Karen Nelson-Field PhD’s Post

"Every company we see generally has 3 cracks at trying to launch their product, finding out how to sell, engage with customers, get the right value...you have to keep iterating on the product offering over time" I loved my chat with TEN13 Co-founder and Managing Partner, Stew Glynn for Ep191 of The Startup Playbook Podcast. Stew started his investment journey after joining forces with ex Shark Tank Australia judge Steve Baxter in building out his family office, Transition Level Investments. In 2019, they then launched TEN13, a global deal-by-deal venture capital firm that has gone on to deploy over $100M in funding in over 80 portfolio companies. In this clip from the pod, Stew shares some of his experience on what he has seen across successful companies in their portfolio. In the rest of the episode we cover a range of topics including: - how Stew's childhood experiences and upbringing in Zimbabwe shaped his view on taking risks and business - the pros and cons of the deal-by-deal investment model - TEN13s approach to network based investing & much more! The full episode is now available on all major platforms (I'll add a link in the comments!). A big thank you to Holly C., Brendan Hill and An Vo for their help with research for this interview! And a big shout out to our partners for this episode: Scendar - Australia's OG startup accounting firm Vanta - Automate 90% of the workflow for your ISO 27001 & SOC2 compliance. Get USD$1000 off when you signup using vanta.com/playbook

"Where bad investor behaviour comes from is their fear of being judged" The power dynamic between founders and investors can be so one-sided that it's easy to assume that investors know best and always give the best advice. But like every founder out there, investors have their own set of fears: Fear of them being judged on their investment decisions by their peers Fear their portfolio doesn't perform Fear that they will not be able to raise another fund These fears can lead to bad advice for founders and steering companies down the wrong path. This is something I discussed with James Tynan, Partner at Square Peg Capital for Ep181 of The Startup Playbook Podcast. James has a unique perspective on life and business having previously bootstrapped and sold his first company (that he started in his first year of uni!) and also as one of the early employees and eventually the VP of Strategy & Operations at Khan Academy, which became the largest Ed-tech startup at the time. In the rest of the interview we discussed: - How James and his wife make important life decisions using the "moleskinning" process - the key ingredients that made Khan Academy so successful - operating in your "zone of genius" - how to become a more effective storyteller for you business & much more! The full episode is now out on all major platforms! A big thank you to Kate Mason, PhD, Jethro Cohen and George Peppou for their help with research for this podcast! And a big shout out to our partners for this episode: Scendar - Australia's OG startup accounting firm, helping you balance your box, manage your tax and even with your exit strategy! Vanta - Accelerate your growth and build trust with your enterprise customers by automating 90% of the work for your ISO 27001 and SOC 2. Check out vanta.com/playbook

Founders are often told that to fundraise effectively, they should meet with VCs before they plan to fundraise and focus on building relationships with them... But how early is too early? What stage makes the most sense to take you first meeting? How do you build relationships with VCs who are so time poor when you're not actively fundraising? For Ep190 of The Startup Playbook Podcast I sat down with Rampersand VC partner, Taryn Pieterse. In this clip from the podcast, Taryn shares what this looks like from a VC's perspective using the example of how Chaz Heitner and Adam Jacobs introduced and built a relationship with Taryn and Rampersand over a 12 month period that led to their investment in Hatch. In the full episode we covered a range of topics including: - How exposure to Campaign Monitors $250M funding round shaped her interest in tech and startups - Rampersand's AAA approach to investing and supporting startups - How to think about financial modelling as an early stage startup & much more The full episode is now available wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. A big thank you to Paul Naphtali and Chaz Heitner for their help with research for this interview 🙏 Shout out to our partners for this episode: Scendar - Australia's OG startup accounting firm Vanta - Automate 90% of the workflow for your ISO 27001 and SOC2 compliance. Get USD$1000 off your plan by signing up at vanta.com/playbook

🎙 One to add to your weekend podcast listening list! James Tynan recently joined Rohit Bhargava on The Startup Playbook Podcast. They cover a range of topics, including James' advice to founders on approaching and picking the right investors and how investors should think about helping the companies they invest in. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or watch the video on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/gmS5Y-PR #founders #startups #investors #venturecapital

New First Cheque episode alert! To follow-on or not to follow-on? 🎯 On the latest episode of the First Cheque podcast, co-hosts Cheryl Mack from Aussie Angels and Maxine Minter from Co Ventures discuss the intricate balance between optimising returns and supporting growing companies at various funding stages. ⚡ Maxine and Cheryl discuss different investing methods across funding cycles while exploring the implications on strategy, fund management, and the power-law in startup investing. 🚀 In this episode, Cheryl and Maxine discuss the pros and cons of either: 💰 🦄 A) going into investing prepared with separate funds to follow on during every funding round, or 🌱 B) having the perspective that you want to have the most ownership of a company as early in the journey as possible and invest in just one funding round. The conversation highlights the need for personalised investment strategies that reflect individual goals and resources, as well as the potential influence of received wisdom on investment decisions. 🧠 Listen to the new First Cheque episode and learn more about the way investors choose to continue to invest in startups throughout their funding cycles. 🎧 If you're an active investor, let us know about your strategies in the comments! 💫 Thanks to our sponsors for helping to make this episode of First Cheque possible: Scendar: Scendar is the OG startup accounting firm in Australia. Free 1-hour consultation about your Business' growth plans and finance needs. https://dayone.fm/scendar Turo: Turo is the world's largest carsharing marketplace and it's the perfect app for travel. Download the Turo app and book cars from $38/day. https://dayone.fm/turo

