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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#27

10/8/2018

 

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]

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2018#09

30/3/2018

 

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?

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:
  1. ADI.Clinic ☆ Tips and Tricks #01
  2. ADI.Clinic ☆ Tips and Tricks #02
  3. ADI.Clinic ☆ Tips and Tricks #03
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.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2017#42

24/11/2017

 
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24 November 2017 #42
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Mon 16:00 ADI.Clinic, Hamilton @ KMPG
Tue 18:30 FKA Pitch Night #036 @ KPMG
18 Viaduct Harbour Rd, AKL
Thu 16:00 ADI.Clinic, Auckland @ GridAKL
  Coming Soon
Dec 06 AANZ Xmas Drinks, AKL, EY
Dec 07 US Market Entry, AKL, KPMG
Lauder Erasmus et al
Dec 15 Issue 45/2017 of Another FKA Friday

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Your investors should look like they were invited guests, not the result of a scavenger hunt. </>

© Jᴏʜɴ Há´œsᴛᴏɴism #002     </>



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The press release of FKA's first exit and what an exit it is! Also StretchSense on Newshub TV.

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Our second Ben also hit the press on the same day.

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More background on recent developments at StretchSense. Much of which was being kept under wraps whilst the deal was progressing over recent months. Thank you to all FKAngels in LP1 and to all co-investors for observing strict confidentiality.
Special thanks to Ralf Muller, Heath Milligan, John Newton, Chris Sattler and Rudi Bublitz for helping hands on to make StretchSense successful.

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Get in touch with Angus Bow who was part of the original StretchSense DD Team. He loves deep IP and Kiwi company Wing Acoustics has plenty of it. He is organising a hearing in Takapuna, Friday 1 December.



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The Angel Association invites all FKAngels for Christmas drinks on the deck of the EY offices in Takutai Square.
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Suse Reynolds, AANZ & Andrew Moorby, EY
Location: EY Offices, 2 Takutai Square, Auckland 
Date:  6 December 2017, 5.00pm – 7.30pm
Cost: Free to members and friends of AANZ 👍 
RSVP
With 10+ taking this up from FKA ranks alone this should be great angelic get together. Thank you to Suse and Andrew for putting this together.

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Option 3 "Drinks with Suse and Andrew" won over "Black Water Rafting". Impressive still how many FKAngels are up for a Sunday 6am start to get wet. However, December is just too busy an so Tim Gelston our CPA ᴄʜɪᴇꜰ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ ᴀɴɪᴍᴀᴛᴇᴜʀ has decided to get everyone wet to mark the start of the 2018 angel investing season.

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Lauder has put together a workshop, breakfast and a brain dump on US Market Entry next month. Share it on LinkedIn!



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This is our last pitch night in 2017 and the first to celebrate an exit. 
Better be there! We'll have no new investment pitch. We have only one active DD Team lead by Garth on FileInvite.
What a year it has been, Josh and Tim will do a double act and sum it up. Hengjie from Kami will give a brief update and may have one other. 

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Paul Trotter send in this picture from today's NZ Herald. Claims he and Helen trotted the red carpet for FKA.

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Marisa Fong has spoken with Josh, Uli and Katheren. They all feel that there is a good mutual fit for Marisa to join FKA. However, if anyone knows of any skeletons in her closet or otherwise that speak against her joining, now is the time to speak up. In strict confidence, please email the FKA directors.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2017#13

28/4/2017

 

