Benjamin Chong

Benjamin Chong is partner at venture capital firm Right Click Capital, investors in high-growth technology businesses.

Opinion

ETHICAL INVESTING: Now more than just ‘nice to have’ for startups

- January 13, 2020 3 MIN READ

Warby Parker co-CEOs Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa. Founders get their startup inspiration from all kinds of places.  You may be trying to solve a problem you’ve faced in your corporate life, tackle an environmental or social problem facing our world, spied a gap in the market as a consumer or have a passion that you want to leave the corporate hamster wheel to pursue.  Solving one of your own pain points is an extremely common source… Read more »

Opinion

VENTURE DEBT: Friend or foe for startup founders?

- December 13, 2019 3 MIN READ

  A growing number of start-ups are accessing venture debt to fund the growth of their business. With the primary appeal of limiting equity dilution, it’s easy to see why founders might jump on board the venture debt train. But venture debt has been linked to a number of collapsing startups both here and in… Read more »

Opinion

Why a ‘growth mindset’ is important for dealing with stress and mental health

- October 21, 2019 3 MIN READ

From co-founder break-ups to startup burn-out, the path of the founder can be fraught with stress. A study conducted by American researcher Michael Freeman suggests that even before founders set-up shop they have a pre-existing vulnerability to stress. His 2015 study of 242 entrepreneurs found that a higher proportion of founders reported a lifetime history… Read more »

Opinion

Why breaking rules is the key to success in a startup

- July 16, 2019 3 MIN READ

  Members of the Draper Venture Network – an alliance of independent venture capital firms – gathered in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil recently to learn about the region’s entrepreneurial communities. We met with top-performing billion-dollar companies and government officials, and as investors we discussed the critical success factors and commonalities observed in the outstanding founders… Read more »

Opinion

5 ways to make sure your investment pitch is perfect

- May 15, 2019 4 MIN READ

  Pitches are difficult to get right. Despite all the blogs and material about how to perfect startup pitches, presenting to investors is still a challenging task. Founders often obsess over their pitch: from fine-tuning the value proposition to religiously following Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 model, cramming as much as possible in their 20-minute pitch to… Read more »

Brains Trust

Regulatory technology could fast-track banks to salvation

- April 15, 2019 2 MIN READ

Bill Gates once said that a company’s most unhappy customers are the greatest source of learning. As the dust settles on the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, many disgruntled and disillusioned Australians will be hoping this proves true, and that after a decade of scandal the banks might finally learn their lesson and play fairly with their customers.