[NEXT] Founder Day: What Do VCs Even Do?

​No two VCs work the same way. A pre-seed fund doing dozens of small deals a year wants something different from a Series A fund writing a few large cheques, and a corporate VC often has strategic reasons to invest on top of the financial ones. And this just relates to stage, not even firm idiosyncrasies. Understanding the differences between funds helps founders work out who they're best suited to work with.

​This Founder Day unpacks those differences. The funds in attendance will walk you through what a VC actually does and how fund strategy and incentives shape every decision they make. Then we explore venture debt in session 2. The investors stay for an informal campfire chat to finish the day.

​Stay on for the second part of the day, where we sit down and debate whether you should raise VC at all.

​Schedule for the day:

​12:00pm · Session 1 · Inside the Fund Leila Oliveira (Antler), Rebecca Shot-Guppy (Firemark Ventures) and Harry Lamb (Arteisan), moderated by Darren Huang (CDH). What a VC actually does, and why. First, how a fund is built, who it answers to, its financial incentives and what a fund's thesis means for founders. Then how that drives behaviour: fund size and stage, portfolio construction and what that means for the deals they chase and the ones they pass on. Audience Q&A to close the session.

​1:00pm · Lunch and networking

​2:00pm · Session 2 · Debt Before Dilution Shawn Li (OneVentures), moderated by Alan Tsen (CDH). Most founders have only been shown one instrument. This session covers what venture debt is and who writes it in Australia, the revenue profile where debt beats equity and, most importantly, who venture debt is best suited to.

​3:00pm · Break and Cowork

​3:30pm · Session 3 · Campfire Conversations with VCs We'll close the day with an intimate set of conversations with investors on topics they're passionate about. No stage and no slides, just an open, informal chat. Pull up a chair and ask your questions. The downstairs event space stays open for coworking and networking alongside these sessions.

​4:30pm · Cowork and Networking

​5:00pm · Founder Day wraps and a short break before The Venture Debate

​Who should come?

​Early-stage founders thinking about raising, or wondering whether they should. Anyone who has sent a deck into the void and wants to know what happened to it.

​It's a good fit if you're:

• ​A pre-seed or seed founder getting ready for your first raise and working out which funds suit your stage

• ​A founder who's had a few VC meetings and wants to understand why they went the way they did

• ​Weighing up whether VC is right for you at all, or whether venture debt or other funding might fit better

• ​Thinking about applying to an accelerator and want to know what they look for

• ​An operator or early employee planning to start something and wanting to understand how funding works

​You don't need to be raising right now to come along.