š« Ramplify: September Wrap-Up
Rod Hamilton hot off the press, Agents > Co-Pilot, Giant Warm Intro is back!
š Rod Rockets into Rampersand - by Paul Naphtali
As a product of the Silicon Valley and Israeli startup ecosystems before starting Rampersand, itās always struck me that the magic of these incredible hubs is the multi-generational success. And more than that, itās the generous nature of those who have done well and learned the hard-fought lessons to pay it forward. To build a sense of community by building an actual community, connecting with curiosity, ambition and a collective will to win.
CultureAmp co-founder Rod Hamilton's joining Rampersand as a Venture Partner continues that philosophy. Heās an epic example of someone who has achieved great success (he led a product for a software platform that is relied upon by thousands of companies across the world) and is desperately vested in helping the next generation succeed. You can read more about Rod and his role at Rampersand in the press here or in our blog post here.
Weāre delighted Rod is joining the team. One of his goals is building Product Counsel, a community of ambitious product leaders. Contact us here if youāre building or have questions about a product approach.
Scottās US tour:
Another great reminder of the Australian ecosystem's development is from Rampersandās Scott Dommett, who is partway through his US tour and is now in the SF Bay Area. Like the other great āspokeā ecosystems, Scott has seen first-hand how Aussies in NYC and SF support each other, sharing tips, tricks, and intros and celebrating each otherās successes. If youāre around SF and keen to chat, Scott will be there for a couple more weeks, so get in touch here.
šļøĀ Tech News:
Turning $1 into $4.60: International Data Corporation (IDC) released research entitled, The Global Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Economy and Jobs, which predicts that AI will have an economic impact of $19.9 trillion through 2030 and drive 3.5% of global GDP. Every new dollar spent on business-related AI solutions and services will generate $4.60 of impact on the global economy. Additionally, a majority of respondents to IDC'sĀ Future of Work Employees SurveyĀ expect some (48%) or most (15%) parts of their work to be automated by AI and other tech over the next two years, while only a minority (3%) of employees expect their jobs to be fully automated by AI.
Firing the co-pilot: At last weeks Salesforce Dreamforce, Marc Benioff (Co-founder and CEO), fired the AI co-pilots and provided more detail on Agentforce which will work across the Salesforce platform to deliver results which are 33% more accurate (vs DIY AI) and 2x more relevant. Leveraging off their vast amounts of data, metadata and knowledge of a business already contained in Salesforce, Marc commented, āThese agents are going to be some of the lowest hallucination agents you have ever experiencedā¦ Why would our agents be so low hallucinogenic and so accurate? Well, it has to do with the platform. It's because we have the data and the metadata and the workflow and the business process and the security model and the sharing model.ā
Another AI Unicorn: Following Safe Superintelligenceās $1bn round announced earlier this month, Grok has announced its own mega raise for Black Forest Labs, its generative AI image model that came out of stealth two months ago. Raising $100m on a $1bn valuation highlights the flurry and fury of capital flooding into the space, resulting in the product being live with some unfiltered image generation.
š ļø How to Startup:
Managing Burnout: James Allston, co-CEO and co-founder of Orkestra, provided invaluable tips to founders on avoiding burnout and looking after their mental health. Speaking candidly from his personal experience, James shares his learnings about building your team, delegating, influencing, and prioritising, as well as his methods for managing work and life and awareness of your mental state. A fascinating insight into building lean,
ā..You need to also fully embrace imperfection. If you have a working product but itās full of bugs and the UX is still terrible, this is the perfect time for release. The sooner you shift from building a product to test a hunch, to actually testing that hunch, the better.ā
Rampersand is proud to be an investor in James, Chris, Michael and the whole Orkestra team.
Sell aspiration, not efficiency: Whilst the current economic climate focuses the finance team on cost-cutting and buying on a clear ROI, the message of utilising AI products to enable you to fire 20% of your staff doesnāt resonate with most. Kojo Osei details why aspiration converts better than efficiency, why better technology enables greater resource utilization;
āYou don't want to fire 20% of your developers; you want to build 20% more features. You don't want to fire 20% of your SDRs; you want to close 20% more deals. The desire to do more with new tools is an aspirational quality deep in our psyche. The most compelling AI products tap into this mentality and lead with aspiration.ā
Planning for your next fundraise: Carta released its Q1 2024 report on VC Fund Performance, which included helpful insights for founders evaluating how much to raise. The median time between Seed to Series A rounds has just ticked over two years! When considering how much to raise, seriously evaluate raising 24 - 36months worth of capital to avoid wasting time and effort on bridging rounds (42% of priced seeds in Q1 were bridges) and ideally helps you avoid the increasing proportion of rounds which are down rounds which are at the highest levels in the last five years (23% of all rounds).
