Category: Veto Gate

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#40

16/11/2018


	16 November 2018 #40

Next Tuesday, 20 November will be the last pitch night with investment pitches in 2018. Sad but true. Debra is bringing a startup with a proposition that is going to the bone, literally. Come and see for yourself!

18:30 @ KPMG, 18 Viaduct Harbour Ave, Auckland.

If his startup is called Horn, does that make Lawrence horny or is he just crazy, chasing a fully horned unicorn after a near miss? Ask Jackie, Martin or Rudi who have all spoken to him and everyone feels there is a good mutual fit. Lawrence has already been helping Martin with ADI Whangarei over recent months.

With Tim Warren, we have at least one other Angel who had red hair at some point and a photo to prove it. But seriously, if you know of any material reasons why Lawrence should not join our group, now is the time to speak up! Raise your concerns in confidence with the FKA Directors.

The eight-company pitch in Whangarei on Monday was a great kickstart of the Northland startup ecosystem. Some potential Angel fodder there, all helped by Northland Inc, NZTE and AANZ.

Suse from AANZ was supported by a strong FKA contingent with Jackie, wannabe Lawrence, Martin and Rudi. So strong was our contingent that somehow, the MC Ken Erskine ended up registered as a Flying Kiwi Angel with a big lanyard sign to prove it. But he carried that 'badge of honour' with his typical GSOH throughout the day.

CCH says, "Ken would make a fine first Scotsman in our ranks."

Techion, our Portfolio Company #7, has made TV news with the role that the Techion tech plays in the Starworms Project of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

ADI Auckland and ADI Queenstown were running neck on neck this week, each with four bookings. Julian had one for ADI Hamilton. And here some email feedback that Cornelius received, not for his good looks, "Thanks for the great questions, we’ve not yet met people with your sort of background in the investment space...".

End of Year Celebration for 2018

You are invited to join friends and colleagues for end-of-year drinks and canapés at 5:00pm on Wednesday 5 December at the offices or sun deck of EY on Takutai Square in Auckland.

It’s been "pedal to the metal" all year in angel investment so please join us to celebrate the excitement and traction founders and investors are generating in New Zealand.

Kindly RSVP to Karren Hmm, red wine, one way to drown starworms!

Robyn Grace is a Kiwi filmmaker and knows Moxion from productions such as Ash vs Evil Dead and The Shannara Chronicles. She is raising money on Boosted to shoot a new short and wants to use Moxion.

Her partner Rory MacGillycuddy has co-hosted Ask Angels Anything with Rudi and devised the cheeky fundraiser slogan.

Says Rudi, "Fund Moxion, then Robyn and tell others! I'll send out the full co-investment call for Moxion early next week.".

The number of new startups in AUS is going down. More quality over quantity? The reason why Aussie VCs keep following the NZTE invites to see Kiwi startups? Read more about in the Startup Muster Report.

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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#32

14/9/2018

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	14 September 2018 #32

Ice Angels just had their GREAT SHOWCASE and so Flying Kiwi Angels will have their GREATEST SHOWMAN. Yes, our September pitch night is next Tuesday, as usual generously hosted by FKA's premium sponsors KPMG. Incidentally, they are one ahead of FKA with respect to GEO AR Games who are currently undergoing DD whilst Craig Jakich from KPMG Ashburton is already doing the GAG accounts.

Tue, 18 Sep @ 1830, 18 Viaduct Harbour Ave, Auckland

Everyone is amped to hear Ambit pitch so the pressure is on!

Josh and Tim are part of the co-founder team behind chatbot Ambit. Consequently, it takes a conflict-free FKAngel like Heath to be the champion and bring this to pitch night. The crowd wonders what headgear will they wear and who will pitch, given that both Josh and Tim like the sound of their voice. Don't miss this one!

Little known fact, at the IA Showcase the editor caught up with JB from Squirrel who put the Squirrel bot persona on Tinder for a laugh. Haha!

