💫 Ramplify: November (in a massive) nutshell
Rampersand <> OpenAI, Giant Warm Intro, How to move to the US?
👋 A giant, open and warm ecosystem - by Paul Naphtali
Another colossal week (month/year) in StartupAus, with events, capital raises, product launches and expansions. What a long way this ecosystem has come in just a few short years.
Last week, Rampersand’s Scott Dommett kicked off Rampersand’s Coffee Series, starting with OpenAI engineer Tristan Haywood and a packed room full of some of the most interesting AI builders and thinkers. The conversation touched on everything from AGI (of course) and ethics to architecture, speeds and upcoming capabilities, as well as the mood in SF and competitive tensions between the LLMs. It was an incredible conversation, and a hugely diverse set of founders gathered in Cremorne (one of Australia’s primary tech hubs). While we now take gatherings like this for granted, they were few and far between only a few short years ago.
Just a week earlier, the Cremorne Digital Hub collaborated with us to host the Giant Warm Intro Cremorne edition, with 40 founders having round-robin discussions with ten angel, family office and VC investors over two hours. There were hundreds of applicants to participate, with nearly two-thirds (64%) self-identifying as ‘under-represented’ and all embarking on really compelling missions.
What a vibrant ecosystem we find ourselves in. No matter what your passion or technology area is, in Australia, you are highly likely to find a group of like-minded people, whether you're looking for collaboration (and debate), investment, advice, or general community.
Yes, it’s still tough out there, and frankly, it always will be. That’s the nature of being in startup land and building new things, bigger, faster, and more ambitious than what’s gone before. But you’re in good company.
But it can be challenging to know where to start. Please reach out if you want a connection or a warm introduction.
🗞️ Tech News:
A new era of search. Competition for the future search engine of the Internet has heated up, with OpenAI releasing its new search functionality and Perplexity raising an additional $500m at a $9b valuation. Google still holds market dominance in search and has launched AI overviews of search results Australia-wide. AI and the internet will forever be connected, but who will own how we navigate the web remains to be seen.
Fresh BigVC fundraising. Silicon Valley venture capital firm General Catalyst has raised $8 billion, marking the largest sum by a U.S. venture capital group in over two years. The firm plans to allocate $4.5 billion to its core VC funds, $1.5 billion to initiating new startups, and $2 billion towards strategic businesses.
How will US policy change for AI + Crypto? (hint: bullish). With a new republican government in the US, there will be a shift in regulation, tax reforms, and innovation priorities in sectors like artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. Wired has written an excellent summary of key changes and how they impact tech, including AI, anti-trust, and tariffs.
🛠️ How to Startup:
GTM evolution. Maja Voje has outlined a structured approach for startups to develop an effective go-to-market (GTM) strategy. She identifies three critical stages:
Problem-Solution Fit: Validate that your product addresses a genuine problem by securing initial customers, often from personal networks.
Product-Market Fit: Ensure customers consistently use and derive value from your product, establishing a sustainable business model.
Go-to-Market Fit: Develop at least one predictable and scalable method to attract customers, such as product-led or sales-led growth.
Voje introduces the idea of looking for an Early Customer Profile (ECP) before targeting an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Early customers provide essential feedback and validation, helping refine the product and build credibility.
Sales Pipeline Metrics. David Sacks has posted a follow-up to his SaaS metrics that matter, with an article focused on the pipeline metrics that matter for sales teams. He emphasises the importance of tracking specific sales pipeline metrics to drive revenue growth and identifies three critical metrics:
Pipeline Coverage Ratio: This measures the ratio of pipeline value to the sales quota, indicating whether there's sufficient opportunity to meet targets.
Pipeline Conversion Rate: This assesses the percentage of pipeline opportunities that convert into closed deals, reflecting the effectiveness of the sales process.
Pipeline Velocity: This calculates the speed at which deals move through the pipeline, highlighting the efficiency of the sales cycle.
