Event category: BetaKit Keynote Stage
Events
03:15 PM - 03:55 PM EDT
Round-Up of Canadian Soonicorns
We have had an unprecedented run of Canadian unicorns in the last 18 months. We all heard about these great organizations – they had been putting in the work for YEARS but were often under-celebrated until they finally got anointed with their Unicorn valuation, often due to foreign investment.
Are we going to wait another 5 years to acknowledge the next great wave of Canadian Unicorns that are already being built right here in Canada now? We say no!
SAAS NORTH is proud to round-up a select panel of ‘Soonicorns’ on the BetaKit Stage in 2021. You don’t need to wait to celebrate these Canadian Soonicorns – and you will remember that you saw them on stage at SAAS NORTH! Join them to learn about the strategic growth and scaling plans that are helping drive the trajectory of these soon-to-be-unicorns.
03:05 PM - 03:15 PM EDT
AWS PitchFest Final Throwdown
The 4th annual SAAS NORTH PitchFest presented by AWS is back for another epic year! This year we expect up to 100 companies to apply – but only 8 finalists will be selected by our judges to pitch live at SAAS NORTH!
At SAAS NORTH, four of the finalists will present to the official SAAS NORTH judging panel each day, in front of the SAAS NORTH audience. A winner from day one and two will be selected, culminating in an exciting grand-finale at the end of Day 2. The two winners will compete head-to-head in a dramatic winner-takes-all rapid pitch-off!
The SAAS NORTH audience of leading SaaS investors and entrepreneurs will decide the grand prize winner by live people’s choice voting!
12:20 PM - 01:05 PM EDT
AWS PitchFest – Round 2
The 4th annual SAAS NORTH PitchFest presented by AWS is back for another epic year! This year we expect up to 100 companies to apply – but only 8 finalists will be selected by our judges to pitch live at SAAS NORTH!
At SAAS NORTH, four of the finalists will present to the official SAAS NORTH judging panel each day, in front of the SAAS NORTH audience. A winner from day one and two will be selected, culminating in an exciting grand-finale at the end of Day 2. The two winners will compete head-to-head in a dramatic winner-takes-all rapid pitch-off!
The SAAS NORTH audience of leading SaaS investors and entrepreneurs will decide the grand prize winner by live people’s choice voting!
09:30 AM - 10:00 AM EDT
Lessons From Carol Leaman: Optimizing a Revenue First Growth Strategy
Carol Leaman isn’t your typical leader. She’s driving a revolutionary approach to employee knowledge, but she’s also a doors-open, come-see-me-anytime kind of executive. Join us for this intimate fireside chat where Carol shares her insights on what is true for growth revenue at different stages in the life of the business at – $0 – $10M, $10M – $30M and then $30M – $100M. She will share tips and lessons learned along the way.
09:05 AM - 09:30 AM EDT
Building SMB SaaS Unicorns: The strategies and Benchmarks Emerging from Best-in-Class SMB SaaS Companies
SMB is a quickly maturing category of SaaS, with new companies constantly emerging to solve new issues and address new verticals of small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) customers. SMB SaaS companies are able to grow rapidly and capital efficiently by servicing specific niches or underserved segments of customers, and by discovering new distribution mechanics. The metrics that matter for these companies are slightly different than true enterprise SaaS, and represent a blend of best-of-breed consumer and enterprise metrics. SMB SaaS companies that reach unicorn status are usually able grow beyond their initial markets by moving to new verticals, going upmarket, or layering on additional services like embedded fintech (many do all three!). Come and learn the strategies and benchmarks they used to make it happen!
November 17, 2021
04:15 PM - 05:00 PM EDT
When Unicorns Fly: Billion Dollar Lessons from the Inside
Canada’s tech landscape is buzzing with venture financing and a record number of unicorns popping up. Here from inside Canada growing stable of unicorns: how they got there, critical lessons learned, new challenges and practical perspectives to help fellow SaaS leaders bust into the unicorn stable.