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Another FKA Friday ● 20 September 2024#35

20/9/2024

 
Angelic news from the NZ group that says it how it is □
20 September 2024 #35 840+421 
Bad weather on Tuesday made for light attendance, angels don't like to get their wings wet.  Still, Ju from Formus and Tijs from Hot Lime Labs gave a pleasing progress update.  Kieran from Venu pitched a white-labelled loyalty program with a compelling twist. HERE □
Josh is the Flying Kiwi who keeps on smiling like the Madagascar penguins □ Also, smiles go well on a magazine cover. Smiles all around!

There is plenty of other startup stuff in it too □

A bit more than a month ago, Bending Spoons announced their acquisition of WeTransfer, an Amsterdam-based company. Now it's reported that the new owner will lay off 75% of the staff. READ ON!
This is why the US does tech innovation 100x better than the UK! Standup comedy hits it on the nail. Where do you put NZ on this spectrum?
Some pivots take you from bad to worse.  Anti-examples □
We're doing DD on Kai's Education. The founders are embracing their target market, they know how to dress to impress Texas! More at #nzentrepreneur! 
Cowboy/girl hats? The US can do better, eat cats! A real earworm!  
Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 13 September 2024#34

13/9/2024

 
Angelic news from the NZ group that says it how it is □
13 September 2024 #34 840+421 
CHH stumbled into the Show her the money! screening at GridAKL last night. He was one of two guys with another 98 women in the room. It was eye-opening to feel what it means to be the minority! And this was with everyone being very welcoming.
FKA's August pitch night had 3 pitches from 3 female founders!
September pitch night? When? Already next Tuesday, 18:30! KPMG is rolling out the proverbial red carpet to host another startup night to remember!
If you haven't been before □ 18 Viaduct Harbour Ave, Auckland. 

Last but not least we have Peter knocking on FKA's doors. He has the full support of his wife Debra and Pip his daughter, both are Flying Kiwis already. But that is not exactly peer review. His LinkedIn profile speaks of stiff, not flying angels.□ He has a wine cellar to be locked up in, and/but was with ASB for 23 years.


Special situations call for special measures. Debra should invite a group of Flying Kiwis to one of Peter's wine tastings to secure the legendary three ticks from that group. Peter has already been the other half of Debra's investment decisions and wants to get involved in 4FF.
Old org, new tricks! Promo video □ Going live in October, hopefully, it will make it easier for founders to forage in the funding forest of NZ government agencies. Interesting discussion in the comments HERE.
Lachlan runs boutique fund Motion Capital "investing in founders doing good business by helping the world decarbonise".  Nek minnit, he leads the Series A round for our beloved Hot Lime Labs #13. Another dark horse is Matt, a Flying Kiwi who helped with HLL DD on the quiet.
Bet the jockey, not the horse. Better know the jockey you bet on. See more.
The patience of Flying Kiwis is legendary. We prove that every week at ADI.Clinic, and Alan, one of our UK-based angels, proves that in his conversation with an airline chatbot. HERE!
The Mystery of the cover letter according to the Economist. Read and chuckle!
Not big, bear hugs but BHAGs, says Josh. Success tips.
The World Summit Awards are looking for NZ nominations. If you have developed a digital solution with strong social impact in NZ you should apply HERE.
Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 30 August 2024#32

30/8/2024

 
Angelic news from the NZ group that says it how it is □
30 August 2024 #32 840+421 
Panellists: Alliv Samson, Co-Founder and COO, Kami; Hugh Calveley, Co-Founder and CEO, Moxion; Mark Bregman, Founder QuidNet Ventures, EHF Fellow; and Rudi Bublitz, Chief Cat Herder, FKA. MC: Josh Comrie □ REGISTER
Kami #02 and Moxion #10, two FKA portfolio companies, two exits for FKA. □
Strong support from our Voting Angels! So we're doing DD on Kai's Education and Bonnet. If you want to join and help with DD let us know! □□
"This sand is not like regular sand - it’s helping save the planet", says the Waikato Times about Kayasand #36. 
"Why Your PreSeed SAFE Note Val Cap is ‘Low’ and Why You Want it to Be. Valuation is not always about 'value' but about setting up the right structure for success." READ!
KPMG's Priti wants to redefine the relationship between FinTechs and banks. Wicked words for the banking world and great data. MORE!
3x NZ Arch Angels united behind Eight360 #21. 83 + 60, and one from Auckland? The GeoAR gang was mightily impressed—great car race demo from Duncan.

Yello complements E360's corporate blue in this video which demonstrates how acceleration and deceleration can be simulated by spin in the NOVA. Spin doctors!