👕 VC in Australia/New Zealand:
Moving your company from Aus → US. Rampersand’s Associate Scott was recently on the Raise podcast sharing insights from his LaunchVic-supported US trip on how Aussie start-ups can make it in the US. His key takeaways were:
Highlight Capital Efficiency: ANZ startups are recognised for achieving significant milestones with limited resources, a trait that appeals to US investors accustomed to capital abundance.
Secure US Customers Early: It is crucial to demonstrate traction in the US market. Without US customers, investors may discount ANZ revenue, viewing it as less indicative of potential success in the US.
Embrace Networking: The US business culture emphasises rapid and extensive networking. Engaging actively can lead to valuable connections and opportunities.
Student founders ramp up. Rampersand collaborated with Nextgen Ventures on a student founder mixer in Sydney where Partner Andrew shared his top growth tips for ambitious young founders. High level:
🏗️ The team you build is the future you get, 🌏 go to where your market's action is (probably not Australia), ⚡ beyond speed, 🤝 founder-led sales can be your superpower
🤩 Portfolio News
Cuttable Flying High: Sam Kroonenburg and Jack White, co-founders of Cuttable, recently joined Vidit Argawal on The High Flyers Podcast. Sam and Jack shared their learnings of being second-time founders and an understanding of the complementary skills they bring to building Cuttable (one of the key reasons we invested). There is a lot to do for your customers, but Sam’s learning is to ask customers what problems they have, not just what they want.
Orkestra were recognised as Growth Champions at the AFR Energy Awards. This recognition was well deserved by Orchestra who achieved a compound annual rate of 260 per cent over the past three years, to reach $500,000 in FY23. Its software has modelled more than 20,000 projects, with a total value of about $8 billion! The stellar growth is only set to continue as they now have about 100 customers and plans to launch in the United Kingdom and Germany in early 2025.
💼 Portfolio Job Board
Location & type: Gold Coast (Hybrid) & full-time (potential for four days/week)
What they do: Cake is an equity management platform that helps growing startups galvanise their teams around shared ownership.
What you’ll do: Own front-end architecture and turn complex requirement into beautiful, functional designs.
Senior Product Manager at Orkestra
Location and type: Australia (Remote) & full-time
What they do: Orkestra Energy is an Australian software startup revolutionising energy project deployment. Our SaaS software helps users deploy new energy projects, such as solar, batteries, and electric vehicles, by allowing customers to automatically identify the “best” financially feasible scenarios out of thousands of possible options.
What you’ll do: Responsible for executing the strategy and collaborating closely with cross-functional teams, and aligning our roadmap with market demands and customer needs.
Senior Customer Success Manager at Mentorloop
Location and type: Melbourne & part-time (contract)
What they do: A cloud-based mentoring software platform that enables organisations to match their people into effective mentorships at any scale.
What you’ll do: Enterprise Account Management to help customers realise the best possible mentoring outcomes for themselves, their companies, and of course their mentors and mentees.
Do you have a job you’d like us to promote? Add it to Hatch and share the link with us.
See all jobs across the Rampersand Portfolio.
🌏 Rampersand Travel Diary:
Taryn will be in Brisbane from 18 - 22nd (reach out if you’ll be at Runway) and Melbourne from 25th to 28th of November.
🎉 Upcoming Events:
There are so many fantastic events over the coming weeks where you can connect with the Rampersand team in almost every major city on the east coast!
MELBOURNE: Thursday Nov 14th - Startup&Angels Investor Pitch Night: Pitch your startup, connect with investors (feat. our Investment Associate Scott Dommet): https://events.humanitix.com/raise-and-scale-pitch-your-startup-get-in-front-of-investors
BRISBANE: Friday Nov 22nd - TEN13's flagship event, Runway, is back next week for its fifth year! You can catch our Brissy-born Partner, Taryn Pieterse, on an exciting Ask Me Anything session: https://events.humanitix.com/runway-2024
SYDNEY: Wednesday Nov 27th - Celebrate the Australian Climate Tech Connect & Awards 2024! 🎉 https://events.humanitix.com/2024-australian-climate-tech-connect-and-awards
Thanks for being part of the Rampersand Community! You can stay updated with even more news and info on our LinkedIn and X/Twitter pages.