Jenny Morel talks about VC on National Radio

In cased you missed her, Jenny Morel was talking about the local Venture Capital scene on Katheryn Ryan’s Nine to Noon programme on National Radio this morning.

Listen to or download the podcast from National Radio’s web site:

Key points:

• High growth companies are more likely to be successful getting investment if they have:
  • The potential to be a large global business
  • Access to a very large market
  • A Sustainable advantage in that market, eg patented technology
• Whatever we do in NZ, we’re slower to execute than in California.  We just don’t have access to the same resource pool here.
• Technology investment is great because it can lead to rapid returns for investors
• Entrepreneurs with deep industry knowledge are most likely to succeed
• There’s a huge shortage of money in NZ for taking businesses global; we always underfund them
• Great businesses need great teams behind them, and that costs money
• There’s a lack of people with a track record of success in high-growth industry – many of them end up overseas because of the lack of opportunity here
• There’s a lack of large pension funds – the government’s super fund is the “gorilla in the room”
• Idea behind VC is to actively manage risk in investments while retaining revenue and growth opportunities.
• Now is a great time to start up a business because there will be fewer competitors starting.