This week Genevieve Tearle is knocking on heaven's door to add FKA wings to her ADI halo. Since April she has been a regular mentor at the ADI Auckland. No wonder that Cornelius, Debra, Rudi and Uli all give a fat tick to see her with wings. Very cool, but as always, SPEAK UP NOW if you know of any reasons why Genevieve should not join FKA! Please, raise your concerns in confidence with the Board. ☞ HERE

www.Moxion.io is our portfolio company #10 and is disrupting film production in Hollywood and beyond. Great editorial coverage in The Hollywood Reporter on pages 12 and 18 for Moxion. This custom edition is distributed at the Toronto International Film Festival
#FKAngels #KIWIstartups #MakeFKAproud #GoMoxion

Phil is our true Flying Kiwi often helping with DD whilst travelling for his passion. He recently made 2nd place in the Dutch competition and 5th in the British competition. He competes in the shrinking 'rigid wing' class that is being overtaken in popularity by the 'flexi' class. The facetious might liken his success to 95-year-old Olga who is winning medals and setting world records in her class. ☞ BBC footage

Thanks, Tim (Gelston, not Warren), for reminding us of this harsh reality. We all know that most startups fail but looking at the data of 1,100+ startups from seed investment onward puts it all into an even harsher perspective. Only 48% raised a second round of funding, and a mere 15% went on to raise a fourth. And the chances of reaching unicorn status?

☞ Not great, about 1%.

Ice Angels' Showcase was indeed a numbers game. Table seating for 900, 989 RSVPs, our CCH got seated at table #90, the last one. However, better tables for Trotter who was seen trotting around and Flacks who was also in the room, as was Hall and So.

Big numbers also with the pitches, multimillion rounds at eye-watering valuations. AskNicely, one that got away although we had early engagement. They are now raising US$7-10m on a valuation to be set by the lead investor but expected to be about US$50M. Definitely some great companies in the mix and good on Robbie and team for getting those to the night.

Some early ones too that would unlikely have found a champion among FKAngels, let alone pass the DD Vote. IA's focus and strength are clearly with later stage deals that have rounds which demand the big cheques that such a staged event can generate. The distance between the founders and the investor audience was a perfect proxy for the difference between the IA and FKA style of angel investing.

Torn between Shanghai Nights and Blenheim Vineyards Rudi finally gave in to the former and he will be joining the Zino investor trip to China. As a consequence, he has an Early Bird Ticket to the AANZ Summit in Blenheim to sell away, first come first serve. ☞ more on the summit

All mistakes, grammar, spelling or otherwise in this publication have been made by Rudi and then overlooked by Debbie, Jackie, Karl, Katheren and Masha. Same goes for the images. However, Rudi has been known to insert some after the early morning review.

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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#27

10/8/2018

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	10 August 2018#27

CEO Mel is chuffed to have made it into the Top Three of Zino's New Kiwis Challenge. Now her sights are set on winning the top prize.

Uli likes how Geo AR Games is going after Chinese shopping malls and wants to bring Mel & Co FKA's August Pitch Night, Tue 21 August.

Rudi has been mentoring them since 2016 and the picture shows once again how FKAngels help Kiwi founders get liftoff.

Yabble and FKA have decided to stop DD so that Yabble can get some more runs on the board and prove out more of the international business model. The revenue from their consulting business puts Yabble in a good position to do that. We have a precedent for this with Wherewolf who are now portfolio company #12. Yabble could certainly repeat that - they have a similarly unusual name already. Cornelius will stay in touch with Kathryn and Rachel.

Dotterel pitched back in June and the DD process of the lead investor is only now completed. They are now waiting for final commitments from existing shareholders. Once we know if there is any capacity for FKA Rudi and Hattaf will report back.

Ralf Wittgen has talked with Jackie, Paul and Rudi. All three reckon he would make a fine FKAssociate. Ralf understands what is expected of him and he is happy to strengthen the German contingent.

He is promising to give Rudi a run for his money, little that he has, with his fast and furious, often video enhanced, LinkedIn posts, like this one following Wednesday's Ask Angels Anything event.

