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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#25

31/7/2020


	31 July 2020 #25

CEO Vlatko delivered a great pitch for Hot Lime Labs' follow-on round. Here is his pitch video. Investor Rep Garry is just cycling through the preemptive loop. You can find out more from [email protected].

Actually last week at ADI.Clinic--Julian from Potentia is our potent videographer posted his original 'friendly faces' video on LinkedIn

This week we have launched the FKA Intranet. It provides safe and secure access to confidential information for all our Angels. Steve Hockey from MyHub pitched to FKA in 2016. He didn't take our money then but still takes our advice. Now, we gratefully take his platform! Thank you!

There is always a lot of talk about deal flow and getting into deals, not enough talk about how to exit which is how you make the money.

Read more about it and think more about it. This 51-page ebook is a good start. Exits should be NO Emergency Exits!

News in this week about two AgTech start-ups falling over. In this 2016 NBR article, RipeTime forecast $300m sales by 2019 but is now entering Voluntary Administration. Some say earlier action might have saved funds to benefit a residual return to investors. CropLogic listed on the ASX in 2017 and has numerous small investors from a 2016 crowdfunding round. Voluntary Administration too.

So—the primary sector is not safe from negative Covid19 impact and an IPO is no safe exit nor a secure path to funding.

While less sexy than marketing or sales, the way your SaaS company handles pricing & billing can have a similar impact on your bottom line. In fact, pricing might even be the most important area you can tackle to drive your business’ growth.

On average, pricing and monetization is a more efficient growth lever than acquisition and retention efforts, with 89% more impact than retention, and 282% improvement over marketing or advertising.

Read on! plus 139-page SaaS Pricing Strategy ebook

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#24

24/7/2020


	24 July 2020 #24

Two great pitches for follow-on rounds from Hot Lime Labs #13 and FileInvite #14 in FKA's portfolio stable. Both founders Vlatko and James made their investor reps Garry and Garth proud. Great progress!!!

Rudi the investor rep of Moxion, FKA's #10 portfolio company press released the recent $1.4m raise to the NBR which resulted in this article.

This week Matt McFedries from Debtor Daddy #06 has circulated his sobering quarterly update. Tough times for his debt collection business.

50 Angels flying a Pink Ribbon wasn't quite 50 but it was lots of fun. Rudi and Dan were battling it out in two black Jeep Wranglers. Tim W proved to be an awesome auctioneer of all things pink. Katheren rocked up in an oversized UN vehicle and brought sausages to feed the nations.

Airtree Ventures acknowledges Suse Reynolds deservedly with this article. She has been a relentless fixture of the Angelic landscape in NZ since the beginning. She is LADY AANZ!

She is also the champion of Narrative Muse in FKA's Portfolio.

Of course, runway as in runway of a plane to take off, a startup to take off, not a catwalk despite all the cat-herding in our industry. Debra, Phil and Rudi are booked from FKA as are many, many founders. Still, Lady AANZ is calling for some more Angels and the CCH reckons this is a catwalk worth strutting to. Book here!

Lessons from the “Forrest Gump” of Silicon Valley. Marvin shares his personal story and acknowledges that there is no clear success formula which is how he got his nickname. Here just what he did.

Still, the same team that brought FREE legal templates to startups but Simmonds Stewart is rebranding as Kindrik Partners.

While less sexy than marketing or sales, the way your SaaS company handles Pricing & Billing can have a similar impact on your bottom line. In fact, pricing might even be the most important area you can tackle to drive your business’ growth.

On average, pricing and monetization is a more efficient growth lever than acquisition and retention efforts, with 89% more impact than retention, and 282% improvement over marketing or advertising. Read on!

SVS is about Zoom pitches to big-name Valley VCs. Many pitches as early as what we see at ADI.Clinic. A great lesson in positive and supportive reactions from the VCs - the art of saying "NO, not just yet".

