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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#31

30/8/2019

 
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30 August 2019 #31

Sharon from Love My New Zealand is simply amazing! In 2016 she challenged us to navigate Woodhill forest by 4WD. She gifted us an amazing day which was her MVP test that passed with flying colours!

Sharon being Sharon now wants to challenge us onto the water, in 2 yachts, each with 20 crew. Again an incredibly generous offer. All she is asking that each participant make a donation to the NZ Sailing Trust.

Thursday afternoon 17 October, see the full details here.

Email [email protected] to secure your spot! 10 spots reserved for FKAngels, 30 spots on a first come irst serve basis for our wider network. Everyone plays a role in making FKA so great at helping Kiwi Startups grow and do better.

It was a very insightful talk with Marvin on Wednesday thanks to Callaghan Innovation and NZTE. A video recording will be released soon.

Great to see support from all our sponsors. Julian from Potentia, front row as you'd expect from a recruiter, James from KPMG and Andrew from LoJo in the middle rows that accountants and lawyers gravitate to.

BTW, poster boy Julian won the beauty contest at Potentia and will forthwith bring people smarts to ADI every third Thursday. AWESOME!

Not little at all our Tim W - it's just that Tim G is bigger! This week at #SouthernSaaS19 Tim talked about the hardest $1M to earn for a startup. It warrants applause!
Kami is №02 in the FKA stable. They have come a long way since we made our first investment in 2015. They are making us PROUD!

Join the 7 Million User Party, Saturday 7 September, 18:00 @ Kami HQ, 214 K Rd, AKL. RSVP for an accurate stock up order for the bar.

This coming Monday night, 2 September, Jennifer is calling for her popular speed dating event at GridAKL. She is the matchmaker of founders and helpful advisers including angelic helpers. So if you want to help then flick [email protected] an email for full details. 
Martin Bell chimed us news about these two AUT hosted workshops.

2 Oct ☞ NZ SME Founder Wellbeing Workshop

3 Oct ☞ NZ Entrepreneur Wellbeing Workshop

Drinks and nibbles at the new Auckland Bioengineering Institute's incubator space. Thursday 5 September 2019, 4.00pm until 6.30pm

Think IP rich deal flow! Please register here.
StretchSense, Hot Lime Labs, FormusLabs

In case you haven't heard Andy Hamilton will step down from his role at the helm of Icehouse in July. ☞ Read the list of his proud achievements.

It looks like he has already put his name to a first cameo role with Brad & Co. Judging by the accents, Icehouse veteran Ken Erskine may also play a role in it.

A first glimpse of the Grand Showcase 2019. $250k or so buys you a great show but for 1,000 only. Therefore, not everyone gets on the invite list, Lachlan did, Rudi did not. Thanks for the pic, Lachlan.

Potentia wants to beat that for the FKA pitch night in September and so does KPMG for the rest of 2019 - just smaller numbers!

NYU professor calls WeWork 'WeWTF,' says any Wall Street analyst who believes it's worth over $10 billion is 'lying, stupid, or both'.
Hi Rudi, Let’s not do lunch! My business is Know Towel. A towel with designated areas that show you were to wipe and dry off. Know better hygiene, better self-care. I need $1,000 in exchange for 2% equity. I know you can help, are you in or out?  www.knowtowel.com

A not so rare LinkedIn inbox find Maybe an interesting addition to the "Towel King" stealth project that Danny and Hattaf are cooking up?

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#30

23/8/2019

 
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23 August 2019 #30

Our August non-pitch night on Tuesday was a cosy affair. The North Shore on the other end of the bridge seems a big hurdle for Auckland Angels. Not so for Lawrence and Martin who descended from Whangarei. Next month we'll be at Potentia who know how to party as only recruiters do. 
Sadly, we missed out on Jennifer tap dancing and U35 Lachlan playing the didgeridoo. Both sent their apologies from overseas. Sad also that the CEO of Beer Jerk was insufficiently briefed by our friends at NZTE and showed up WITHOUT BEER. But he'll make up at ADI
The investor session that Callaghan is running during Southern SaaS now has 65 investors in person and 35 by webinar. 

28 August 2019, 14:00, AKL ☞  Register

Also, Tim is a speaker at the main event at Southern SaaS 2019.
Lawrence has just delivered the DD Report for Melodics. Now he is prepping his talk on Angel Investing in Northland.
Thank you, Lawrence, for giving us access to Melodics.  Claims that founder and CEO Sam Gibbens takes his style cues from Southpark are unsubstantiated.

This timely Seraf article about portfolio strategy came in just this morning. While the stage of company most common for angels to invest is at the seed stage, it’s important for portfolio diversity to consider other stages. If you have access to interesting deals where a company is at a major growth inflection point, you should consider making an investment.

Escape the NZ winter and register for AgSharks in Maui! Peter Wren-Hilton reckons it's worth doing for any Kiwi startup with innovative solutions in food, agritech and agriculture.
The popular Raising the Bar event, where twenty of leading academics share their knowledge over a drink at ten of Auckland’s best bars, is just over a week away on 27 August. Just a few free tickets remain so get in fast to secure your stool at the bar!

