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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#27

14/8/2020


	14 August 2020 #27

Bugger, back in lockdown! The all-day AANZ workshop on Wednesday was already cancelled. Now it looks like we'll not have our pitch night next Tuesday. We'll know later today!

This has also jinxed our FKA Wine Tasting session with a twist. Hamish Nuttall built Naked Bus and now wants to take the clothes off wine. We've taken a rain check. So, be there when Winedab will be back next month

Stuff reports. One in three brokered loans in Australasia is now processed with FileInvite, FKA's #14 portfolio company. Garth has kicked off a $2,000,000 round to drive further growth.

Email Garth.Hinton@fka.nz if you want to find out more.

Narrative Muse #18 started with book recommendations and is now also doing TV recommendations. Hear it from the horse's mouth in this video.

Go, Brough!

Running since 1967, the IBC Show is “by the industry, for the industry” and is a crucial event in the calendar of broadcast and media professionals worldwide. This IBC feature gives Moxion, FKA's #10 a nice prop.

"We could check everything, including what second unit were doing in real time in China on Moxion, which was helpful when we were working in remote locations in New Zealand."

This week's LinkedIn post may have lured as many founders as it may have scared off. But then we have some formidable females among our Angels.

Blackbird is the first fund to benefit from the government’s $300 million Elevate Fund, with a $20m contribution. Elevate was announced in the May 2019 budget, 15 months on we see the first implementation. That's for passive fund matching.

Active direct investment at the Aspire level has produced 12 or so new investments in that same period and plenty of investment to rebuild the headcount from the ground up a second time.

A useful collection of SaaS metrics. What they are and how best to represent them. ChartMogul gives real value whilst promoting its own platform. Check it out!

NBR and NZ Herald confirm Dellabarca's departure.

Remember Rudi's lovingly composition of four videos into one succinct message back in May of last year?

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#26

7/8/2020


	7 August 2020 #26

Heath was hoping to escape from it all, skiing in Queenstown. No sooner was he there and he bumped into Garth for an early coffee and Charlie at the end of the day for a pint. Flying Kiwis everywhere!

Apparently, Josh had an engagement there a week earlier

The 2nd Quarterly Report for 2020 is just in from Kami, FKA's #02 portfolio company. They are going from strength to strength and have a BIG revenue goal. Great stuff!

If you are a shareholder and did not get the report then please let our investor rep David.Russell@fka.nz know.

21 portfolio companies! Check out the updated fka.nz/founders page!

Founders, if you have better pics then the ones we found on the web?

Thank you to all our Angels for the constructive responses to the new " Looking for a Champion" emails. Debra and Phil have been able to progress their respective opportunities with a strong level of interest and offers of help. Let's keep it going! 18 August is pitch night @ KPMG.

This week's LinkedIn post to tell founders about our ADI sessions had a "Back to the Future" theme. We had three founders - fractional homeownership, wine matching, strategy consulting.

Here is the Zoom recording of the call with Randy earlier this week. Suse has kindly made it available. Always, great to hear a considered global perspective in our all too often insular ecosystem.

This looks like an interesting ZERO priced webinar on pricing for startups. Bummer about the timing - 3 am in NZ. Run by Moven Capital. We're talking with Maciej about a recording for Kiwis. More about it here.

Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg. If you dig deep enough, behind most "self-made millionaires" you will find a parent with good contacts, a few savings, or simply a lot of money for their children. Bust that 'self-made' myth!

Why not keep going when you have a theme going all by coincidence already? Have a great weekend all!

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 Garry.Bluett@fka.nz.

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! Katheren.Leiter@fka.nz

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.

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Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#27

14 August 2020 #27

Go, Brough!

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#26

7 August 2020 #26

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

18 Viaduct Harbour Avenue Auckland CBD

GREEN CO2 FOR HORTICULTURE.

Newsletter ➢ ᴀFKAғ•2020#22

10 July 2020 #22

Smart investors syndicate!

☞ "Something’s rotten at Photonic Innovations"

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