Kōrerorero #9

Welcome to our Q&A series Kōrerorero .. a forum to discuss and share insights, inspiration and advice from voices of founders and investors within the Kiwi start-up community.

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Conversations with Suse Reynolds of AANZ

A familiar face to many, Suse Reynolds is the Executive Chair of Angel Association New Zealand ...

In addition to her role with AANZ, Suse sits on the Advisory Board for Narrative Muse and the Board for Playbooks, AngelHQ and CreativeHQ, as well as a Trustee for Project Crimson Trust and Global Entrepreneurship Network New Zealand.

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What is your passion that drives you when it comes to developing our Kiwi start-up ecosystem ...

I have a bone marrow deep need to share New Zealand and our M.O with the world. Kiwis have a unique way of approaching problems and finding solutions. This approach is grounded in being really practical and pragmatic; genuinely value focused. And what makes this super impactful is our capacity for empathy; for people and the planet. Kaitiakitanga, whanautanga and manaakitanga are powerful concepts.

Being part of work to support New Zealand born start-ups to “go global” is the way I believe I can best help get Aotearoa New Zealand out to the world!!

What are your key sources for inspiration ...

• Seraf is replete with terrific resources drawn largely from two super experienced Boston-based Angels, Hambleton Lord and Christopher Mirabile, who are both great friends to NZ
• Anything written by Randy Komisar (who is a Strategic Advisor to the Elevate fund) is gold but my go-to is Straight Talk for Startups.
• Brad Feld’s work on venture deals is super useful. He’s written a bunch of great books on capital raising and startup ecosystems. Brad is a co-founder of Foundary Group and Techstars.
• In terms of local though leaders who provide inspiration, I read Ben Kepes, Jenene Crossan and Rowan Simpson's writing, and I love Movac's Five in Five investment notes
• Recently I’ve been leaning on The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal. It provides such terrific insights and reassurance that stress isn’t actually always bad for you!!

What do you see as best practice in leading Angel markets oversees that you'd love to see in NZ's Angel investors community ...

To be honest with you, I increasingly believe we don’t need to look to overseas ecosystems for how to do venture investment well. We have a raft of experienced founders and investors in New Zealand, not to mention wonderful professional service providers who have been on their wing. The only wish I have for us, which I see in other ecosystems, is that we hurry up and get more decades of experience!!

How have Angel investment trends changes in New Zealand over the years, and what do you predict for the future ...

• Angel and early stage venture investment used to be considered a bit fringe and a bit crazy. Not anymore. Startup investment is now a credible and reputable asset class
• I want every Kiwi to back or build a startup. Among a bunch of things, this will mean that in fifteen years’ time (or less!!) rather than investing $100m a year into startups, we will be investing $1bn a year into startups; that there will be at least twenty VCs operating in New Zealand, including at least eight founder’s funds; we will be generating all kinds of large and small exits as ventures find their way to creating and catalysing value… we will be a world renowned startup hub fuelled by connectivity and mutual support.

What is the most memorable thing you have learnt / experienced working with founders ...

The world needs more founders. Desperately! Founders are truly awesome… courageous, tenacious, amazing, ambitious, incredible. They inspire me every day to be brave and give my mahi everything.

What are your top tips for managing your commitments and staying on track with purpose ...

• Start each day by mulling on and deciding which three things you want to get done that day which will most move the needle and be in sync with your purpose. If you get one thing done… brilliant. And if you get all three done… super star!
• Be kind to yourself. There’s only so much you can get done in any given day and sometimes it’s not much. That’s ok.

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This is our 9th Kōrerorero of the series.