Ep156 – Matt Browne (Co-founder & Managing Partner – Black Nova VC) on the rise of Founder VCs

The Startup Playbook PodcastInsights and lessons from the world's best entrepreneurs and investors Twitter Facebook YouTube Instagram Ep156 – Matt Browne (Co-founder & Managing Partner – Black Nova VC) on the rise of Founder VCs October 7, 2021 rohitbhargava Podcast My guest for Ep156 of The Startup Playbook Podcast was Matt Browne, the Co-founder & Managing Partner of Black Nova Ventures. Prior to becoming a VC, Matt was the Co-founder and CEO of DoneSafe, a cloud based safety platform that grew to over 1.5M paying users before being acquired by HSI in 2020. He also Co-founded Whispli, a Y-Combinator alumni SaaS startup that provides a whistleblowing platform for clients such as Qantas, Westpac and Oxfam. Now, alongside being one of the founding members of Upflowy, Matt is also the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Black Nova Ventures. A $20M early-stage VC fund built for B2B technology startups. Despite only recently announcing the launch their fund, they have already made 23 investments to date. In this interview we discussed a range of topics including: Matt’s journey in launching, scaling and eventually exiting DoneSafeDealing with co-founder breakupsHow to build investor conviction for pre-revenue or pre-product startupsThe rise of the Founder VCs & much more! Timestamps 2.24 – Matts career journey from starting a business as a teenager to starting Black Nova Ventures 5.22 – Matt’s early interest in business and how side hustles can fuel a future passion for startups 7.59 – The decision to go full time at Donesafe 10.27 – Matt’s Financial advice for businesses and the way raising has changed since he first started 12.55 – What Black Nova looks for in founding teams and how they support founders to be more secure financially14.58 – Finding the right co-founder and managing when a co-founder leaves the business20.02 – Managing the process when a partner leaves and the importance of having empathy in the situation22.42 – The process of getting acquired and how the first acquisition of Donesafe fell through in the final hour 27.22 – How a company changes post-acquisition and how to decide whether you will stay or leave 28.51 – Working with good people and Matt’s decision to work with his co-founder Darcy32.05 – Black Nova’s structure and how they manage their funds34.23 – Why Black Nova focuses on supporting founders and businesses they invest in rather than just funding them36.57 – Why Matt likes to be hands-on when supporting the businesses they have invested in39.20 – What Black Nova looks to invest in and why they like to be very early investors40.57 – What Matt looks for in founders when making investment decisions42.55 – The importance of focusing on what you’re good at and trusting others with what they’re good at 45.38 – How starting your first business can be very humbling 48.05 – Thriving in the US and global market compared to Australia 50.01 – How to get in contact with Matt  Links Mentioned  Matt’s Links  Matt’s LinkedIn Matt’s Twitter Black Nova VC WebsiteBlack Nova LinkedInBlack Nova Twitter Companies Mentioned  Donesafe WhispliLeighton ContractorsWaud CapitalY CombinatorCommonwealth BankAdventure Capital Venture ManagementAntlerFounder InstituteUpflowyHSITablo People Mentioned  Darcy Naunton Matt AllenMatt KneeAsh Davies Past Episodes Mentioned  Episode 40 – Darcy Naunton Episode 28 – Matt AllenEpisode 137 – Matt Allen Episode 155 – Ash Davies Special Thanks: Special thanks to Darcy Naunton and Matt Allen for their help with research for this interview! ? Feedback/connect/say hello: [email protected]@RohitBhargava7 (Twitter)/rohbhargava (LinkedIn)@rohit_bhargava (Instagram)My Youtube Channel Credits: Music: Joakim Karud – Dreams Other channels: Don’t have iTunes? The podcast is also available on Spotify, Soundcloud & Stitcher Audio Player. Find all links to the podcast here. https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/startupplaybook/Ep156_-_Matt_Browne_Co-founder__Managing_Partner_-_Black_Nova_VC_on_the_rise_of_the_Founder_VCs.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download | EmbedSubscribe: RSS admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. .dslc-tp-comment-form input[type=text]::-moz-placeholder, .dslc-tp-comment-form input[type=url]::-moz-placeholder, .dslc-tp-comment-form input[type=email]::-moz-placeholder, .dslc-tp-comment-form textarea::-moz-placeholder { color: #4d4d4d; } .dslc-tp-comment-form input[type=text]::-webkit-input-placeholder, .dslc-tp-comment-form input[type=url]::-webkit-input-placeholder, .dslc-tp-comment-form input[type=email]::-webkit-input-placeholder, .dslc-tp-comment-form textarea::-webkit-input-placeholder { color: #4d4d4d; } .dslc-tp-comment-form input[type=text]:-ms-input-placeholder, .dslc-tp-comment-form input[type=url]:-ms-input-placeholder, .dslc-tp-comment-form input[type=email]:-ms-input-placeholder, .dslc-tp-comment-form textarea:-ms-input-placeholder { color: #4d4d4d; } Copyright © 2015 - Live Composer The post Ep156 – Matt Browne (Co-founder & Managing Partner – Black Nova VC) on the rise of Founder VCs appeared first on Startup Playbook.