If anyone knows of any skeletons in the cupboard or any other reasons why he should not join our group, now is the time to speak up. Please advise the board in confidence of any material concerns to consider.

Nick Walsh has been a sterling support to the FKA board and wider group as our resident FKApprentice. His persistence in chasing signatures and investor certs is what most you have seen but that was only the tip of a big iceberg. Nick moved to Oz for a master in quantitative finance earlier this year and has still supported us from afar.

Now it is time to say goodbye and knuckle down for studies. Thank you so much, Nick! We want to see you back with FKA as founder or angel. Keep going the way you are!!!

He says, he'll miss ADI.Clinic and the Pitch Nights most! Oh, and Charlie.

Ray Thomson has been a force to be reckoned with in the NZ angel community. His style was divisive, he didn't mince his words, but by god did he get stuff done. He pushed CCH Rudi to grow his wings and cat herding skills faster then he'd ever expected. No doubt, Ray's recent passing leaves a hole that will take time to fill.

See the many reactions that have accumulated on Rudi's post here.

✞ Funeral service Tue, 14 Aug, 11:30, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell.

Next Wednesday, 15 August at noon. ☞ FREE Registration

Andrew and Julie will share their experience helping tech companies develop and negotiate term sheets for deals from small friends and family rounds through to large VC and private equity deals. They will also go through the creation of a term sheet using the equity investment term sheet doc maker, a powerful tool for founders or investors alike.

Unexpected news from a law firm: The doc maker is FREE to use!

A must for all current and aspiring FKA investor reps!!!

A night of coprolalia hosted by Mr Paul Ego of "7 Days" and featuring two of NZ's funniest ladies Mel Bracewell and Justine Smith. Tickets here. Light snacks provided, consider bringing a food platter to share. Cash bar. Doors open 7.00pm. Pre-load at Rudi's next door to TGS (not Dr Rudis).

Email Rudi

All mistakes, grammar, spelling or otherwise, in this publication have been made by Rudi and then overlooked by Debbie, Jackie, Karl, Katheren and Masha. Same goes for all images, however, Rudi has been known to insert some after the early morning review.

As it is the case with this little insert.

Haha, Debbie should have been Debra of course! [RB]

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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#09

30/3/2018

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	30 March 2018#09

All up FKA Nominees Limited has invested $706,740 into FileInvite FKA's PFC#14 on behalf of 44 individual investors. CEO James, now put it to good use! Well done so far, Garth, board work as Investor Rep comes next!
Our joint press release has been picked up by NBR (Pᴀɪᴅ Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ) and BizEdge. The above image is from our corresponding LinkedIn post.

The Hi-Tech Awards judges have drawn up a list of finalists from which the winners for each category will be selected. You can see the finalists for all categories ☞ here. Congratulations to CEO Ben and his team from Wherewolf, FKA's PFC#12 for making it to the next stage. Thanks also to FKAngels Charlie and Phil who are putting a lot of time and energy into this little lupo.

Let's all give a warm welcome to Cornelius Boertjens. He has cleared the FKA Veto Gate without objections and in a way that only a Dutchman can. For full disclosure, we had one subtle question: "Could the notion of the Flying Dutchman be a bad omen for Flying Kiwis?"

One of New Zealand’s most ardent angel investors, Debra Hall, was awarded the Angel Association of New Zealand’s (AANZ) prestigious Arch Angel Award at the 10th Anniversary NZ Angel Summit on Waiheke Island in 2017.

Now in 2018, she has already spoken with Tim W, Jai and Rudi. Neither of them could find fault with her, except they did find her very outspoken and forthright. She likes FKA's active involvement with founders and has already attended a couple of ADI.Clinic sessions.

If any of you know of any reasons why Debra should not join our group then now is the time to speak OUT. Please raise your concerns in confidence by email with the FKA board.

An Easter blog that we couldn't just resist to post. It is a hilarious video that shows Roger and Jessica Rabbit 30 years on.

Important LP2 Decision
We need all LPs to vote over Easter to get formal support for the FKA board recommendation that was circulated on Thursday. At the time of publishing, we have 15 votes in, all in favour. That makes 17 laggards!

