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PODCAST

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures

Ripple Ventures

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

business entrepreneurship

All Episodes

59:21

What Makes a Startup “Click”, Before it Even Exists?...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/04/02

Originally recorded as Matt Cohen’s guest appearance on the Make It Click podcast hosted by Willson Cross.Matt Cohen joins Willson Cross on the Make It Click podcast for a sharp, no-fluff conversation on what actually makes early-stage startups click. As the founder and managing partner of Ripple Ventures, Matt breaks down how he went from Bay Street and Wall Street trading desks to becoming one of Canada’s most active early-stage investors, backing founders at the inception stage, sometimes before

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20:23

The Rundown 3/30/26: Ontario’s $4B AI Fund, SpaceX’s...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/03/30

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo unpack a major week across Canadian venture capital, deep tech liquidity, sovereign investment strategy, and the rapidly shifting AI software stack. The conversation opens with Ontario’s newly announced $4 billion Protect Ontario Account investment fund, designed to back artificial intelligence, defence, manufacturing, and growth-stage businesses while shielding jobs from trade disruption. John breaks down the real strategic question beneath

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53:39

Canada’s $35 Billion Arctic Push, the New Cost of...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/03/26

In this episode of Tank Talks, host Matt Cohen sits down with Glenn Cowan, a former Canadian Special Forces squadron commander, world-record skydiver, and founder of ONE9 Investments, one of Canada’s most focused venture firms in defence, national security, and dual-use tech. He has experienced both sides of the mission, from the field to the boardroom, and brings a perspective you do not hear often when it comes to building serious, sovereign technology in 2026.Glenn opens up about his unexpected

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47:05

Why Building AI Matters More Than Using It with Ali...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/03/19

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Ali Asaria, Co-Founder of Transformer Lab, to unpack the less visible side of the AI boom, from broken machine learning tools to the rise of autonomous research agents. Ali shares what it really looks like inside modern AI development and why the biggest opportunity isn’t just using models, but having the ability to train, control, and improve them.Ali also reflects on his journey building across multiple tech waves, from creating BrickBreaker

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24:40

The Rundown 3/13/26: Canada’s Defence Tech Push,...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/03/13

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo unpack a volatile moment across software, capital markets, AI, and Canadian industrial policy. The conversation opens with Constellation Software’s AI-era challenge, as new president Mark Miller faces investor skepticism around whether legacy vertical market software can maintain its moat in a world increasingly shaped by AI-driven productivity, automation, and code generation.From there, Matt and John examine Salesforce’s decision to raise

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43:51

The Future of Money in Canada: Stablecoins, Custody,...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/03/12

In this episode of Tank Talks, host Matt Cohen sits down with Didier Lavallée, Founder and CEO of Tetra Digital Group, to explore one of the most important frontiers in Canadian fintech: regulated digital assets and the rise of a sovereign Canadian stablecoin.Didier shares his journey from more than a decade in capital markets and custody roles at RBC to founding Tetra following the collapse of QuadrigaCX, an event that exposed the need for secure and regulated digital asset custody in Canada. His

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23:05

The Rundown 3/3/26: Upfront Summit Recap, AI Layoffs,...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/03/03

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo unpack the most pressing trends shaking up the innovation economy, from AI-driven layoffs to the ongoing turbulence in the private credit market. The conversation kicks off with insights from the Upfront Summit 2026, where AI dominated the spotlight. As venture firms scramble to stay ahead of the curve, Matt and John delve into how AI is reshaping industries, shifting investment priorities, and creating new tensions on the global stage. They

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28:48

Xanadu's Historic SPAC Merger: What it Means for the...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/02/26

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Christian Weedbrook, founder and CEO of Xanadu, and Bill Fradin, CEO of Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp., to explore the historic SPAC merger that is bringing Xanadu to the public markets. With a focus on photonic quantum computing, Xanadu has rapidly advanced in the quantum tech space, positioning itself as a leader in both hardware and software innovation.The merger, which values Xanadu at $3 billion, will not only help accelerate the

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27:34

The Rundown 2/23/26: Canada’s Defence Industrial...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/02/23

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo dive into Canada’s bold new defence industrial strategy, backed by $6.6 billion to reduce U.S. dependency and prioritize domestic tech suppliers. They discuss the challenges of defining a “Canadian” company and whether the strategy has the right balance of government procurement and private sector support to succeed. The conversation also explores how AI, quantum, and other emerging technologies fit into Canada’s national defence vision and

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43:04

How Tokenized Gold is Revolutionizing Wealth...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/02/19

Why is gold suddenly back in the spotlight?In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Peter Grosskopf, a seasoned veteran in the precious metals and investment management world. Peter has seen it all. He helped scale Sprott from $5 billion to over $20 billion in assets under management, and now, he’s co-founded Argo Digital Gold, a platform pioneering the tokenization of physical gold.Peter breaks down how gold is reasserting itself as the ultimate hedge against today’s inflation, debt