Live on Saturday morning (civil hours) or past episodes on YouTube

Cheque-writing is an Angel's honour but it is no competition. With 18 letters to his full name, Cornelius Boertjens has the longest name of all Flying Kiwis and just takes a little longer to sign his cheques

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#23

17/7/2020


	17 July 2020 #23

Next Tuesday, 21 July, 18:30 KPMG will be hosting our July pitch night.

18 Viaduct Harbour Avenue Auckland CBD

Come along as a guest of a Flying Kiwi Angel. Just ask one!

Hot Lime Labs, FKA's #13 has proven the tech and is ready to take it to the next level. The founder and CEO Vlatko Materić is coming to our 21 July pitch night to give an update and seek funding for the next stage of this exciting journey to provide

GREEN CO2 FOR HORTICULTURE.

We have heard lots about Kami, FKA's #02 benefiting from Covid19. The same is true for FileInvite, FKA's #14! The founder and CEO James Sampson is coming to our 21 July pitch night to tell us more.

Is it Garry Grant or Garth Hinton before his hair colour changed? Do I hear hair colour pipes up Averill □

CEO Hengjie talks on Business Hub and NewstakZB. Chair Bob twitters that Kami should make #1 in the Deloitte Fast 50. Kami is FKA's #02 portfolio company, born out of the Velocity competition at Auckland Uni.

Kids do BYOD, we do BOYV, your own 4x4 this Sunday from 1100 to 1600. Sharon from LoveMyNewZealand is providing food, the Auckland 4x4 Club is making it safe on Muriwai Beach, and Katheren is coordinating at our end. $100 per vehicle, GO! [email protected]

ADI Auckland was fully booked with 6 slots. One of them was for a revolutionary deodorant. ADI mentors have more fun and smell better!

That is somewhat what it looks like when telling 123 nominee investors what their holdings are at the end of March and giving updates to June.

Email Rudi if you have not received your report. See a sample report.

$1.4m invested since April to help 7 startups through the pandemic.

Erik "Son of Angels" is a US-based nominee investor via FKA. His own startup Lucira has pivoted from flue to covid detection with strong Series B support from well-known investors.

You may remember James Broadbent the founder of Narrative pitching in April 2019? Sadly we were robbied the opportunity to invest back then. Great progress and he just closed the next round led by Founders Fund.

The main Crunch Base press release does not mention NZGCP and so here is the corresponding LinkedIn post from NZGCP.

Michael and Rudi swapped latte and GIF art awhile back in Auckland. Now Michael has his sights set on a cafe on his home turf in Blenheim. Not an Angel deal but he needs Angels to help where the banks don't.

For our angelic friends at AIM, Brian Dawson? Nelson Angels, Matthias Andermatt? Or a coffeephile anywhere in NZ? Get in touch with Michael!

Of course, Michael was behind this coffee fit for a Chief Cat Herder.

Lauren Fong from ArcAngels is raising a passive fund to back female-led startups. Here is the flyer.

#CCHWW

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#22

10/7/2020


	10 July 2020 #22

Averill Dickson has worked variously with FKA's Angels and portfolio companies. Following discussions with Heath, Tim W and Rudi, she has now settled on 10 colours for her angel wings. She'd be a great fit, not always a colour match.

If anyone knows any reasons why Averill should not join the ranks of FKA. then raise your concerns in confidence with the FKA Board.

The Dumb Money guys did this video back in March 2019 discussing two of their investments, FKA's #03 portfolio company Aisleworx and the now infamous WeWork. Rudi is the investor rep and chair of Aisleworx and reports that things are going well in contrast to WeWork.

Smart money is coming from two Kiwi funds that have been announced this week. Both are looking to syndicate with FKA to double the money and smarts. Read more on Movac and more on Pacific Channel.

Smart investors syndicate!

Angel Fashion this week. Josh self-confessedly knows little about digital marketing but dresses the part now that he is with aptly named The Attention Agency. At the other end of the spectrum Rudi and Lawrence dress for the occasion - boating on Whangārei Harbour.