Another FKA Friday

28 April 2017  aFKAf 2017#13

SADLY, today's Kami's party for 3M+ Users ? had to be pushed out to next Friday. Turns out the 3,000,001st user was a serial killer and has been causing major issues in the Kami Cloud that require urgent attention.
  • Mon 4-6pm  ADI.Clinic Wellington
  • Thu 4-6pm  ADI.Clinic Auckland
View the full calendar tiny.cc/fka-calendar or add it into your own calendars via URL. ☞ How to instructions. 
    Meet Phil Southward, a Kiwi living in Munich and passionate about helping and investing in Kiwi startups. He spoke with Uli, Charlie and Rudi, and all see a great level of compatibility. 
    Phil was referred by lone wolf Lance Wiggs who doesn't tolerate most angels but minds not so much the flying Kiwi.
    Now is the time to speak up, tell us in confidence if there are any reasons not to have Phil join our group. Simply email [email protected].
    April Pitch Night #29
    Thank you for hosting our April pitch night on Wednesday to Andrew Wallace and his team at Lowndes Jordan or LoJo as they like to shorten it. Great venue, super views and what a privilege to go up the lifts after 6 pm. We also had a fearless contingent from KPMG joining us on level 15 of the PwC Tower.
    Thank you also to Nathan Bryant-Taukiri or Nate as many like to shorten his name. Nate gave a brief overview of what Potentia do and how they share FKA's passion for growing great Kiwi tech companies.
    Little known fact: Josh is the founder of Potentia but has now surrendered all executive control to Nate and his management team, retaining only a board seat. This gives Josh more time to give FKAngels a hard time, or should we say, show them a good time. 
    We are absolutely delighted to welcome Nate and his team at Potentia on board with FKA as new sponsors. 
    A Brief Explanation
    The FKA fund (limited partnerships LP1 + LP2) drives the initial DD and appointment of an investor rep for all portfolio companies.  The fund investment is only a modest $50-80k and the bulk of investment funding comes from the co-investment of individual angels and other co-investors. Then portfolio companies keep all investors informed via the FKA investor rep and they come to individual angels for any follow-on round. 
    At Wednesday's pitch night, we had one initial pitch to join the FKA Portfolio from Wherewolf, and two follow-on rounds from Uproar and Techion.
    Wherewolf founder Ben Calder true to the company cannot be deterred. He pitched in 2015, we did DD but declined with recommendations. He took it well and took our advice. Now he is back with strong growth at breakeven. This will go to LP2 DD Vote.
    What he does here and his pitch here.
    Uproar gave an update and seek more funds. Here the pitch video. They hit one wall but tore down another. If you want to participate in this round please talk to [email protected].
    Techion gave an update and seek more funds. From sheep species to other farming species they are also woking with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on the human species. Exciting times with a new cornerstone investor.
    [email protected] has more details for you.
    1. Moxion - Rudi says, one section on the DD report still to be completed, then review and vote.
    2. Heliase - Chris cannot give a completion date yet.
    3. Hot Lime Labs - Garry says, Vladko still working full time for CI, little in the data room as of yet. Agreed with Vladko that he first progress with Powerhouse as they can provide more wraparound support. We will then re-activate our DD team when the deal is more fully defined.
    4. MyBitcoinSaver - Jesper and team have agreed on a revised pre-money that makes sense for everyone to proceed.
    The ADI.Clinic in Auckland is now very popular with founders but becoming almost too popular angels. Therefore our Chief Cat Herder is contemplating the introduction of a ticketing system for angels. This would be not to ticket those who talk too long but it would manage session access. With 5 to 6 mentors in the cosy meeting room at BizDojo, we are in danger of seeing founders crowded out.
    Our ADI.Clinic Queenstown lone soldier Aden was struggling to keep up with ultra trail runner Whitney Dagg looking at her all natural post workout drink.

    Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2017#10

    7/4/2017

     

    Another FKA Friday

    7 April 2017  aFKAf 2017#10

    Cryptocurrency, then Cyborg technology...
    • Tue 17:30  NZSA Dinner, Auckland register
    • Thu 4-6pm  ADI.Clinic Auckland
    • Thu 17:00 □ KAMI 3M Party, 30 Albert St, AKL
    • Thu 17:15 □ Devo Drinks, Tiny Triumphs, Devo
    View the full calendar tiny.cc/fka-calendar or add it into your own calendars via URL. ☞ How to instructions. 
      Scramble to get on the LP2 train is on
      Uli Wiehle, in true Germanic fashion and Garth Hinton who likes to play it safe are the first two on the train with all docs compete and their $25k received in FKA's Glaister trust account
      Little know fact: Jackie below originally modelled as the gun-wielding assassin in front of our veto gate above, now she wants to get through the gate herself.
      Today we have Jackie Young presenting at the VETO Gate. She has spoken with Tim, James and Rudi to straighten the warped reality spin she has received since 2014 from her husband and FKA's independent director Greg.