University of Auckland

James Veitch has fun with spammers. This week with unsolicited corporate emails. See how he deals to them...
Grammarly says, your Chief Cat Herder writes more than 95% of users, about 7,000 words per day in emails, docs, blogs, posts for LinkedIn and this newsletter. And he uses more unique words than 98%. But then it could say more about the average user?

No Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia!

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#29

16/8/2019

 
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16 August 2019 #29

Matt is a Kiwi in Sydney, a professional investor with a passion for Kiwi startups and he suffers from Another FKA Friday bibliomania. His own blogs, however, have a text to image ratio that will please those who read. They are worth a read, especially the interview with Peter Beck and the analysis of the Rocketlab phenomenon.

Matt has attended ADI and sends the odd Aussie startups to ADI.

Brough's $250k convertible note round is in overfunding. That is little surprise for a founder who has progressed from Power Rangers to Narrative Muse. She may have been the one in pink or the VFX editor, only one of which is true. Small world, Moxion №10 has powered the Power Rangers production of the last three seasons.  

Here is her #womenintech podcast - powered by Wherewolf №12 

Lawrence is our Angel with Ukulele. He formed his angelic habits in the US and the DD Report on Melodics has been a long time coming. This either means he is very slow or very thorough. Judge for yourself when you hold the report in your hands.

We will circulate it with the co-investment call over the weekend. The German hand on the last stretch will be punctual!

No - no Angel is bringing no pitch this month. Never mind, we still got some DD to do. So let's meet up for drinks and fun. If you have a secret talent bring it and share it! Expect a lot of talent from the U35 gang. Usual time, just a different place, CCH's place aka Rudi2Wings
Heath + hair acrobatics Lawrence + ukulele Rudi + 3x balls

The above are just some examples of the FKAing talent you can expect.

Another neck and neck race at ADI.Clinic this Thursday between Queenstown and Auckland. Queenstown started the day ahead with 4 bookings when Auckland had only 3. Then Queenstown had a cancellation but was overtaken by Auckland with 2 additional bookings. On the way to the finish line, Auckland sustained a no-show to finish in the end 1 up on Queenstown.

However, let's not forget Blenheim, Hamilton and Whangarei that opened the week with 1, 3 and 2 bookings respectivly. That brings the total of founders that Angels and local mentors have helped this week to 13.

Uli is also known as Mr Well-Groomed. He brought us ToothCrush. Will he bring us SoapCrush? A great example of how startups can drive sales with unexpected adverting. The hairy man on the right is not Lawrence. 
Rudi is looking for a manly voice to turn this video into a promo video for FKA "Clean & Fee Free!"
Some more from last week's showcase at the ecentre. Jackie had four startups that pitched for investment.
Narrative Muse - books & films | Trickle - taps & beer | iLOSE - weight & loss | BeeAPP - honey & bees
Some readers may have received an offer to buy 15% of a Mango via their FKA-domain email. CCH checked with one of their directors.

Hi Craig, An Abby H. is offering 15% of Mango. Is this real or a scam? Best Rudi ◇ Hi Rudi, it's real. Definitely not a scam. Cheers Craig.

This does not constitute an endorsement. Mangos can be good or bad.

Okay, let's bring this little series to a close. It is unlikely to produce the entertainment value that James Veitch has been able to extract from his exchange. It is a TED Talk worth the watch.

Thank you, Phil, for suggesting this shortcut

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#28

9/8/2019

 
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9 August 2019 #28

Sadly, plastic surgery only benefits plastic surgeons. Watch Renée Zellweger in the role of a ruthless VC making an indecent proposal.

About: Biomeds, patents, founder teams, million-$ investments, billion-$ exits, grotesque storylines and knees that cheat human anatomy.

ConQA has built great revenues in the construction industry. Andy and the DD team found much to like. However, they could not fully reconcile the cost of customer onboarding and the valuation of this round so they have stopped DD. The round has strong support from existing shareholders and will shortly close. Andy will stay in touch with them.

Notice how the guy on the left looks like Tape Face.

You don't expect this from a tech company. Vesper is in FKA's boat shed and they have produced this teasing product teaser that might just beat the ZOZOSUIT clip.  Well done, Jeff and team!
U35 in a room and the room was tense with excitement about Ken Erskine's delivery of his educational and entertaining Angel 101 course. Great fun was had by all! Alan Fan from NZVIF came for food for thought and pizza.  Greg thought the picture was scary, yet Rudi explained in a LinkedIn post. 

The photo exposes an interesting phenomenon. It is a still, certainly for all under 35, 50% of people aged between 35 and 45 observe a slight jittering, and 100% of people over 45 see intense jittering.

Kami is №02 in the FKA stable. They have come a long way since we made our first investment in 2015. They are making us PROUD!

