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Sunday, December 24, 2023

How to build a relationship from someone you meet at a BbG forum

Follow up promptly 

If it feels right - do it 
If it doesn’t - don’t
Go with your gut

Be authentic




Thursday, August 31, 2023

How to build a $100m business


There are 75 things you need to have in place to build a $100m business 





Thursday, August 10, 2023

Jon BURGESS shared some amazing insights at The 2023 Sydney 1 Asia CEO community - with Gary Lam




John Burgess shared his insights on the power of advocacy .


Who are your  advocates?  Each probably has 50 connections and 500 contacts


Are you 

  • On mind - contacts
  • Front of Mind - connection 
  • Top of mind - advocates 


What do you want people to know about you? - ask them to help you!


How do you get them to trust you? 

How do you build know like and trust?

Trust is key - - how do I make you feel 


John asked a great question…. What do people want ?

Some responses 

  • To Live and learn
  • Network family 
  • Feel relevant
  • Build relationships
  • Leave a legacy 
  • Build a model make commercial sense 

How do I start ?


In each interaction - 

Ask  these questions -  “I am curious to know - How can I help ? how can I be helped? 

*Attendees:*
1. Gary Lam, CEO of Asia CEO Community
2. Jon Burgess, Founder & Director, KWAN International Management (VIP Speaker)
3. Alan Chan Ka Fai JP.  陳家輝.    太平紳士, Project Manager – APEX Investment Alliance, Chairman of Lions Club International, District 201N5 of Sydney Zone 5. President of Lions Club of Sydney Incorporated-Host (VIP Speaker)
4. Aries CHEUNG JP, President, Australia Chapter – Managing Director - Onteam Global
5. Anthony HARRISON, Committee, Australia Chapter, CEO of Twelve8 Technology & Onteam Global and SOULU
6. Deborah Biber  白碧仪 - Chief Executive at AustCham ASEAN
7. Sylvia Huang - Founder at bMightie
8. Ivan Kaye - Director at BSI Learning
9.  Sam Phillips - CEO at Reach Alternative Investments
10. Christine LAU, Client Services Officer – TopAus Services
11. Deb King, Co-Founder and Coach – The Wisdom Playground
12. Greg Smith, CEO – BUNTU
13. Geoff Hetherington, Founder - Elite Business Institute
14. Terry CHING, Director-Terry Management & Principal-Metro Property Agent
15. Patrick Wong, Executive Director – Digilink Media Group
16. Henry Song, P.E., P.Eng., Director of Investment & Strategy - P & H Financial
17. Rico Wing Chau, Executive Director at FINET
18. Md Mizanur Rahaman (AWS, SAFe, NFVi, ITIL, PRINCE2, SQL), Principal Member of Technical Staff at Aus NewTechs 
19. Jamie Pennington, Senior Principal, Energy & Resources|Finance Transformation Lead – Australia
20. Alexander Soeriyadi, Co-Founder, CEO of LLEAF Pty Ltd
21. Daniel Moore, Sentinel Security Group
22. Alice Chan, Senior Director BD at MCA Dedeng Law Firm
23. Alex Lin, Chief Futurist & Founder at MetaValue Group
24. Jessica King, Managing Director at Ausvina Project Development Co Ltd
25. Blake Harrison, Operation Manager of Onteam Global
26. Vincent Chan, Partner - APEX Investment Alliance 
27.  Ken NG, Project Manager – APEX Investment Alliance
28. Steve SHAW - Business Development Director at INTIUM CAPITAL

*ASIA CEO COMMUNITY*
WWW.ASIACEO.CLUB

Monday, March 20, 2023

David Sacks - the Burn Multiple





David Sacks of PayPal, Twitter and All in game talks about a burn multiple

Two simple ways to measure capital efficiency are the Hype Ratio and Bessemer’s Efficiency Score:
  1. Hype Ratio = Capital Raised (or Burned) / ARR
  2. Efficiency Score = Net New ARR / Net Burn

David  think Bessemer has the right idea but prefers to flip the numerator and denominator, so the ratio is an annualized version of the Hype Ratio. 