With the ascend of Averill, we may have Angel Hair Fashion soon?

☞ "Something’s rotten at Photonic Innovations"

NBR's Shoeshine Series shines a light on NZ CEOs that might do better shoe shining. This one is about Photonic, Powerhouse and NZGCP.

500 Startups looked into the disproportionately negative effects of coronavirus on female and minority founders. Here the survey results.

Ever wondered how much ARR a customer success manager can manage? This article has some facts and figures. See here.

Useful Go-To-Market benchmarking from Tomasz Tunguz and the team at Redpoint Ventures. Check it out!

Brian Dawson is running ADI for AIM in Blenheim. He is also convening the Biz Break sessions for the Business Trust Marlborough. They are not just talking about viticulture, next Thursday is Moving Bra Fitting Online.

Change is not easy! The non-Swedish reader can refer to Hög…ertr…mlä… as H-Day. This was the day when the Swedish government decided to switch from driving on the left lane to the right. This was to ease the transition when commuting from Sweden to all of its neighbouring countries which drove on the right lane. On H-Day and the following weeks, traffic was practically at a standstill.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#21

3/7/2020


	3 July 2020 #21

Haha, when we reported last week that Kami, FKA's #02 portfolio company is hiring we understated their user numbers. 10M+ not nine!

Jonathan Curtis has been a regular at ADI.Clinic since forever. He loves his boats old, and his companies young! Both require a lot of money and patience. Doesn't seem smart but Jonathan has plenty of smarts.

He has talked with Andy, Glen and Rudi about angelic matters and all feel there is a good mutual fit. That is unless anyone knows reasons to put Jonathan on the plank rather than let him join FKA. Please raise any concerns in confidence with the FKA Board.

The Meg is now on Netflix. It was Moxion's first blockbuster gig four years ago that put FKA's #10 portfolio company on the international stage. Hugh and Co are passionate about making better films. Better workflows in feature film production make for better outcomes!

Not often that we find a song that fits with the signing of the investment docs for a new portfolio company (#22). Chatterize makes an exception!

"I dunno..." may or may not be appropriate chatter in the app?

FKA's #05 portfolio company, Datagate flattens the learning curve of the billing cycle of MSPs. A managed services provider is most often an IT services provider that manages and assumes responsibility for providing a defined set of services to its clients or as the MSP (not the client) determines that services are needed. More on MSPs...

Over the last three decades, the FAMGA tech giants — Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Apple — have collectively made 770 acquisitions. Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, some have continued to write checks, with Apple being the most active acquirer in 2020.

More on Tech Giants’ Billion-Dollar Acquisitions

Since 2015 Arlan's Backstage fund has raised US$10M+ and invested in 130+ startups led by underestimated founders. In 2018 Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio to launch four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London. Register!

Another poster boy at KPMG this week, Ian Proudfoot reporting on the state of AgriTech. Millennials are interested in the NZ opportunities from plant-based protein. They prioritise recruiting, developing, and retaining talent – an emphasis shared by women in agribusiness.

They share an openness to gene technology, including gene editing with baby boomers, unlike the generation X that is sandwiched between both.

NBR article or get Ian's full report

The best Angels rise for sure but do we have early risers? For this HBR webinar on "How to Use Customer Data to Actually Help Customers" you don't need to pay a cent but you need to get your proverbial out of bed at 4ᴀᴍ in the morning. Register here!

New staff at NZGCP also includes a Marketing Manager who asked to correct last week's quoted wording of the AANZ press release regarding NZGCP. So here is the official NZGCP press release.

But then Rudi only added "or lead deals" from what he picked up in the "Welcome the Aspire crew" Zoom call last week. "It is not our immediate intention to lead but we have the authority."

Rudi asked for a copy of the MBIE mandate and we will advise if he needs a hearing aid or not as soon as we can cross-reference the mandate.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#25

31 July 2020 #25

Read on! plus 139-page SaaS Pricing Strategy ebook

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#24

24 July 2020 #24

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#23

17 July 2020 #23