Jack McQuire

Let's talk about Accelerators as VC Funds TIL ANZ has 69 active Accelerators, but only 4 invest: 👉 spreadsheet with all Accelerators in comments 1️⃣ Accelerator as a Business Firstly, Accelerators are shocking businesses. (Don't start one 😅) How do they pay the bills? There are 4 usual business models: 🏛️ Government - you get a grant for 2-3y, the grant stops, you have no revenue, you die 🧳 Corporate - corporate cares about you, until there's a leadership reshuffle, stops caring, you die 🧑‍🎓 Universities - similar to corporate, but more aligned with getting students into working world, usually grant rather than commercial funding 💰 VC - you run it as a VC fund, full alignment of LPs to the outcomes you and founders want to achieve BUT as you've learned in this series (post #5), management fees on SMALL funds are barely enough for a skeleton team So yeah, in short - bad, bad cashflow But ofc if you can make it work >> small funds = better VC returns (post #14) 2️⃣ Accelerators as VC Funds 🤯 there are 69 active Accelerators in Australia and NZ! BUT only 4 that actually invest money. 🔥 1/ UNSW Pretty epic deal at $100k SAFE note 15% discount Varies program by program though, so couldn't exactly find online if the deal still exists and for which program 👀 2/ Techstars Tagline: $180k for 5% + ~5% future equity Reality: [Tranche 1] $30k at $600k post (5%) >> $30k at $600k val 👀🤯 >> not entirely sure how that works, as it also triggers everyone else's MFN clause so you get extra diluted! [Tranche 2] $150k uncapped with MFN >> AU$150k So your startup is really valued at $600k. Note: converted from USD to AUD at $1.50. 😬 3/ Antler Tagline: $260k at $2.2m post-money (12%) Reality: $260k investment - but you don't see the money, because: $75k fee 😱 Effective investment: $185k for 12% which implies $1.5m valuation 😢 Even worse off are actually LPs, because only 😱 45 cents on every $1 invested goes to the founder = working capital 👉 you get charge mgmt fee + expenses (~25%) AND 👉 the investment to startups gets charged back via the fee to Antler (~30%) ❤️ 4/ Startmate ofc biased here, but no hooks nor surprises in our investment terms: Simple SAFE or equity (whatever you prefer) either: 1. $120k at $1.5m post-money (8%) or 2. we match your latest valuation if you have raised $250k previously Fun Fact: Startmate is the only investing Accelerator in NZ 🥝 👉 today's comment request if you liked the content: 🥝 ("kiwi") for the hidden gem and the love for Kiwi founders that Startmate backs ❤️ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ What is this? Day 16/30 - I'm posting one VC fund insight per day this month. I'm often wrong. What did I miss this time? 👉 cut my usual outro as I ran out of characters on this post 🥲

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When NinjaOne announced their $500M Series C at a $5B valuation, one point stood out from the press release: "NinjaOne has no debt and remains a founder-led and controlled business after the Series C extensions. Co-founders Sal Sferlazza and Chris Matarese remain the biggest equity holders in the company, have majority control of the Board of Directors, and hold a majority of the company's voting power." Sal Sferlazza knows exactly why that matters. When you're selling to enterprise customers, they ask one critical question: "Will this company keep innovating?" His answer: "So I think for good or for bad, our customers and our employees are stuck with me and Chris." We had Sal on Unicorn Builders to break down why founder control became their competitive advantage in a market with deeply entrenched competitors. We also cover: → Why enterprise buyers fear startups will pivot or get acquired mid-contract → How spending 25 hours/week on product as CEO signals long-term commitment → The accidental discovery that doubled their addressable market overnight → Why throttling growth built more trust than racing to scale → How consensus-based leadership creates better products than founder ego → Why homogeneous tech stacks beat "best of breed" acquisitions → The "spy network" management style that prevents product issues Full ep: https://lnkd.in/eN9QQAKt

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Queensland founders, you’re in luck! There are several fantastic free programs available to support Queensland founders on their journey. These programs are funded by QIC and come with no strings attached—completely free and equity-free. You’d be crazy not to take advantage of them! If you’re planning to raise capital this year, applications for the 77 Venture Challenge, offered by 77 Partners, are now open. This light-touch, high-impact program bridges the gap between being "pitch-ready" and "investment-ready." Find more details about the Venture Challenge and other programs via the link in the comments below. #founder #entrepreneur #startup #venturecapital #vc #ycombinator

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So you want to work in VC? 👨‍💻 I’m often approached about how to break into venture so I thought I’d share a few pointers on what I personally think makes someone great in this job. Yes, you need to be smart and ideally have some experience that is relevant, but that’s just the entry ticket. The real differentiators are a mix of soft skills and staying power: 1️⃣ Strong opinions, loosely held. I've found that some of the best investments are the ones that make everyone else in the IC uncomfortable. If you can spot something weird-but-brilliant and then argue your case with conviction, this is a huge positive. I am a strong believer that just 'going with the flow' doesn’t cut it. 2️⃣ Be insatiably curious. Of course it’s great if you already have relevant expertise, but good VCs love diving into unfamiliar markets, reading dense decks and really trying to understand how our world is (constantly) shifting. As a generalist VC you should be careful of saying ‘this isn’t my area’… 3️⃣  Be genuinely social. Venture is a relationship game and, as a naturally shy person, being out-and-out social is something I did struggle with. In the early days, you could be meeting founders, co-investors, scouts, and LPs up to five nights a week. If you can both build trust and still stay energised, it’s a huge asset. 4️⃣  Context-switching is a superpower. One minute you're meeting a founder in prompt engineering, the next it’s writing a market sizing section for a IoT investment memo. Some people do find it exhuasting bouncing between ideas, founders, and sectors...whilst still trying not to loose the thread. 5️⃣  Making peace with deal irregularity. For every exciting call with a breakout founder, there will be dozens (possible hundreds) of decks that go nowhere. Months can pass like this - and as VCs love doing deals this can be frustrating - but I have learnt to accept that this is the nature of the industry. 6️⃣  Humility. Founders are the ones doing the hard work and we investors are just the supporting act. The best investors I know remember this and act accordingly. (Founders do notice when you’re genuinely supportive and not just transactional). 7️⃣ Play the long game. This is a business of delayed gratification. Great returns can take 7–10 years or more. People who are driven by quick wins or short-term validation can struggle with the long cycles and ambiguity. There’s no one perfect formula, but if any of this resonates, venture might be something for you 🙂

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(6) Off-market Founders raising capital you need to know about 🤝 🥰 EQTY Lab Raising $500k. Developing the world's first Innovate To Earn currency called Metron 🤖 ChatESG.au Raising $600k. AI-driven platform breaks down the barriers, making it easy for businesses of all sizes to access expert ESG advice and strategies. 🚛 Quick Safety Raising $300k. Providing oversight, intelligence, and predictive solutions for all electrical work 🕐 Occamise Raising $250k. A single platform for building, deploying, and managing AI-powered solutions 🧑‍🏫 AmplifiU AI Raising $1m. AI collaborator designed to amplify K-12 teachers' capabilities and improve quality of learning Elysée Dubois and Bella App Raising $500k. The ultimate app for beauty, making it easier for people to find salons they can trust using social proof and personalised recommendations. ------------- 👀 If any founders would like to be featured in our weekly roundup just shoot me a DM Community VC profile links in the comments below for more info on their rounds. #startups #angelinvesting #community

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