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> because VC is batshit mental in NZ I don't have any experience with VCs in NZ but was planning to try out start up when I do return home. I'm interested in s

> because VC is batshit mental in NZ I don't have any experience with VCs in NZ but was planning to try out start up when I do return home. I'm interested in stories if you have some around VCs in NZ, just so I know what I would be getting into :D

robocat 5y ago
I don’t have much insight sorry. If you are in Auckland, grill the team at https://www.theicehouse.co.nz/ https://www.theicehouse.co.nz/ but don’t believe too much. Consider applying to Y Combinator - you won’t get a better deal. You will need to incorporate in the United States, Canada, Singapore or the Cayman Islands. In my experience Cayman Islands is extremely expensive: it does make sense for worldwide investors because it removes double taxation problems, but I wouldn’t prematurely optimise for that. I suspect the US is the easiest since you would go with YC’s cookie-cutter legal docs. Paraphrased from YC FAQ: Question: If we are not based in the US, do we need to do anything to apply to YC? (eg. incorporate in the US, get visas or business licenses). Answer: “No need to do any of that. If invited for interviews, we will assist you with navigating visas. If accepted into the program, we can help you with incorporation.”. Applications for this YC batch close on March 24th. “This batch of Y Combinator will be remote due to COVID-19. It will be the same as every other batch, except that everything - office hours, batch events, Demo Day - is remote.”. https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Just do it.
- creakingstairs 5y ago
  Thank you for a detailed reply! It’s sad that we don’t have a good VC scene. I suspect all the money is being poured into the housing market instead :p I am not actively pursuing start up life atm as I’m trying to adjust to life abroad in Japan. But I might actually apply to this batch as you’ve suggested, just to have a crack at it anyway!
  - robocat 5y ago
    If your startup is business oriented, then for YC you need to aim to capture a big juicy market: credibly aiming for a business that will be worth at least say a billion. To understand why, scroll down to “The realistic case” in https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/01/the-meeting-that-showed-me-the-truth-about-vcs/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/01/the-meeting-that-showed-me... The NZ government has programs to help businesses, but honestly they look pretty unlikely unless you have some “valuable” University IP to build upon (fecking wonks mostly invest in complete shit from what I have seen). If your idea is B2B, then personally I strongly suspect bootstrapping is the way to go. In NZ if you can bootstrap, then just do it, since your financial struggles are likely to be less than your investor struggles. That was our experience (we never got funding, and it worked out great). Personally I think most founders are mad: the rewards do not pay enough for the costs/risks. See https://80000hours.org/2014/05/how-much-do-y-combinator-founders-earn/ https://80000hours.org/2014/05/how-much-do-y-combinator-foun... and median return is complete crap (average is insanely skewed by two outliers - the article is very very poorly written but the data is interesting). The key line: “[3 out of 4 founders] probably earned little more than their (low) salaries”. Of the other quarter, many would have also earned nothing for their common shares or options due to liquidation preferences. Also read http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html where you can see PG has a woody for high growth companies, and in http://www.paulgraham.com/richnow.html http://www.paulgraham.com/richnow.html he doesn’t really address the median loss that founders get as their reward! The rewards are simply not there for your risks. Although the few lottery winners do seem happy enough! If you are in Christchurch, then I have a couple of investor contacts. Reply with an email address (maybe temp) to contact you and I will. Good luck (or good skills, I should say!)

robocat 5y ago

I don’t have much insight sorry. If you are in Auckland, grill the team at https://www.theicehouse.co.nz/ https://www.theicehouse.co.nz/ but don’t believe too much. Consider applying to Y Combinator - you won’t get a better deal. You will need to incorporate in the United States, Canada, Singapore or the Cayman Islands. In my experience Cayman Islands is extremely expensive: it does make sense for worldwide investors because it removes double taxation problems, but I wouldn’t prematurely optimise for that. I suspect the US is the easiest since you would go with YC’s cookie-cutter legal docs. Paraphrased from YC FAQ: Question: If we are not based in the US, do we need to do anything to apply to YC? (eg. incorporate in the US, get visas or business licenses). Answer: “No need to do any of that. If invited for interviews, we will assist you with navigating visas. If accepted into the program, we can help you with incorporation.”. Applications for this YC batch close on March 24th. “This batch of Y Combinator will be remote due to COVID-19. It will be the same as every other batch, except that everything - office hours, batch events, Demo Day - is remote.”. https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ Just do it.

creakingstairs 5y ago
Thank you for a detailed reply! It’s sad that we don’t have a good VC scene. I suspect all the money is being poured into the housing market instead :p I am not actively pursuing start up life atm as I’m trying to adjust to life abroad in Japan. But I might actually apply to this batch as you’ve suggested, just to have a crack at it anyway!
- robocat 5y ago
  If your startup is business oriented, then for YC you need to aim to capture a big juicy market: credibly aiming for a business that will be worth at least say a billion. To understand why, scroll down to “The realistic case” in https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/01/the-meeting-that-showed-me-the-truth-about-vcs/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/01/the-meeting-that-showed-me... The NZ government has programs to help businesses, but honestly they look pretty unlikely unless you have some “valuable” University IP to build upon (fecking wonks mostly invest in complete shit from what I have seen). If your idea is B2B, then personally I strongly suspect bootstrapping is the way to go. In NZ if you can bootstrap, then just do it, since your financial struggles are likely to be less than your investor struggles. That was our experience (we never got funding, and it worked out great). Personally I think most founders are mad: the rewards do not pay enough for the costs/risks. See https://80000hours.org/2014/05/how-much-do-y-combinator-founders-earn/ https://80000hours.org/2014/05/how-much-do-y-combinator-foun... and median return is complete crap (average is insanely skewed by two outliers - the article is very very poorly written but the data is interesting). The key line: “[3 out of 4 founders] probably earned little more than their (low) salaries”. Of the other quarter, many would have also earned nothing for their common shares or options due to liquidation preferences. Also read http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html where you can see PG has a woody for high growth companies, and in http://www.paulgraham.com/richnow.html http://www.paulgraham.com/richnow.html he doesn’t really address the median loss that founders get as their reward! The rewards are simply not there for your risks. Although the few lottery winners do seem happy enough! If you are in Christchurch, then I have a couple of investor contacts. Reply with an email address (maybe temp) to contact you and I will. Good luck (or good skills, I should say!)