People often see venture capital funds investing in companies, but the process of raising funds from limited partners (LPs) is not always as well understood. Here are some frequently asked questions from potential LPs we’re finding as we’re going through the fundraising process. Who can be a Limited Partner? Wholesale…

Startups grow through creating technology that solves valuable problems for customers but another way is by cutting smart deals with other companies. Here’s what I’ve learned about how doing better deals. — The first few deals I negotiated were content licensing deals, first for Microsoft’s online efforts and then for Yahoo, back in the mid-to-late 1990s. Since then I’ve cut maybe a hundred deals or so, and helped startup founders negotiate a hundred or so more.

Update: now with more signatures (see end) Over the past few years, many of us in the Australian startup community have been shocked observers of a campaign of sustained bullying in print, as Australian Financial Review columnist, Joe Aston, used his readership to discredit and belittle one of our industry’s…

A common question from Aussie tech startup founders is whether they should raise their investment with a convertible note, priced equity, or a SAFE note. The short answer is that you can raise investment with a SAFE note or convertible note in Australia, but you may find it harder to raise your round. Here’s the longer answer (nothing that this advice pertains to Australian tech start- ups in 2020, that the future may be different…

There’s always been a lot of time wasted over whether younger or older startup founders are more investible, or more likely to succeed. …

We’re approaching the fourth quarter of the calendar year and once again, I’m warning founders hoping to raise: the next four months can be a hard time to close an investment round in Australia. Here’s why. — Most investors wouldn’t admit it – and some wouldn’t even be aware that they do this – but deal negotations start slowing down from about Melbourne Cup Day onwards and basically go nowhere from 1 Dec.

One of the hardest things about being a tech startup founder is getting people to remember anything about you for long enough to act or commit to you. …

Australia’s rural and regional communities depend on industries that are being automated fast, and employing fewer people as a result. We’re currently in the midst of the worst drought in recorded history. And we can see that global demand for our coal and gas will be much less in future…

Founders wishing that VCs wouldn’t contradict each other’s advice should understand that being a VC is all about being contrarian. The job and incentives are designed and attract and reward people who question everything, especially majority opinion.‬ Nobody fulfilled and happy in investment management, banking, law, business or tech would…