He  calls this the Burn Multiple:
Burn Multiple = Net Burn / Net New ARR


  • gross margin problem — If the company spends too much on COGS in order to deliver the product or service, its burn will increase rapidly as it scales. If there’s not operating leverage in the business, the Burn Multiple will not improve with scale.
  • A sales efficiency problem — If CAC is prohibitive or sales productivity is diminishing, burn will increase relative to new ARR, causing the Burn Multiple to worsen even though growth continues.
  • A churn problem — Churn will net against the denominator of the Burn Multiple, causing the multiple to increase. A leaky bucket makes it hard to grow efficiently.
  • A growth challenge — If growth is stalling, the company may seek to compensate by spending more on marketing, give-aways, discounts, or promotions. That will be picked up in a higher Burn Multiple, as burn rises faster than new sales.
  • A founder leadership problem — If the founder lacks the skill or will to control burn, that will show through in the Burn Multiple.

Eventually, for a company to become profitable, burn must reach 0, which implies that the Burn Multiple should also approach 0 over time.

Great advice by my friend Mark Gustowski as you potentially have to navigate a down round



To say that the current capital markets are challenging would be an understatement. 

The tech ecosystem has come out of what can only be described as enormous orchestrated bubble, fuelled by 
  • endless printing of money during the pandemic, that ultimately led to 
  • high inflation, 
  • interest rate hikes, and 
  • massive job shedding.

Could it have been avoided with foresight and measured fiscal policy? Sure but let’s not let a good fiscal management in the way of government elected terms. 

But what does this mean for our startup sector? Well if you raised during the bubble well done, hopefully you raised enough to give you another 24-30 mths of runway. If you didn’t, and you find yourself going to the well again in the next 12 months, be prepared for down-rounds. Valuations have dropped, from Meta and Stipe through to startups.

Is it all bad? Not necessarily, it’s a normalisation of the market and valuations but I do worry about the 2021 and 2022 investment vintages, returns are going to be a real challenge for them.

Cash is king 

So what now? What do VCs like Mandalay Venture Partners look for in a deal? Well for starters you better be sure to be raising for 18 months or more, preferably 24 to see you through the current period. Austerity means slowing growth, managing burn and understanding the all important ‘burn multiple’. 

Growth for growth sake is no longer the metric, it’s now efficiency of growth that will make you stand out. 

If you’re a founder you best get your head around the concept of ‘burn multiple’ really fast. Investors will be looking at your spend (burn) vs your revenue and doing back-of-the-napkin assessments to ascertain how sustainable your business is going to be. 

So when raising Seed to Series-A and beyond, consider the following:

👍🏼18 months runway is ok, 24 months is better 
👍🏼cap salaries and remunerate via ESOPs that can reduce burn 
👍🏼if new markets are exceeding a burn multiple of 3-4, reconsider for now
👍🏼managed growth is ok, cash is king
👍🏼mark to market regularly 

This is not the environment you want to be raising in twice in the same 18 months. Money is going to get tighter as interest rates continue to rise to curb inflation. It’s going to be hard to attract dry powder as venture returns become less attractive with other capital allocation assets. 

Learn about the concept of burn multiples in austere times (see attached article). Great opportunities will still be funded but we are no longer in a ‘blitz-scale’ era; your growth and market strategies need to reflect that. 

A good investor will help navigate these waters. We don’t expect founders to understand all the underlying macro economic issues, but it is our role to help you chart a sustainable path forward. 

Don’t be afraid to ask questions, test assumptions or reach out as it’s the best way for us to get through this together. 

#startup #capitalmarkets  #tech #investment #venturecapital #venture






Monday, March 13, 2023

How to become a centre of influence

 Billy Connolly talking business planning 

and 

what people said about Ivan Kaye's talk on "becoming a centre of influence" about how to become a centre of influence 



Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Ineffective Marketing and how to stand out in Social Media


A great post by Steve Ballantyne 

                                  


Are you being stimmied by ineffective marketing?


  • Ineffective marketing is like an awful first date.
  • It's pushy and tells you what you should want.
  • Puts its own needs before yours.
  • It's insensitive.
 
There is no incentive to stick around. 
 
On the other hand, an ideal first date can lead to a second date and a long-term relationship.
 

Here's how to do it: 

  • Be attentive to what your audience wants.
  • Anticipate their needs – because you paid attention to who they are.
  • Be mindful of the message you send, both in language and appearance.
  • Woo your audience, not your ego, to create lasting relationships.


