November 07, 2021

#48 Blackbird's Nick Crocker: Dealing with loss early on, discovering startups via journalism, selling to Under Amour, Behind the scenes of Venture Capital

59 minutes

Take flight into Nick's journey -- You know those conversations, we all have them where you have so many questions but the discussion actually covers a lot of ground? That’s how this episode went.

Nick Crocker shares his idyllic upbringing in QLD, Australia (which for our global listeners that may not be as aware, QLD is Australia’s bush country, laid back with a big % of nature and bush. Hear about Nick’s adventure living in France at 17 that opened up his eyes to the world, foray into journalism and his passion for writing which led to discovering entrepreneurship and as Nick calls it “it was love at first sight”

TIMESTAMPS

04:04 - High Flyer in Nick’s life who may not have received the recognition

05:40 - Nick’s sunrise

07:35 - Benefits now reflecting on Nick’s countryside idyllic upbringing “rich in love”

09:00 - Nick in high school including passions, how teachers viewed him

10:00 - Hero’s growing up outside family unit

12:03 - Definition of success in life at the age of 16

13:23 - Nick discovering Entrepreneurship through journalism

15:50 - Nick’s writing on various topics (available online!)

17:10 - most painful moment (but learning in hindsight)

19:35 - most energising and fun moment

21:20 - Long distance relationship with his wife for 4 years (Nick in the US and Julia in Adelaide, Australia)

23:05 - experiences in the US founding sessions, selling it to Under Amour (and additionally integrating into US culture coming from laid back Australia)

25:03 - the motivation to come back to Australia after the US adventure

27:25 - Nick’s twitter reach out to Niki (blackbird founder) to meet for a coffee and how Nick views cold messaging now (1) does he still do it and (2) what makes him respond to one

30:10 - Importance of meditation in Nick’s daily routine

32:30 - Realisation of the weight of words and statements as a VC and board member

34:25 - Helping a young founder evolve and grow

36:35 - Favorite board member and why

38:00 - How does a Venture capital firm make money?

41:00 - Superannuation not being a savings account, rather it’s funding infrastructure, healthcare, education, startups and more

42:20 - Nick’s systems and habits to decipher what to read & consume online on various topics of interest

47:00 - Helping Australian athletes (AFL, Basketball etc) get into investing and mental shift required

51:30 - what separates a good VC from the pack

53:08 - Concept at PIXAR of comfort to fail whilst figuring it out (first 2 years of many Pixar movies are very average)

54:11 - The final sprint rapid fire questions

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Michael Batko CEO @ Startmate

Ben Hudson Executive coach

Matthew Dellavedova, NBA and Australian Basketball Athlete

Matt De Boer AFL Athlete + Co-Founder of Athletic Ventures, athlete led investment syndicate in Australia

James Clear - Atomic Habits

Enjoy!

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This episode & show is to inspire all us to be high flyers in any aspect of life & flip the notion of a high flyer, learning from value creators to help us all be 1% better everyday, together.

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By Vidit Agarwal