Airtree

Do you have a small data team? Here’s what you should focus on 👇 1. Enabling as much self-service as possible. Set up non-technical team members with interactive dashboards and tables so they can self-serve data insights. 2. Choosing your spots. Don’t be all things to all people; choose what area your data team will focus on. 3. Hiring in alignment with growth. If you find an area with potential, increase your team headcount to explore it. Missed our session with Emily Glassberg Sands, Global Head of Information at Stripe, last year? Check out the full recording on our YouTube channel for insights on what steps early-stage startups can take to reap the benefits of data and AI 🤖

Planning to apply for a grant in 2025? Check this out 👇 We asked Camilla Roberts, CEO and Director of Scale Impact, for tips on how to win grant funding from her experience as a grant writer and executive awarding funds. Head over to Open Source VC (link in comments) for Camilla’s tips on: 🎯 How to set your strategy and determine your eligibility 🤔 Assessing your probability of success ✍️ Writing tips

There’s lots to celebrate in December for the Airtree portfolio. Here are some of the highlights 👇 🗣️ Askable raised a $22m round. “Askable is a bootstrapped Brissy success story on the brink of being the top global player in the user research market, with a differentiated vision supercharged by AI,” says John Henderson. 💰 InDebted announced their acquisition of Receeve. “Today, the world's leading banks and financial institutions are underserved by legacy monolithic collections systems," says Josh Foreman, Founder & CEO of InDebted. "This strategic acquisition delivers a next-generation approach to end-to-end collections management." 🐕 Pet Circle launched their new brand with a new look, logo, voice and Price Beat Promise. 📈 Hnry hit a new milestone: processing 1% of NZ tax revenue. 🤖 Reejig launched their Workforce Reinvention Blueprint—a first-of-its-kind guide to help leaders boldly and responsibly embrace AI with actionable insights, reskilling roadmaps and people-first strategies. 💜 Human Health hit 100k patients in their user community. 🔥 EQL passed 8k high-heat launches for the world’s most loved products. 🌱 Build Club held a hackathon with Eucalyptus, supporting 21+ new AI health tech projects.

Looking to build a bulletproof GTM strategy? Join 22k+ monthly readers and find out how in December’s AirMail—our monthly newsletter with startup news, insights and advice 💌 The next release will be sent out tomorrow and includes: 🪴 The best growth advice from 2024 🔓 How to break the AI agreeability trap 🇺🇸 Crowdsourced insights on the who, what, when, where and how of expanding to the US 👉 Sign up now: eepurl.com/dywI0D

Founders often ask us how they can improve their sales performance. Our answer always involves a deep dive into their sales funnel metrics 🤿 But which metrics really matter? We’ve gone back in the Open Source VC archives to share Elicia McDonald's rundown of the sales funnel and metrics you should be tracking at each stage, including: • Leads & Lead Velocity Rate • Conversion • Sales velocity + more 👉 Check it out now: https://lnkd.in/gPaCvi_b

Every month, we curate a list of content we found helpful, inspiring and practical for founders and operators for the "Must-reads" section of AirMail—our monthly newsletter 📧✈️ These are the greatest hits of 2024 based on your clicks (links in comments 👇): 📈 How top tech companies define ARR by CJ Gustafson A list of ARR calculations that big tech companies use, so you can compare your numbers and work out which calculation makes the most sense for you. 🐕 Bluey teaches communication (and more) by JD Schramm, Ed.D. The biggest communication lessons from everyone's favourite Heeler family. 🔍 The secret to finding PMF by Zachary DeWitt The answer? Focus. Zachary explains why. 🪞 The "no differentiation" illusion by April Dunford How do you position a product that doesn't have any advantages over the alternatives? Start by entertaining the idea that maybe you're wrong about a lack of differentiation. 🗣️ How to communicate effectively with board members by Adam Fishman Curated tips for effective board comms from operators at a16z, Patreon and Slack. Made it to the end? Get more must-reads in December's AirMail on Friday: http://eepurl.com/dywI0D

Looking for a new role in 2025? 👀 Find the best startup jobs in ANZ on our jobs board and apply for roles like these (link in comments 👇): 💰 Director of Collections & Customer Operations at InDebted 🎨 Data Lead at Canva 🐕 Creative Copywriter at Pet Circle 🤖 Mid Robotics Software Engineer at Abyss Solutions Ltd 🧻 Director of Lifecycle at Who Gives A Crap 📚 Senior Product Designer at Inquisitive 💙 Associate Accountant at FrankieOne 🌱 General Manager, eCommerce at Eucalyptus 🔗 Strategy & Operations Program Manager at Linktree 🛡️ Content & Marketing Coordinator at Secure Code Warrior

It’s a once in a blue moon startup story: A company goes from idea to $2bn exit in 6 years 🌙 Expanding to the US played a big role in A Cloud Guru’s success. It was also the catalyst for pivoting away from a B2C focus to building a B2B growth engine that saw CEO and Co-founder Sam Kroonenburg build and scale a team globally to over 600 people. Sam shared the pivotal moments and strategic decisions that shaped A Cloud Guru’s journey from inception in 2015 to acquisition by Nasdaq-listed Pluralsight in 2021 in a Q&A with us, including why it’s just as important to ask if the market is ready for you as whether you’re ready to expand. Check out the rest of his top international expansion tips via the link in comments 🇺🇸 👇

Sometimes the best business ideas emerge from solving your own problems. That was the case for Claire Fuller and James Fuller, who launched Hnry in 2017 after their personal solution to contracting finances gained traction. Since then, Hnry has grown from a bootstrapped startup to processing 1% of New Zealand’s tax revenue 📈 “We've grown from just Claire and me to having 40-50 staff in Sydney and 80-90 in Wellington,” says James. “Our product serves all sole traders—from tradies to contractors to NDIS support workers to real estate agents—anyone who needs to manage their own tax and compliance obligations.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gYYTDDPH

If given a choice between building a startup during a bull vs. bear market, most founders' inclination would be a bull market. Robbie Ferguson has a contrarian view: bear markets are a better testing ground for your idea and product 🐻 “A bear market is the best time to build real product-market fit rather than have it smoothed over by artificial demand. It’s incredibly good discipline for building a company,” says Robbie Ferguson, Co-founder & President of Immutable. Robbie’s company-building experience began as a teenager when he started a platform enabling betting on League of Legends with his brother, James Ferguson. The two brothers have been in crypto since 2014, and the experience of weathering four bear markets since then has only strengthened their long-term conviction in the space. And it’s paid off: since founding Immutable together in 2018, the company has become one of the biggest and fastest-growing Australian startups. His top tips for founders? Write yourself a scorecard, hire the smartest people you know and stop talking about the bike shed 🚴 Read more of his advice: https://lnkd.in/grVejhdb