"Expect to see more dead unicorns."

☞ 1x Director Position & 1x Analyst Position!

Angel investing can be addictive, Trevor with 100+ investments would know and fashioned this into the most humorous intro of the weekend, «I'm a recovering Angel Investor. I made my last investment 48 hours ago.»

We have to assume that Martin and Lawrence want to hit the water to go kitesurfing from 10 am. They say they are AB testing to find the best time to catch founders. The early angel catches the founder!

Yet, Ben Thompson observes, unlike railroad or oil monopolies of old—which built their empires by forming trusts—“Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple dominate because consumers like them. Each of them leveraged technology to solve a unique user needs, acquired users, then leveraged those users to attract suppliers onto their platforms by choice, which attracted more users, creating a virtuous cycle.”

Join the Briefing: PwC Tower, Level 22/188 Quay St, Auckland, 1010
Tues, 26 March 1700-1900, drinks and nibbles too, pls RSVP.

Kate wants to include real footage from the paddocks which could prove challenging with cow extras. This could be a pitch video like few others!

Great hosting from James and Daisy at KPMG, THANKS!

This is GridAKL's blog on The art of startup pitching with Rudi Bublitz.

In 2016/2017 we experimented with Equitise to improve deal closure and cash collection on their platform. Being smart founders, they iterated this into a strong value prop for brokers and lead investors. This gave them a competitive edge when they returned to Aussie as the crowdfunding legislation over there caught up.

Note: Rudi and Lachlan are investors. Rudi served on their NZ advisory board.

Tue 19 March, 18:30 at KPMG, 18 Viaduct Harbour Ave, AKL as usual.

That makes it really easy to transfer the third milestone tranche. Under the investment terms, FKA will shortly be entitled to subscribe further shares. That looks attractive with the progress to date.

Garry.Bluett@fka.nz is our investor rep and can tell you more.

But hang on! Before we surrender to her seductive line of argument, let's make sure Isabel doesn't have a cupboard full of skeletons that dictate that we stay put on our current stats and shut the door on her.

Tell the bone doctors aka FKA directors in confidence.

It's been a long time coming and here is Vodafone's promo video for iDefigo's surveillance camera and service. iDefigo is our portfolio company #08 and now fully established in the UK.

Sadly, this clashes with our pitch night but drinks and canapés are beckoning for those who don't have a ticket to KPMG's superior fare. More details and registration HERE.

Great stuff when lawyers provide humour and entertainment. It takes two big shags to make a little shag and it takes two law firms to finesse a startup SHAG. In our most recent round, LoJo were acting for FKA and Simmonds Stewart for FormusLabs.

All the funds for the FormusLabs round are in and waiting for Debra to push go so that all can be finalised. DEAL DONE!

Funny moment: FKAngel Marisa was on the Q+A panel with Zeddy. «Love the purple colour! But I have never been to a farm, never put on gumboots.» Of course, she would have been in her element with Weirdly.

Gemma (PageProof), Kim (BoardPro), Tara (Grin), Lisa (Plantae), Amelia (Preno), Dale (Weirdly), Abbe (Winely), Kathryn (Yabble), Kate (Zeddy).

We are not planning to take ADI to the moon but at ADI Auckland this week we talked to a founder who wants to provide solar power for commercial activities on the moon.

The point here is that Callaghan Tech Incubators are dictating aggressive investment terms that a) dilute founders to a point that will disincentivise them b) frustrate syndication with other investors c) torpedo future funding rounds.

The five biggest investors are FKA, Uniservices, Cure Kids Ventures, MIG Angels, NZVIF, with sizeable investments from the board and team. Great to partner again with Uniservices following StretchSense. This is our first time syndicating with Cure Kids Ventures who bring great med tech know-how and connections. Robust DD and SHAG discussions with MIG Angels have served to further strengthen our relationship.

This guy rocks! Shaven or not!

Ky has been a regular at ADI and has also helped Moxion. He has worked at Everedge IP, NZTE and is now with PWC. A salesman at heart and motormouth to challenge Paul Trotter. Naturally, Ky has talked with Paul, also Mike Hanna and Rudi. All feel there is a good mutual fit.

However, if any of you know things that could veto Ky's joining, then speak up and raise your concerns in confidence with the FKA directors.

Two big paella pans and a dedicated barman made for perfect catering. A just application of funds was the view of two investors on the night, Rudi from FKA pictured with the unicorn and Ben from Right Click Capital sporting the bihorn.

Wednesday night was Demo Day of the Centrality Accelerator. Six interesting pitches, several that had come through ADI, and Yabble pitched to FKA last year. There were at least nine FKAngles in the room: Debra, Erick, Karl, Heath, Jackie, Paul T, Ralf W, Rudi and Uli, and FKApprentice Nawaz, furthermore one FKAwannabe Andy H.

But hang on, that's not all! Erick and Karl were mentors to the program, as was FKAsponsor extraordinaire and sword-wielding strongman of Potentia, Nate.

Just in. A startup with $1m+ ARR traction in the courier industry is seeking funding. The static image is part of their pitch deck and promo material. Points for that from the editor and a GIF addition.

Email Rudi if you want to find out more.

Who would not want a Golden Goose at that rate?