This interview discusses investor Niki Scevak's approach: he backs founders with "wild hearts" and "wild ideas" — people who treat their startup as a lifelong mission. He believes in investing in companies, not rounds, building relationships early that later beat brand and reputation. He is optimistic about the Australia-New Zealand market, where distance forces a unique strategy: let the product sell itself. Key holdings: Canva (held from seed; charges users to do less), Zoox (invested in 2014 for self-driving taxis), and Atlassian (early pioneer of user-driven growth).
Blackbird Ventures co-founder Niki Scevak articulated his investment philosophy in the program: seeking "wild hearts" and "wild ideas," investing in founders' lifetime endeavors rather than mere funding rounds. He focused on the uniqueness of the Australia-New Zealand market and shared insights on g
Niki Scevak (Co-founder and Partner at Blackbird Ventures) elaborates on his investment philosophy: seeking founders with "wild hearts" who are committed to a lifelong mission, and grand visions that are "wild ideas." He focuses on analyzing the uniqueness of the Australia-New Zealand market — where geographic distance and time differences have fostered a "bottom-up" product distribution model — and delves into the business model, customer acquisition strategy, monetization path, and moat of his portfolio's star company, Canva. The most impactful takeaway from the entire episode: Niki believes that "investing in companies, not in rounds" is an unconventional but optimal strategy — early-stage relationships and deep observation serve as a competitive advantage that outpaces brand and reputation in later stages.
Niki believes that the greatest companies begin with a founder’s mission as a "lifelong career," rather than a standardized CEO template "cast from the center."
Deduction and Validation: Niki believes that in non-U.S. markets such as Australia and New Zealand, founders often lower their ambitions due to a lack of confidence—this is a trap. Lowering ambition does not increase the success rate; instead, it decreases it. Signal: Whether a founder can articulate the "idea maze" in clear language and whether they have deep reflection on the mission are forward-looking indicators of their success.
Niki believes that the venture capital industry is fragmented by the "round" structure, while Blackbird chooses to invest in "companies" — from seed through later stages. This strategy is rooted in a belief in the depth of relationships and information advantages.
Deduction and Validation: Niki judges that the core assumption of the "invest in companies" strategy is: relationships are "non-scalable," but capital is "the most scalable." Therefore, Blackbird focuses on a few companies and invests hundreds of millions of dollars across their entire lifecycle. Falsification condition: If Blackbird fails to obtain better terms than competitors in later stages due to its relationship advantage, the strategy fails.
Niki explains that the geographic isolation and time zone differences of the Australia-New Zealand market have instead fostered a unique customer acquisition philosophy of "making the product the salesperson," giving rise to global software giants such as Atlassian and Canva.
Extrapolation and validation: Niki believes that the Australia-New Zealand market will not win the most "gold medals," but it will win an increasing number — this contradicts the traditional "Silicon Valley only" view. Signal: Whether more "generational companies" (such as Canva, Atlassian) emerge locally, and whether Blackbird can translate its local experience into global competitiveness.
Niki, through the "Breakdowns" segment, dissected Canva's business model, customer acquisition path, monetization strategy, and moat in detail.
Extrapolation and Validation: Niki believes that "whether you love the product roadmap" is the single most important metric in a lifetime investment decision — in Canva's board presentation materials, even when ARR reached hundreds of millions of dollars, product-related slides still accounted for 90%. Signal: If the proportion of product slides in Canva's future board presentations declines, it may indicate waning innovation momentum.
| Position | Guest View | Key Data |
|---|---|---|
| Canva | Bullish (heavy position held from seed round to present) | Hundreds of millions of dollars ARR; initial funding round had 97 people investing $29 million; early $1 per paid asset model; Magic Resize feature drove subscription growth |
| Zoox | Bullish (invested in early 2014) | A "crazy idea" in 2014 — fully autonomous robo-taxis (software + hardware + consumer service) |
| Atlassian | Background mention (as early pioneer of bottom-up customer acquisition in Australia/New Zealand) | Bought the keyword "Enterprise Wiki" for just $0.10 per click (now $100 per click) |
| SafetyCulture | Mentioned as a case study (as an example of pricing strategy) | After tripling the price early on, conversion rates actually increased — users thought the product was "too cheap" |
1. “Invest in companies, not rounds”—relationships are the true moat in later stages. (Niki Scevak) Relationships started early can beat brand and reputation in later stages; capital is the “most scalable,” while relationships are “non-scalable.” That is why Blackbird focuses on a small number of companies and stays with them through their lifecycle.
2. “If you have only half the ambition, you have only half the probability of success.” (Niki Scevak) In non-US markets, founders often lower their ambitions due to lack of confidence — but that is a trap. Lowering ambition does not increase the success rate; it lowers it.
3. “The playbook is a dirty word.” (Niki Scevak) If the customer acquisition strategy is a “playbook,” it means too many people have already replicated it successfully — you are too late. A good strategy sounds “strange” or “unique” — for example, making “content marketers” the early adopters and letting them naturally create distribution content.
4. “Gross margin is the margin of safety — software companies are in a long-term downtrend.” (Niki Scevak) High gross margins (like software companies) are “training wheels” — even with rapid growth, the risk of failure is low. A business with low gross margins or one that requires inventory may see growth actually bring the risk of death. But the GPU cost brought by AI is compressing software gross margins, which may be further squeezed by competition in the future.
5. “Users pay to do less.” (Niki Scevak) Canva’s monetization logic is counterintuitive: the Pro version restricts users’ available options (brand guidelines, templates), and the enterprise version restricts the team to only specific versions — users pay to avoid the efficiency loss caused by “infinite choices.”
6. “Whether you love the product roadmap is the single most important investment metric.” (Niki Scevak) The proportion of product slides in a company’s board deck declining over time is a dangerous signal. At Canva, even after reaching hundreds of millions in ARR, product slides still accounted for 90%.
7. “Naivety is a good thing.” (Niki Scevak) If founders fully understood the realities of the industry, they would never start a company. “Unqualified” founders (e.g., those who did not finish school) are able to reshape industries precisely because they do not know what is “impossible.”
8. “Invest in the founder’s lifelong career, not in a funding round.” (Niki Scevak) Identifying clues: whether the founder had already invested significant time before starting the company (e.g., teaching design, running a yearbook business), rather than “parachuting in” an idea.