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51:10

Fragmented Portals to Single Source: AI for LP...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/02/12

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Amar Varma, CEO and Co-Founder of Mantle, a revolutionary platform designed to transform the private investing landscape. As a serial entrepreneur with experience as both a General Partner (GP) and Limited Partner (LP), Amar offers a rare, dual perspective on the world of investment. His background spans multiple industries, including mobile, connected vehicles, and now private market infrastructure, where he is tackling one of the most

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21:23

The Rundown 2/6/26: Canada’s AI Strategy Goes...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/02/06

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo rip through a stacked rundown of tech, venture capital, and geopolitical “sovereignty” theater. They open with Europe’s accelerating shift away from Microsoft Office and big U.S. platforms toward open-source alternatives, then jump straight into a breaking change from Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan: Canada is back on the list of accepted incorporations, reversing a move that sparked serious backlash about Canadian startup brain drain and

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41:14

The Blueprint for a Canadian Rocket Supply Chain with...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/02/03

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Hugh Kolias, Co-Founder and CEO of Canada Rocket Company, right as the company exits stealth with a $6.2M all-Canadian seed round backed by Ripple Ventures, BDC, Garage Capital, and others. Hugh breaks down the real mission: give Canada sovereign, medium-lift launch capability, so we’re not dependent on foreign nations to put critical satellites into orbit, while still building a business that can win globally.They get into the “hard part”

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21:26

The Rundown 1/29/26: Garry Tan's Controversial Move:...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/01/29

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo unpack the ripple effects of Y Combinator’s decision to exclude Canadian startups from their investment portfolio unless they’re incorporated in the U.S. or other tax-friendly jurisdictions. This move has sent shockwaves through the Canadian tech ecosystem, and Matt and John break down exactly why this matters for founders and investors alike.The conversation explores the myth of U.S. incorporation being the golden ticket for capital-raising

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24:07

The Rundown 1/23/25: Truth Bombs at Davos, Chaos in...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/01/23

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo unpack Prime Minister Mark Carney’s China agreement and his Davos speech, calling out the collapse of the rules-based international order and pushing “middle powers” to coordinate against coercion. John and Matt agree the speech was sharp, but they hammer the real issue: Canada has to build leverage at home (resources, infrastructure, internal trade, and actual execution) or “diversifying” becomes a vibes-only strategy.The conversation then

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64:42

Building a Solo GP Fund with Timothy Chen of Essence VC

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/01/22

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Timothy Chen, the sole General Partner at Essence VC. Tim shares his remarkable journey from being a “nerdy, geeky kid” who hacked open-source projects to becoming one of the most respected early-stage infrastructure investors, backing breakout companies like Tabular (acquired by Databricks for $2.2 billion). A former engineer at Microsoft and VMware, co-founder of Hyperpilot (acquired by Cloudera), and now a solo GP who quietly raised over

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21:58

The Rundown 1/15/26: Kepler’s Space Lasers, RBCx...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/01/15

In this episode of Tank Talks, host Matt Cohen and recurring guest John Ruffolo kick off the new year with a true “only in 2026” combo: a front-row seat to a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch carrying Kepler Communications’ satellites, followed by a hard reality check on Canada’s venture capital slowdown. John breaks down what it felt like watching the rocket, the first-stage landing, and why Kepler’s mission is bigger than a cool space flex: it’s the early shape of space-based data centers and laser-linked

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42:19

The Art of the Roll-Up: How Carma Corp. Quintupled in...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/01/13

In this episode of Tank Talks, host Matt Cohen sits down with Michael Platt, CEO of Carma Corp., and lifelong friend, to explore his incredible journey from corporate lawyer to building and selling one of Canada’s leading sub-metering companies.Michael shares how he transitioned from practicing law to launching a self-funded search fund, ultimately acquiring Carma Corp., a family-run business he scaled from 40,000 to over 135,000 customers nationwide. He opens up about the challenges of cold-calling

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49:33

How Stablecoins Are Shaping the Future of Global...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2026/01/08

In this episode of Tank Talks, host Matt Cohen is joined by Avinash Chidambaram, the CEO of Cybrid, to dive into the evolving role of stablecoins in global trade. Avinash, a pioneer in the world of FinTech, shares his journey from working with Blackberry and Interac to leading Cybrid’s mission to bridge stablecoins with traditional banking infrastructure. He discusses the growing importance of stablecoins as a fast, secure, and efficient method of cross-border payments, especially in an era marked

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20:51

The Rundown 12/24/25: The AI Shakeout, Canada’s...

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures ·

2025/12/24

In the final episode of 2025, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo reflect on a turbulent year for technology, capital markets, and Canadian innovation, while looking ahead to the forces that will shape 2026. The conversation opens with Canada’s largest private startup round of the year, a $1.76B raise by Toronto based HydroStar Energy Storage, and uses it as a springboard to examine the AI shakeout now underway. John describes the sector as entering a “forest fire” phase, where overfunded and

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319 results

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