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Another FKA Friday ● 24 June 2022#21

24/6/2022


	24 June 2022 #21		818

Thank you, Jonty, for hosting our pitch nights at KPMG!

Tuesday was another great night!

Our best wishes go to Jo from Fuel50 and Lane from Chatterize who had to give their apologies due to sickness and accident. ?

Kylie from SeaLogs gave a great update and had to endure an in-depth Q&A session as the only presenter.

Patrick from ProfitWell has shared this great docu with early supporters. WATCH

So good—that Julian! He grabs the hot potato by the horns!? More HERE!

‘Focus or die’: lessons from New Zealand’s fastest-growing company. LEARN

Every year Suse and the crew at AANZ lay on an Angel Summit and every year we try to come up with a new promo gif. Be the early bird! The worm is hiding here!

Tim and his orange crew at Ambit have secured a US/NZ-VC since he first pitched in August last year. He has signed Australian and Canadian accounts, also NZ Post. ARR up at $1.7m from $1m during Covid.

Join the Investor briefing, Wed, 29 June, 16:00. RSVP

Turbulent times—runway challenges and more. Adapting to Endure, Sequoia

How nontraditional VCs are reacting to market headwinds! Pitchbook Report + XLS

5/ It starts from the top. Zuck showed up to work in Jan '09 wearing a tie, and he wore it every day for an entire year. His message to the company: “it's time to get serious about our business.” Every time we walked into a meeting with Mark, we were reminded things had changed

6/ Reset the team. In the middle of covid I addressed the exec team of a travel start-up whose revenue dropped to zero overnight. I encouraged them to re-evaluate their team. Some people step up in a crisis - they are your future leaders. Others will jump ship - good riddance

Full Twitter Threat

At our Tuesday pitch night, we had some crypto confessions. THIS clip is funny!

Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 17 June 2022#20

17/6/2022


	17 June 2022 #20		820

Jamming Angel Lawrence is also a Guardian Angel and has invested to save the dispersed Ukrainian team of Jammy Instruments. He is on the exec board of the MIDI Association and wants Jammy to survive and thrive. Gotta love Lawrence

Okay, the mid section is unique to each startup. But here are some great video tips on how to start and finish a startup pitch! Start Tip #1 • Start Tip t#2 • End Tip #1

Our June Pitch Night is next Tuesday, 18:30 at KPMG, Viaduct Harbour Ave, AKL.

The high rollers at Eight360 follow a top-down sales strategy for the Australian market. Where better to start than with the Minister of Communications. The Post

Debra has sharp opinions and a big heart for founders, which is why she was invited to attend the FoundX Dunedin panel this month. The Post
A Flying Kiwi Angel truly flying around the country and flying the FKA banner!

Wednesday, just gone, at NZ Hi-Tech Alumni. Rudi in splendid electric pants, the dangers of a #manel averted by Lance Wiggs making room for Shona Grundy. CCH advice: Lance, take a cat's hat to be taller when sitting down! The Post

Erotica by the Fire Fri 8 July 18:30 + Dinner. Everyone, angels, founders, or not! Grab tickets to this little play HERE if it tickles your fancy and/or join us for dinner afterwards. Please let us know if you want to join us for dinner HERE.

It is good to have a code of conduct! It is important to be mindful of unconscious bias. Important to fend off discrimination and harassment. The public initiative of Icehouse Ventures HERE seems to have backfired when looking at the comments.

Not Paul Adams on the horse but he has an EverEdgy piece on intellectual property and recent developments in Russia. READ

3) Growth can wait, survival cannot. Amzn’s stock price crossed $100 in '99 and bottomed at $6 in '01 (months from bankruptcy). We cut burn from >$1B to positive free cash flow by raising prices to stop the bleeding. Revenue growth slowed to 3% but we lived to fight another day.

4) Change the tone. Amzn did a small but symbolic RIF in 2000. Around that time, Jeff was presented with a team t-shirt - he threw the team out of his office and banned all company swag. We even removed aspirin from the break rooms, served coffee and water. Small acts set the tone

Full Twitter Threat

Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 10 June 2022#19

10/6/2022


	10 June 2022 #19		816

"Our Scale-Up NZ platform is undergoing a revamp designed to better serve our customers and fulfil our mission to connect New Zealand’s innovation ecosystem.? As a result, Scale-Up NZ’s online directory functionality will no longer be available as of 10 June 2022."

