason’s Origin Story (01:53) * Growing up outside Boston with a family of entrepreneurs and a mother who was a therapist * Being diagnosed with primary immune deficiency as a child and becoming a spokesperson for the Jeffrey Modell Foundation at age eight * Why a life lived with urgency became the defining trait of his career Building and Winding Down Category5 (05:33) * Launching a direct-to-consumer boat shoe brand while still in college - before Shopify was good and when Facebook ads were cheap * The hard realization that a brand without a visual cue has a ceiling, and why he saw the Allbirds story coming * Hitting his quarter-life crisis at 23, burning out, and what he learned from the process Breaking Into Venture: Sourcing Deals While Driving Uber (11:38) * How Jason made money driving Uber nights while sourcing deals during the day in 2014 * Building a bridge between Boston founders and New York VCs - one warm intro at a time * The story of Latch: why a B2B mortise lock for apartment buildings, with near-perfect logo retention and CapEx billing, was the first deal he ever sourced Working with Mark Gerson and the Family Office Years (16:17) * Meeting Mark Gerson at a dinner, not knowing who he was, and getting a cold call months later * The lessons in trust, urgency, and delegation he learned running the family office * Backing AI sales enablement, AI accounting, and robotics in 2015 - and why being too early is almost always better than being too late Joining Primary: The Case for Concentrated Seed (21:14) * Why Jason chose a principal role at a six-person, $190M AUM Primary over a partner title elsewhere * What he saw in founders Ben and Brad that others were missing - the depth of diligence, the buttoned-up fundraising, the point of view * How Primary has scaled from $190M to $1.6B AUM while staying obsessively focused on seed Primary’s Differentiated Model: Impact, Incubation, and the 60-Person Team (25:56) * The three things companies need most - customers, people, and capital - and how the Impact team is built around them * How a VC firm’s email address can deliver a 25X higher outbound conversion rate than a startup’s own SDRs * The “glass ball” monthly review process: triaging the highest-priority risks across the portfolio before anything breaks Why Platform Is Broken - and What Primary Does Instead (31:36) * Why most VC platform teams are set up to fail: too few people, too many companies, treated as second-class * Primary’s Impact team is run by former C-suite executives from multi-hundred-million-dollar ARR companies * The shift to AI-native operating inside the platform team - and what that means for portfolio companies Vertical AI, Hardware Agents, and Why Software Moats Are Dead (42:09) * Why Jason is spending more time on physical-world businesses than pure software right now * The wedge vs. system of record debate: why jaw-dropping UX and fast customer acquisition beat “10X better” enterprise replacements every time * Hardware-activated agent networks: how cheap cameras, sensors, and downstream automation are eating vertical workflows - and why Flock Safety is the model What Jason Looks for in Founders Today (50:07) * The qualities that define the founders Jason is most excited to back: urgency, learning velocity, customer obsession, and the ability to sell product and equity * Why he would always rather back a great founder than incubate a company himself * Where incubation and inbound sourcing sit in his priorities heading into the new fund About Jason Shuman Jason Shuman is a General Partner at Primary Ventures, New York’s largest dedicated seed fund with over $1.6 billion in AUM. A former founder himself, Jason built Category5, a direct-to-consumer footwear brand, before transitioning to venture capital. At Primary, he leads investments in vertical AI, hardware-enabled systems, and incubation, and has been part of building one of the most differentiated seed platforms in the industry. His portfolio includes companies like Latch, Dandy, and several active incubations. He is known for his operator-first investment approach, his conviction in hardware-activated agent networks, and his belief that software-only moats are no longer enough. Connect with Jason Shuman on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jasonshuman Visit Primary Ventures website: https://www.primary.vc/ Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1 Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

    53 min
  8. Inside Canada’s Most Ambitious Space Infrastructure Company with Mina Mitry of Kepler Communications

    May 13

    Inside Canada’s Most Ambitious Space Infrastructure Company with Mina Mitry of Kepler Communications