How do you stand out in Social Media - Insta , Linkedin and Facebook?

              


On Wednesday the 29th March , join Sydney’s leading Social Media Gurus as they share their secrets on how to stand out in Social Media. 


Holi Jade - talking InstagramKaren Tisdell - talking Linkedin and Matthew Mackow talking Facebook 

This will be a face to face event (in Lindfield ) and on Zoom. 


This is a forum not to be missed….. even if you take home one takeaway…. This could be a game changer.  


https://events.humanitix.com/standing-out-in-social-media-instagram-linkedin-facebook-bbg-lindfield-chapter

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

So what are the ingredients of resilience to overcome adversity ?




Whatever your situation is - whether you are rich or poor, educated or not , a professional, Tradie, traveller, king or servant  - you and  yours will suffer a chronic and life-limiting illness or disability and death - and you will feel pain , hurt and suffering .


During your journey on this fragile rock -  you'll face challenges that will test your character, willpower, strength and resilience .


And the feeling will be difficult or unpleasant and get to the core of your being and fears …


The good news as my mother says (who’s doing it tough at the moment - she was 88 last month)  is that if you feel the pain and adversity - you are alive!! 


And if you are resilient , and find your inner strength and push through   - you will be able to write another chapter to your story, and be wiser happier and stronger and be a step closer to finding the key to living a successful , abundant and fulfilling life.

So what are  the ingredients of resilience to overcome adversity ?


  1. Stop overthinking, overidentifying with your suffering, blaming others, and becoming a victim.  By doing this - you will create your reality of being a victim 
  2. Build a positive mindset 
  3. Have a mindset of love, self-compassion, and hope
  4. Have a mindset where  you control your destiny - not be controlled by others .
  5. Have strong values that will guide you to your true north and find those that share those values 
  6. Have A team of people that will help you along the way - and give your support and encouragement to them - celebrate their successes and wins as if they are yours - you choose those people - celebrate them - and lean on them when you feel you need to - be vulnerable and authentic with them . (Your BBG Forum? )
  7. Know that it is up to you on how to handle a situation - and treat the challenge as a learning experience 
  8. Know that you are awesome and have a burning light within you - that can be inspired enthused and engaged - visualise it - nurture it 
  9. You are  not superhuman, you are not able to control everything that happens to us but you can control how you deal and feel about what happens to you 
  10.  and you can choose to turn lemon into lemonade

It is your choice which doors you walk through and the extent to which you feel as you live or die. 

Make your choice. It is up to you to choose life, to choose living, to choose your reality. 

It is up to you to choose your mindset.

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Join us on 18 and 19 February




Join our #bbgforum yarning circle and #bbgforum with our friend Martin Stark on 18 and/or 19 February and be part of a world's first accredited amateur bout for the LGBTQIA+ community and allies - part of Sydney World Pride.


Nelson Mandela declared that: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does."


Come and watch upcoming stars showcase their courage, skill, and prowess where they battle it out over three by 2-minute rounds.


Besides tough-fought boxing matches, there will be drag queens and a great DJ getting you in the spirit to support and cheer on the fighters. This is fun authentic boxing and the crowning of new world champions!


This is a 2-day amateur boxing competition conducted under Boxing Australia rules with safe participation the number one priority.  


Take your place and witness sporting history happening by joining us at the Championships and inviting your clients and teams. 


You will be:

• Championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

• Showing your authentic and visible support for the LGBTQIA+ community.

• Part of Sydney WorldPride - Australia's largest event since the 2000 Olympics!

 

You will get to know the boxers as they are announced and will love singing along to the walkout songs hyping up the fighters, injecting energy into the fans getting the crowd pumping.



The event is being held at The Ballroom, Australian Turf Club, Royal Randwick. The session times are 2pm – 6pm.

Tickets are $50 per person. 


Click here to purchase your tickets 

 


Saturday 2pm - 6pm

https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/world-gay-boxing-championships-randwick-18-02-2023/event/25005E39913F204B



Sunday 2pm -6m 

https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/world-gay-boxing-championships-randwick-19-02-2023/event/25005E39A21C3CB0


Let me know when you can make it 

I look forward to seeing you there 


Best 

Ivan 


BBG Members will be reimbursed the price of the tickets