The story of Sampler (live at SAAS NORTH 2024)

By November 24, 2024
Marie Chevrier Schwartz speaking at SAAS NORTH 2024.
“I’m using failure with intent today, because I don’t want to be ashamed of saying failure."

Globalive Capital’s Brice Scheschuk spoke at Highline Beta the other day (where BetaKit shares an office) about owning your startup journey.

During the presentation, he posed an interesting thought exercise: what if the tech press wrote 49 articles about company failure for every one article about fundraising success?

“In summary, Sampler lost product-market fit 10 years into running its business.”

Marie Chevrier Schwartz
Sampler founder


It’s a great question. We’re not going to dig into it fully today, but one part of the answer, at least in Canada, is that founders are much more eager to talk about their successes than their failures. They often don’t want to share that story.

This week on The BetaKit Podcast we have a story of failure. BetaKit broke news in August of Toronto-based Sampler filing for bankruptcy in June and shuttering. At the time, Sampler CEO Marie Chevrier Schwartz was not willing to talk to BetaKit—or really anyone—about what happened.

Until SAAS NORTH, where on The BetaKit Keynote Stage, she sat down with me to discuss in detail the death of Sampler: what went wrong and why it failed.

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As Marie said on stage, she was “extremely nervous” to share this story—again, failure is not a common conversation in Canadian tech. But she also noted that if she could be an example of someone who survived that failure, “perhaps we as a community of founders could rebound faster.”

“I don’t want my legacy to be a failure without any lessons learned,” she said.

So, why did Sampler fail and what can we learn?

Let’s dig in.

PRESENTED BY
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The BetaKit Podcast is presented by The BetaKit Quiz: testing your knowledge of Canadian tech.

Stay sharp on the latest news, industry insights, and key players in Canadian tech—and show off your expertise. Whether you’re a seasoned founder, a tech enthusiast, or just curious about the latest developments, The BetaKit Quiz is your weekly challenge to see how well you’re keeping up with Canada’s tech landscape.

Head over to BetaKit.com/quiz every Friday for the latest quiz, and see if you can beat your high score!

The BetaKit Podcast is hosted by Douglas Soltys & Rob Kenedi. Produced & edited by Darian MacDonald. Feature image courtesy SAAS NORTH.

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