Save the night! Thursday, 28 July! It will be a night to remember.

"Ladies and gentlemen, electric cars... They are totally gay." WATCH IT HERE

A fun example, unlike anything we expect for our pitch night--21 June.?️

1) Raise capital when you can, not when you need it. Amzn tapped convert debt in Feb '00 - if we had waited another month we would not have survived. 9 years later at FB, we raised a 33% down-round despite having plenty of runway. Don’t wait until your back is up against the wall.

2) Cash is king. Forget about valuation, dilution, etc - if you run out of cash, none of it matters. Borders used its free cash flow to buy back stock for yrs, ignoring the internet. By the time a PE firm fired the board and asked me to join in ‘09, we had no runway for turnaround. Full Twitter Threat

Time to acknowledge Katheren and Debra who tirelessly review this newsletter before the public gets to see it. They keep it straight but not too narrow, and fix the grammar and spelling of the German. Their work is done in the early hours of Friday as the draft is only finished late Thursday night.

15+16 June, some MuTech? MusicTech to discover, K'rd in AKL, MORE HERE

Creative, business and technology innovators from leading music tech companies Serato, Melodics, InMusic and others for the inaugural perfect loudness by day, showcases, demonstrations, talks and networking.

Haha, a very unusual TechCrunch article: Coca-Cola’s attached bottle cap is rock bottom of hokey greenwashing.? READ IT HERE

Imagine you were going to buy a business today that you were required to sell next month, next quarter, or next year. How much would you pay? Given the substantial uncertainty currently dominating capital markets, your answer would be much less than you thought the business was actually worth. Follow this thought HERE!

Take a GLIMPSE! Interesting trends on the internet, made visible, such as the increased interest in non-alcoholic beer. Andy is a big fan!

Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 3 June 2022#18

3/6/2022


	3 June 2022 #18		818

We have completed DD on Dacreed and the DD team has given a positive investment recommendation. First commitments from Flying Kiwis have reached $250k and we have circulated our DD Report for syndication with other investors. That's how we fly!

Looks like, Garth crook with Covid sent his two daughters to clean the stables.? He put that time to good use and surfaced some interesting resources for founders on how to navigate a market downturn.

Sequoia’s lengthy, albeit incredibly insightful PDF, who survives a downturn like this, and how Airbnb handled the COVID-19 impact.

A16z’s framework HERE, reevaluating your valuation, controlling your burn, and best and worst-case scenario plans.

Y Combinator letter HERE, “Assuming expenses remain constant and revenue growth what it was over recent months, does the business make it to profitability on the money they have? Or to put it more dramatically, by default do they live or die?” Paul Graham.

Also this broader video on the topic WATCH.

Get well Garth! ? Ah, also Debra & Phil!

TEDx Auckland - 8 June, we have a discounted ticket link for you HERE! ?️

This claims to be bigger than Ben Hur. Our Chief Cat Herder got a FREE registration link, check it out and register. MORE HERE

NBR spin on its THE NBR "Rich" List. "...a much smaller proportion take on a niche pastime and act as ‘angel investors’ to direct funding to young high-growth companies. MORE HERE

Fundraising is tough, and fundraising in the US even more so. Silicon Valley Bank is running a virtual workshop for ANZ founders. MORE HERE?

Mates who got $300k in PledgeMe funding bought cars, holidays and booze... This is why you want a solid DD process and an investor rep! MORE HERE

Unbelievable but true! Lovina, the only social media voice of Movac, may have missed Easter with this post but she raises a pertinent point. READ ON

Like Lovina, Tim is not shy on social media!? He'll talk at the AI Insights Conference at the end of June. SEE MORE

Troy has been a regular at ADI.Clinic and brings a lot of trans-Tasman savvy to the table. He also combines tech and marketing with logistics know-how. SEE PRESS

Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 24 June 2022#21

Thank you, Jonty, for hosting our pitch nights at KPMG!

Tuesday was another great night!

Full Twitter Threat

Another FKA Friday ● 17 June 2022#20

Full Twitter Threat

Another FKA Friday ● 10 June 2022#19

Save the night! Thursday, 28 July! It will be a night to remember.

Another FKA Friday ● 3 June 2022#18

Get well Garth! ? Ah, also Debra & Phil!

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