Startup investing? Josh makes a meal of it... read on.
Also check out what he's cooking up with AANZ HERE.
Another AANZ Runway in October, in Wellington to connect founders and angels. Find out MORE! 
"Real Returns Not Paper Returns". The Chief Cat Herder has now done to his car what he normally does to his jackets.□
Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 23 August 2024#31

23/8/2024

 
Angelic news from the NZ group that says it how it is □
23 August 2024 #31 840+421 
It is great to see investment dollars coming back but even better to have more of them to put back into new candidates. Thank you, Team Kami, you rock!
Panellists: Alliv Samson, Co-Founder and COO, Kami; Mark Bregman, Founder QuidNet Ventures, EHF Fellow; Rudi Bublitz, Chief Cat Herder, FKA and Kirsti Grant, Chief People Experience Officer, Auror. MC: Josh Comrie □ REGISTER
Olivia singlehandedly hosted FKA's pitch night at KPMG on Tuesday. We saw two new presentations and updates from Fuel50 #04 and  Chnnl #20.
Ronel presented Kai's Education which is all about little robots teaching kids to code. Then Steph presented Bonnet; bonnet because it is about managing car fleets. FKA's DD Vote is underway and will decide if they proceed to DD. □□
After last week's insert on Eight360 #21, a whole bunch of people are flying down to Wellington to give the balls a whirl. Better be ready on Tuesday, Terry!
We're just assembling the plane...
Juan has been a regular at ADI for some time, he has invested and joined our parties. Time we make him a Flying Kiwi say David, Jeff and Rudi. Unless anyone has reasons why he shouldn't join. □ Tell the Board in confidence!
Over and out. Phew, it was a busy week!
Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 16 August 2024#30

16/8/2024

 
Angelic news from the NZ group that says it how it is □
16 August 2024 #30 836+417 
After a slow start to 2024, things are ramping up. 3xF is insider short for the early funders  'Friends, Family & Fools', we will have 4xF to be funded!
Next Tuesday is our August Pitch Night, as always at KPMG, from 18:13. □

Olivia (5xF□) will run the show, Ronel, Steph, Liz, and Anne will do the biz! □

Yesterday's ADI was a full dice with 6 founders. Nerys Whelan's low-sugar energy drink modest®  made a mighty impression. Bingo, make that 6xF as we have invited Nerys to showcase her dinks next Tuesday!
Not wanting to detract from the modesty, check out The Keto Chef's Kitchen.
On Tuesday, we'll also talk about how we aim to bridge the generational disconnect.

So bring our Next Gen along! □

Cupla #40 has just topped 20,000 paying users, mostly from the US. Erika is reporting growth with every investor update. Investor comms is so important—good news or not!□

However, the 'couple-front-end' dating apps are not doing so well for various reasons. READ ON.

Terry from Eight360 #21 is making balls bigger than most and he is world-famous in NZ. His latest video is trending on LinkedIn and Facebook, and for our social-media-shy readers on YouTube. 
The above is just one of the good things being built right next to the FKA desk at GridAKL. Scan the QR code or go to CatAngelsTriumph.com. Mel and Aaron at Geo AR are mad—mad about cats.  □‍⬛□‍⬛□‍⬛□‍⬛□‍⬛□‍⬛□‍⬛□‍⬛
At FKA we're thinking of Angels like cats that are hard to herd! □ 
Mahesh is a Master Motivator and inspires founders to think big. It's a good thing even if sometimes we have to remind founders where the rubber hits the road. HERE
AI Image Generator Battles: "Flux Is The Open-Source Midjourney Killer Everyone's Talking About!" and it comes from Germany! Lots of venture money going into AI may be going down the drain. READ MORE
Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.

Another FKA Friday ● 9 August 2024#29

9/8/2024

 
Angelic news from the NZ group that says it how it is □
9 August 2024 #29 836+417 
READ how the University of Auckland tripled the rate of spinouts it created by launching a fund to invest in its university startups and lowering its equity stake.

Sadly, many other universities don't give their spinout founders enough equity, making it hard or impossible to raise funding.

Airtree on What to include in your startup's data room. MORE.

CEO pay by stage really diverged in 2024, with Series B and beyond compensation dropping by 9.6% vs. 2023, whereas seed and Series A went up. See the Interesting US stats HERE.

Raising lots of money pre-revenue like Figma did, is the exception—not a realistic example to train founder expectations. MORE! 
We focus a lot on product market fit, scaling and where the exit might be. But timing the exit is just as important.

Co-founder Tom Harding, in hindsight, that’s when he should have looked at a trade exit. Get Caffeine ☕

The elephant in the room or the egg in the belly. The article, the full report.
We looked at Yabble in mid-2018 but felt it was too early. Kathryn and Rachel went on to raise from Hillferrance and Movac among others, and 6 years on they exit with great timing. READ!
Also, on LinkedIn and over 2,000 FKA GIFs on GIPHY.
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  • Home
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