    In this episode of Tank Talks, host Matt Cohen sits down with Mina Mitry, CEO and Co-Founder of Kepler Communications, one of the world’s most ambitious space infrastructure companies. With a journey that spans from winning $75,000 in university pitch competitions to building the world’s first commercial optical data relay network, Mina’s experience offers valuable insights for founders, especially those navigating the challenges of building deep-tech and hardware-driven companies. Mina shares his entrepreneurial beginnings, the lessons he learned while scaling Kepler, and the hard pivot from off-the-shelf software to a vertically integrated satellite manufacturing model. He also discusses the Arctic surveillance gap, why real-time space data is critical for Canadian sovereignty, and how Kepler was selected as prime contractor for ESA’s Hydron Element 3 project. From launching 10 satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 to shooting lasers across 6,500 kilometers in orbit, Mina dives into his journey and the key principles he follows in his entrepreneurial endeavors. Whether you’re interested in space tech, defense, or sovereign infrastructure, Mina’s story provides inspiration and practical wisdom. From University Rockets to Building Space Infrastructure (02:03) * Mina’s journey from a first-generation immigrant family to co-founding Kepler at the University of Toronto * Why Kepler’s original mission of bringing the internet beyond Earth has never changed * The ultimatum that convinced his co-founders to leave traditional career paths behind The Early Days of Kepler and Finding Product-Market Fit (06:36) * How Kepler survived the early years with limited capital and massive ambition * Why remote communications in the Arctic became one of the company’s first real-world use cases * The challenge of convincing investors in 2015 that orbital laser networks were even possible Satellites, Orbital Networks, and Why Space Connectivity Matters (08:25) * A breakdown of low Earth orbit, geostationary orbit, and why northern connectivity remains difficult * How Kepler built the world’s first commercial laser-based relay network in space * Why real-time data transmission is becoming critical for everything from disaster response to defense Building Canada’s Largest Orbital Data Center (14:22) * What it actually means to put compute infrastructure in orbit * Why SpaceX, Starship, and falling launch costs could completely reshape the space economy * The engineering, thermal, and regulatory challenges of scaling orbital infrastructure Inside Kepler’s Falcon 9 Launch Moment (16:48) * What it felt like watching Kepler’s satellites launch from Vandenberg for the first time * The emotional significance of one of Canada’s largest space milestones in years * Why launch economics and insurance remain misunderstood parts of the industry Defense, Arctic Surveillance, and Sovereign Space Infrastructure (19:42) * How Kepler is helping governments access real-time intelligence from space * Why the Arctic has become a major strategic priority for Canada and its allies * The role of orbital infrastructure in missile detection, surveillance, and national security The Geopolitical Tailwinds Behind Space Sovereignty (23:19) * Why middle powers are increasingly investing in sovereign technology infrastructure * How defense ministries around the world are approaching space-based intelligence differently * The recurring revenue model behind Kepler’s government partnerships Why Space Tech Moats Are Built Over Decades (26:56) * Why Mina believes infrastructure, regulatory access, and time are harder to replicate than capital * The importance of spectrum rights, security clearances, and orbital heritage * Why Kepler’s biggest competitive advantage may simply be the years it has already spent building Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II, and Inspiring the Next Generation (28:43) * What Canada’s moon mission means for the future of the country’s space sector * Why Mina believes visibility and inspiration matter as much as technology itself * How astronauts have become both cultural icons and catalysts for innovation Why Ambition Still Matters Most for Founders (31:00) * Mina’s advice for founders building difficult, long-term companies * Why independent thinking matters more than following trends * The types of space startups Mina believes are still too early to realistically succeed About Mina Mitry Mina Mitry is the CEO and co-founder of Kepler Communications, a Toronto-based space infrastructure company building the world’s first commercial optical data relay network. A first-generation Egyptian-Canadian, Mina started Kepler out of the University of Toronto in 2015 with $75,000 from pitch competitions. Under his leadership, Kepler has grown to over 200 employees, vertically integrated its satellite manufacturing, and launched 10 optical relay satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in January 2026. Mina holds advanced degrees in engineering, left a PhD program to start Kepler, and has become one of Canada’s most outspoken advocates for sovereign space capability, real-time data infrastructure, and ambitious engineering. Connect with Mina Mitry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmitry?originalSubdomain=ca Visit Kepler Communications website: https://kepler.space/ Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1 Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

    37 min
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Join your host, Matt Cohen, Founder & Managing Partner at Ripple Ventures for weekly conversations with leaders in the startup ecosystem discussing the truth about investing, building and running startups. tanktalks.substack.com

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