Nick Crocker (Blackbird Ventures) discusses investing in start ups and early stage investments

Summary: Nick is a partner at Blackbird Ventures. A venture capital fund that seeks to invest in world-class founders who are setting out to make a difference in the world. Investors in Blackbird’s fund include the Australian Government Future Fund, Host Plus, and Mike Cannon Brookes. Nick originally studied law and political science at UQ. After a short period of time working in the legal world he pivoted across into the world of startups. He co-founded, and was CEO of, Sessions (which used technology to help people stay healthy, and Sessions was later acquired by MyFitnessPal in December, 2013). Nick also co-founded We Are Hunted which was acquired by Twitter. Nick said he would come into contact with approximately 1000 companies a year, of which he meets face to face with around 100. He would probably consider around 10 but ultimately invests in around 2 or 3 a year. However, at the time of recording in late September he still had not made an investment this year. One thing which I wasn’t aware is that he measures every minute of his day and he takes us through how he does this. As on average as he invests in 1 in every 500 companies he comes across he knows how important time management is. We discuss valuation which is always difficult, let alone investing in a startup company that’s probably loss making at the time with not many true comparable comapnies. Nick describes how important a well articulated mission and vision are. However, so often they’re nothing more than buzzwords which are often stuck on the wall and then forgotten about. It’s important though, the mission and vision reverberates throughout the company as it attracts the best talent, which can attract investors, which can help in the process to attract customers. This episode is brought to you by Six Park - Australia's leading online investment manager www.sixpark.com.au