We used the above image to round up extra numbers for our Thursday sessions. We got a good reaction on LinkedIn and more founders came.

Two co-founders called into ADI.Clinc a couple of months back.They had good traction but were considering pivoting into a different vertical due to limited TAM. We connected them with two experts in the new field and Hengjie from Kami PFC#02 who kindly coached them for a Y Combinator interview.

They have since successfully pivoted and this email following our Wednesday session in Takapuna says it all. "I just wanted to say thanks for your time and advice yesterday, I really appreciate you taking the time. We are both keen to move forward with the FKA, so we are keen to begin finding a champion. Let me know what you think a good next step is for us?"

Lord Mayor of Brisbane's Business and Investment Forum in Auckland
The Right Honourable, the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, the Councillor Graham Quirk is visiting GridAKL, for half a day on the morning of Friday, 13th April. He is on a mission, a Trade Mission. Read more here and here.

FKA's Chief Cat Herder will attend in full regalia and is hoping some other FKAngels will join him in this. However, it looks like John Mactaggart, the leader of Brisbane Angels is slacking, not having dispatched any of his angels with this delegation.

The Treasury is advertising to refresh the NZVIF board. Experience as an angel investor is very welcome but the overall bar is high. Anybody from among FKAngels?

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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#08

23/3/2018

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Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events of money production is purely coincidental.


	23 March 2018#08

FKA ?Pitch Night #038. We had one pitch from Spoke CEO Jason Kerr who wants to rejuvenate telephony and turn mobile phones into a PBX for SMEs and more. Enterprise Angels are leading this deal. FKA will therefore not vote on this as an FKA portfolio company. Rather more, we will share the pitch video and DD report for syndication as a discretionary co-investment through FKA Nominees. More on this when the final report becomes available.

Cornelius Boertjens comes referred by Ngaio Merrick, has invested in FileInvite, has attended ADI.Clinic this week, also he has spoken with Garth, Heath, Phil and Rudi. They all reckon he fits in well, especially Heath would like his support for the all-important customer acquisition piece. Cornelius has not been put off by anything he has seen or heard, in fact, he likes what we do.
Any reason not to have him join FKA? If you know of skeletons in his closet or other reasons please email the FKA board in confidence.
Our new FKA poster boy who made it into the coveted gettyimages collection?

ADI.Clinic was extremely successful this week. 6 booking for Wellington on Monday, beating hands down for the first time the team in Auckland with only 4 bookings.

For a bit of fun, CCH Rudi has posted three comical car hack videos to promote ADI.Clinic. The LinkedIn posts refer to these three blog post:

Julia works for Moxion, PFC#10. Her son Josh is a member of the Team Skywalker, who won the NZ Championship title twice in the previous two First Lego League (FLL) robotics competition seasons. Now they have qualified to represent New Zealand in the First Championship World Festival in Houston, USA in April.

There are six in this team from the North Shore. They have built EV3 Mindstorm robots to complete 13 missions in 2.5 minutes. Their focus is on pollution of waste-water from fatty household deposits. Their earlier win in the Hydrodynamics season has qualified them for Houston. The criteria set out by the challenge require that members research, liaise with experts and raise awareness of the issues and potential solutions that surround the problem.

Josh and/or the team can come out to do presentations or can do some work in exchange for sponsorship for their quest.

Josh Comrie this has your name on it!
Anyone else interested to help? Just respond to this email.

AANZ Governance Course Absolutely worthwhile course, next opportunity in Tauranga in April with Debra Hall and Greg Sitters.
Thursday 12th April 2018, 10:00 - 16:00
Enterprise Angels Office, 53 Spring Street, Tauranga
$350 per person including GST, lunch included.

More info and registration ☞ here.

If you don't get the Evangelist from Suse @ AANZ, see this copy here.

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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#40

16 November 2018 #40

End of Year Celebration for 2018

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#32

14 September 2018 #32

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#27

10 August 2018#27

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#09

30 March 2018#09

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#08

23 March 2018#08

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