      If anyone knows reasons why Jackie should not join our group, now is the time to speak up. Please email the board in confidence!
      Alan Luo
      Let's give a warm welcome to Alan as FKAssociate with Flying Kiwi Angels. No skeletons were found in his closet.  
      Only the 20 existing LP's from LP2 have voted on last week's pitches. The accession of new angels has to be processed in a single batch which should be completed for by the next pitch night. With 2x 20 votes in under 48 hours, we had a great response rate.
      Only 8 YES out of 20 votes, unfortunately, means we'll not proceed with DD on JUCEBOX. Thanks to Uli for bringing Ulrich. Now, MyBitcoinSaver was an interesting vote. It was only the last vote at the 16th hour from James that put it across the line with 11 YES out of 20 votes. Congrats to CEO Sam and champion Jesper, may the DD work begin. Pitch Video  from MyBitcoinSaver.com
      From the Q+A after the pitch and the comments from voting LP's it is clear that there are strong opinions on MyBitcoinSaver.
      Fan or devil's advocate? GET in touch with Jesper.Petersen@fka.nz to be in on this DD.
      However, what we've just gained in voting speed we seem to have lost in DD speed.
      Heliase (Chris Sattler), Moxion (Rudi Bublitz) and Hot Lime Labs (Garry Bluett) are still going. ​
      Editorial corrections: Last week we also had ADI.Clinic in Wellington thanks to Ian Clarke steering and manning that ship.
      This week we held ADI.Clinic in  Wanaka, Whangarei and Auckland. Wayne Hudson and Charlie have seen their most interesting day in Wanaka yet. Whangarei seems to get the youngest visitors by far. Thanks to Benjamin Pittman and Tony Collins for helping Martin. Auckland saw Garth, Karl, Uli, Rudi and Zack running a fully booked day. Swati from www.speaqwith.me received a lot of interest, very early but very impressive results for autism.
      Jai Somaratne - OMDD
      He is Chief Paver at PaveCraft, now also Deus DD at Flying Kiwi Angels.
      Josh putting it more formally. "FKA are delighted to announce the appointment of Jai Somaratne into the role of Ops Manager•Due Diligence. Since joining FKA Jai has had a big impact with his investment insight and diligence, work in pulling together LLP2, not to mention his magnetic personality! This role is about helping each DD Lead and team to get from DD Vote to the finished DD Report."
      Charlie James - OMIM
      He worked hard, he claims, now, he certainly plays harder than most. He is exec director at Uproar and also Portfolio Populator at Flying Kiwi Angels.
      Josh putting it more formally. "FKA are delighted to confirm Charlie James continues with his role of Ops Manager•Investment Managment. Charlie is part-responsible for grandfathering FKA and his contribution since then, as the wise counter balance to the Chief Cat Herder has been invaluable. His role picks up from Jai and helps each DD Lead from Investment Vote to signed deal docs and collected funds."
      Judith Marecek from Velocity, the UOA Entrepreneurship Programme is calling for judges and mentors in the 2017 round. Many FKAngels have enjoyed this over the years. Heath and Rudi were the mentors for the 2013 winners IMeasureU.
      Read more and register here.
      Chris Chandler says "Worth applying for the free US flights and kudos from this  US Export Competition. Entry requires little effort, great for FKA portfolio companies and others if they have a smidgen of US exports. I'm judging but don't do favours."

      NZSA Dinner • Leigh Flounders is proving distance is no barrier to changing the way Chinese consumers interact with Kiwi and Australian businesses.

      Tuesday 11 April 2017  5.30pm
      Glengarry Wine Tasting Room, Wellesley St, AKL
      Just register here.

      Thu 13 Apr ◇ Kami 3M Party
      17:00+ 46 Albert St, Auckland
      Lots of great Tech Events in May al over NZ
      Jenn, the Clamp is assembling an impressive lineup. For example, UK KEA king Peter Gillingwater is bringing a cohort of UK-based experts, mostly Kiwis to provide their insights into international expansion, with a focus on UK and Europe, including why Brexit may be great for NZ business.
      • Tue   9 May, Auckland
      • Thu 11 May, Wellington
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