šĀ VC in Australia/New Zealand:
šļøGiant Warm Intro is back for its fifth year. This time in person, in Melbourne, as part of Tech Week ā24. Rampersand has partnered with Cremorne Digital Hub to allow founders to meet with investors 1:1 in a supportive, collaborative environment to ask for advice, test their pitch, create connections, or learn about the fundraising process. We actively encourage pre-seed tech founders looking to raise capital in the next 12 months, and we especially welcome women and underrepresented groups to apply.
Should Australia be worried about the US election battle?Ā Our Managing Partner, Paul Naphtali, commented on the piece. He said he has lost count of the times the ādeath of Silicon Valleyā has been predicted.
āIt is the most resilient, incredible land of dreams and opportunityā
āThat doesnāt mean you love everything that happens there, but the US is an amazing country thatās resilient beyond its leadershipā
š¤©Ā Portfolio News
Quantum Brilliance will build the worldās first mobile Quantum Computer: Quantum Brilliance has been awarded a contract by Germanyās Cybersecurity Agency to develop the worldās first mobile quantum computer by 2027. You can read more about how this will revolutionise the quantum field.
How do you stand out in a crowded market? Rampersand hosted a masterclass on category creation and disruption with Adam Jacobs and Callum Davidson. The pair provided valuable insights into how Hatch and Cake are creating new categories and disrupting old ones. The starting question is, are you a disruptor, shaking up an existing industry, or are you a creator, building something entirely new from the ground up? Both approaches come with challenges and opportunities, and knowing where you fit can make all the difference in how your brand grows and competes. Abhiās piece explores this further.
š¼Ā Portfolio Job Board
Head of Engineering at Orkestra
Location and Type: Melbourne, Australia (Hybrid) & full-time
What they do: Orkestra Technologies is an Australian software startup revolutionising the deployment of energy projects. Their SaaS software helps energy teams deploy and operate new energy projects, such as solar, batteries, and electric vehicles in the C&I customer segment
What youāll do: You will help the team build a high-performing engineering team. To achieve this objective, youāll need strong technical leadership, people management and communication skills, and broad technical experience building and shipping products in a startup or scale-up environment.
Senior Financial Accountant at Sapia
Location and Type: Melbourne, Australia (Hybrid) & part-time
What they do: Sapia.AI has built the worldās most inclusive and intelligent human-centric talent solution to innovate the hiring process and disrupt broken practices, especially in high-volume recruitment. They believe that every candidate deserves a fair chance at getting a job and that organisations increasingly care about interrupting the bias in hiring and promotion.
What youāll do: Report to the CFO. You will be involved in all aspects of the finance and accounting function, from payroll to reporting and compliance. Youāll need an excitement for the start-up world, a degree in Accounting, Finance, or Commerce, and a CPA or CA.
Kid Party Facilitator at AmazingCo
Location and Type: Goldcoast, Australia & contract
What they do: AmazingCo is an experience creation company that leverages a tech-enabled platform to plan and deliver low-cost, local, socially connective activities for couples, families, friends and work groups. Activities can be hosted or un-hosted events inside or outside the home, ranging from free āmicroā experiences to weekends away.
What youāll do: With the Amazing Kids Parties team, you will specialise in creating unforgettable experiences for kids and families across the metropolitan area and surrounding suburbs of Brisbane and the Gold Coast. You will work alongside a team of passionate entertainers to deliver top-notch entertainment at various events, from birthday parties to corporate functions.
Do you have a job youād like us to promote? Add it toĀ HatchĀ and share the link with us.
SeeĀ jobs across the Rampersand Portfolio.
šĀ Rampersand Travel Diary:
Scott is in SF, so if youāre around, reach out.
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.
š Upcoming Events:
The Giant Warm Intro is back in Melbourne. Giant Warm Intro is a program that gives every pre-seed founder a warm introduction to Australiaās most prolific investors. Ask for advice, test your pitch, create connections, or learn about the fundraising process in a supportive, collaborative environment across 1:1 sessions ā and maybe youāll even meet your next investors.