News
Issue No. 26 - December/January 2005/06
Investment vets’ capital ideas
“Battle-scarred professional investors” told a major venture capital conference in Adelaide that the keys to successful investing are managing people, risk and exits.
The VC Connect event in October was co-hosted by SA’s largest technology investor Playford Capital and the State Government’s Venture Capital Board. The day-long event at the Convention Centre included presentations by experienced entrepreneurs and managers of venture capital funds that control investments of more than $300 million.
Although VC Connect was primarily aimed at entrepreneurs seeking investment to fast-track their businesses, the event offered useful advice for “business angels” who want better returns than those available from real estate, the share market or cash investments.
“Business angels” are individuals who invest their own money in a private company. For a start-up, angel funding can be the whole story, or it can be used to grow the company to the point where it is mature enough to attract venture capital.
A recurring message was that venture capitalists focus on management rather than technology because it’s the management team who must turn the business opportunity into a reality.
VC Connect’s keynote address was by Fiona Pak Poy, a partner in Australian-US VC company Innovation Capital, which aims to identify Australian technology with global potential, groom management to build the business and then realise shareholder valu...