👀 Coming soon! The "Iowa Tech Podcast", hosted by our very own Investment Director, Kaylee Williams. Would you like to be a featured guest in one of our first episodes? Drop us a line with your name, title and suggested topic and we'll let you know if you've been selected for the Season 1 lineup. #IowaInnovation #Entrepreneurship #StartUpScaleUp

It's not often you hear of companies crafting truly bespoke incentives for their people, but here's a masterclass. On the latest episode of the Startup Equity Matters podcast, Bill Kerr, Founder of Athyna detailed the ingenious way he's crafted an equity plan that is dialled into motivating his people. Bill wanted all of his people to be able to benefit from a possible sale of Athyna, just like he would. With a team largely residing in second and third-world countries, and while paid competitively for their location, traditional RSU or option plans were prohibitive to access due to the cost to exercise in the case of options, or the tax burden in the case of RSU's. Here’s where Bill applied some ingenuity to engineer a solution he calls the double trigger RSU. With the double trigger RSU, the ownership of the equity would only happen if two conditions were satisfied, 1) the vesting date for the equity had passed, and 2) there was a change in ownership (i.e. a sale). This gave the Athyna team a way to benefit from a sale event, without the cost that makes more traditional equity plans inaccessible. Here's an example of a company that truly wants to motivate its people, and does so in a way that looks to reward them appropriately when they win. And it works, Athyna's engagement scores are >90%, world-leading. Athyna is profitable and growing, all strong signs that this is a plan that works and is impressive for a tech company in this environment. When did you last hear of a company using something this bespoke to incentivise its people? Drop it in the comments. Great podcast from Jason Atkins and the Cake Equity team: https://lnkd.in/gP9mejqC

🔥 New Episode Alert for the Ignite Podcast! 🔥 Join us as we sit down with Brian Mac Mahon, the visionary founder of Expert Dojo, for a deep dive into the transformative world of venture capital. 🚀 🎙️ In this episode, titled "Rethinking Venture Capital Ethics and Impact" Mac Mahon shares his unconventional journey into VC and challenges the traditional funding models that dominate the startup landscape. Discover why he champions a growth-oriented approach centered around emotional resonance and sustainable success. 🌱 💡 Mac Mahon doesn't hold back on his critique of the VC industry, likening it to a Ponzi scheme and calling for a radical shift towards more ethical and impactful investment practices. Whether you're an entrepreneur seeking guidance or an investor looking to refine your strategy, this episode is packed with invaluable insights! 🎧 Tune in to learn how we can transform venture capital into a force for good, supporting startups in ways that truly matter. Don’t miss this eye-opening discussion! 👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://buff.ly/3I86nww #IgnitePodcast #VentureCapital #StartupLife #Innovation #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #InvestmentEthics #BrianMacMahon #ExpertDojo

#Founders: Good corporate governance is critical for every company. A super valuable and often overlooked role in your business: Independent directors. Why don’t most startups have them? Not required. Most privately held startups either have founders making up their both or a combination of founders and investors. They are unique because all other directors are conflicted in some way (conflict of interest). Excellent podcast by Heidi Roizen with Threshold Ventures #Corpgov #boardroom #leadership #startups #entrepreneurs #investors https://lnkd.in/g3FdCNdk

Sarah King | Co-Founder @ Obu | How Inclusive Design Unlocks The True Economic Potential Of Venture Diversification In this episode of the FounderTech Decoded podcast, we talk to Sarah King about how her and her Co-Founder Claire Dunn are positioning Obu to find and back female founded UK companies seeking £250,000 to £1,000,000.  Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/eakbTQt9 How they’re trying to amplify and leverage the power of inclusive design to try and unlock the potential of these businesses as a force for good. To empower a new wave of  investors to see early stage investing in female driven founders - that currently only receive just 1% of venture capital - as a chance to bring new perspectives to the problems in the world they now want to see tackled and hopefully solved. We hear how alongside recently successfully securing their first two investments for Moody Month and Proper Plan via the Obu platform, they have also engaged inclusive design principles to successfully lobby the government to increase the eligible SEIS time limit for startups from 2 to 3 years. A very concrete example of how a big win for female founders also then creates a longer SEIS runway and window of opportunity for all entrepreneurs in the ecosystem! Building on this, we discuss how if a lot of the change that FounderTech wishes to bring about is behavioural rather than technological, is there a better way to frame and tell the stories and engage the tools that help re-engineer current diversification biases simply and fundamentally because they no longer serve and nurture the best economic outcomes? Finally we touch on how this feeds into and fuels the core of the mission behind and woven into their brand name itself. Obu - Over Being Underfunded! Connect Further: > https://www.obuinvest.com Look forward to upcoming episodes with: Sam Marchant AJ . and Jem Stein and catch up on recent episodes of the podcast with Adam French Judy Leung Marcus Exall Joe Lewin Listen to all episodes here: https://lnkd.in/g6nuYdAF Explore our own pioneering FounderTech for early stage founders and investors to initially connect and evaluate each other via the powerful lens of Founder Market Fit here: www.pilotround.com #FounderTech #PilotRound