Join the 7 Million User Party, the last party was awesome, says Rudi. Note Saturday 7 September, 18:00 @ Kami HQ, 214 K Rd, AKL. RSVP

The ecentre Innovation Showcase was a well-attended event and well attended by FKAngels. A great line-up of graduates from the latest ecentre programme. Well done, Jackie and team!
Karl is prickly busy these days, not just with Cactuslab but also Letterboxd. So it was rare to bump into him at a dumpling place the other day. Great to see that despite (or because of) being busy, Karl stays true to his sense of alternative fashion.

Maybe not that alternative any more?

Just a quick reminder, Marvin Liao,  Partner at 500 Startups will be in New Zealand for Callaghan Innovation’s Southern SaaS which is already sold out. He will also answer questions in a room with 30 investors. 

28 August 2019, 14:00, AKL.

Rudi will facilitate the session. ➤ Secure your place here.

NZSA's Angel at My Table next Tuesday is sold out. Todd Brackley is a regular at ADI and will be one of the judges. 
Dear Mr Thiel Jeffry, That sounds indeed very interesting. Can you kindly provide further details?
Rudi Bublitz Ⓒhief Ⓒat Ⓗerder @ fka.nz 
Attn: The Director | Co-founder, Flying Kiwi Angels, New Zealand.
Dear Mr. Rudi Bublitz,

I have received your response to my email and I quite appreciate your interest in handling the investment. It is therefore my great pleasure to be in contact with you once again. I am a Procurement Assistant with instructions to secure a capable person who can handle an investment to the tune of USD$350Million and above.

The fund will be transferred to your custody and you will be charged with the sole responsibility of investing the funds in businesses of your choice with an Annual Return on Investment (AROI) of 5-10% per year. The fund belong to high profile individuals who are highly placed in government and wish to invest anonymously by providing fund to set up new business of good return or inject funds to companies seeking for fund to increase productivity in an already established business for a percentage share in the Annual Return on Investment (AROI).

Please, be informed that the investor wants to make sure that the investment fund will not be used for high risk investment or illegal business which might put the entire fund into jeopardy, hence he wants capable and reliable person or company to use the fund for investment. The investment amount is currently in a bank from where it will be transferred to your account once both parties meet and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

All arrangement will be in place for the fund to be transferred to you for investment through the necessary financial legal channel of the bank in custody of the investment fund. The investments will be under your direct control and management and once you have agreed on the terms with the investor, the fund will be released to you.

We look forward to your co-operation and wealth creation through partnership as I await your urgent response.

Yours respectfully, Mr. Thiele Jeffry (Broker)
Mobile: +4474 3880 0096 (WhatsApp)


Note, a UK number, so this cannot be a Nigerian scam.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2019#27

2/8/2019

 
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2 August 2019 #27

FileInvite is FKA's portfolio company №14 and Garth is the board-level investor rep. As an ex-banker, he has shown them the key to the safe and the team is literally robbing the bank with their current round topping NZ$1M. Awesome!

FKAngels - always partners in crime!

Marvin Liao is a Partner at 500 Startups and works with startups across the globe and within Silicon Valley accelerators. Before that, he worked at Yahoo for more than 10 years, holding roles in business development, ad operations and marketing.

Marvin is in New Zealand for Callaghan Innovation’s Southern SaaS. In this special investor session, he’ll share his observations on accelerator programmes, founders and founding teams, and what he’s learned from working with startups around the world. Here is his public talk at last year's Southern SaaS.

28 August 2019, 14:00, AKL. Following Marvin's presentation, you're invited to stay on and network with Marvin and the other guests.


Rudi will facilitate the session, Marvin is gold, register ➤ here. Callaghan will also provide webinar access for Angels in the regions who cannot make it, most likely via Lawrence's Horn.co 

☞ Register for the upcoming Showcase here!

Where there is money changing hands, there is paperwork and admin.

We have recently facilitated an internal $75k market for shares of one of our portfolio companies that benefitted both buyers and sellers over the conditions otherwise available.

We will facilitate the purchase of shares under preemptive rights in another portfolio company. Discounted by 25% against the last round, there is healthy interest in these shares.

Two LinkedIn ads this week for ADI in Auckland. Different levels of response but neither managed to increase the number of visitors during 24 hours. #FKAngels
Swati Gupta is one founder who followed the ADI call in March 2017. She has come a long way turning her autism research into a commercial product that she has now launched.
Thank you LoJo, so great to have your support again! Andrew, Michelle & Joshua, good legals are like engine lubricants - they prevent things from getting stuck. Great LinkedIn support too!

Onwards and upwards for another year and beyond!

Attn: The Director | Co-founder, Flying Kiwi Angels, New Zealand.
Dear Mr. Rudi Bublitz,

This business proposal is for your mutual consideration, a very good friend of mine a Financial Consultant has the contact of some investors who are seriously looking for Investment Manager to handle huge investment projects or fund any already existing projects.

According to my friend, the fund will be re-invest strictly under the managerial care of the Investment Manager, which allows the Investment Manager to control the initial title.

Upon the receipt of your positive response, I shall explain in details for your better understanding.

Yours respectfully, Mr. Thiele Jeffry. (Broker) [[email protected]]

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