Venture Capital Partner Elicia McDonald: How to Stand Out From the Crowd in Investing
Apr 29, 2024
auto_awesome
Elicia McDonald, Partner at Airtree Ventures, discusses drivers, sales as a VC, personality traits, and more. Topics include authenticity in VC, navigating grief, childhood influences on success, fundraising challenges, and balancing work-life dynamics for founder couples.
Success for Alicia McDonald is defined by working as a team to achieve goals together, emphasizing collaboration over individual victory.
Alicia McDonald values a balance between empathy and competitiveness in her role as a venture capitalist, prioritizing trustworthy relationships over aggressive tactics in deal-making.
Alicia McDonald sets herself apart by seeking out undiscovered investment opportunities, focusing on 'rough diamonds' that others overlook to create value and make meaningful investments.
Deep dives
Alicia McDonald's Definition of Success
Success for Alicia McDonald is not defined by winning, but by working as a team to achieve goals together. She values helping others succeed and cherishes the collaborative aspect of achieving victory.
Balancing Empathy and Competitiveness
Alicia McDonald emphasizes the importance of balancing empathy and competitiveness in her role as a venture capitalist. While she thrives on competition, she values empathy and considers the impact of her actions on others, aiming to win deals through trustworthy relationships rather than aggressive tactics.
Seeking Unique Investment Opportunities
Alicia McDonald differentiates herself by seeking out undiscovered investment opportunities. She focuses on finding 'rough diamonds' that others might overlook, aiming to invest in contrarian early-stage companies. By venturing beyond conventional circles, she aims to create value and make meaningful investments.
The Importance of Resilience in Early-Stage Founders
Resilience is highlighted as a crucial factor for early-stage founders. Assessing resilience in young entrepreneurs without extensive experience can be challenging. Investors often gauge resilience through founders' passion and intrinsic motivation. Deep passion suggests a likelihood of persisting through challenges, indicating strong resilience.
Balancing Personal and Professional Life as a Founder
Maintaining a balance between personal and professional life is vital for founders. Strong relationships and support systems play a key role in navigating the stressful entrepreneurial journey. Drawing boundaries between work and personal life is crucial, especially for couples working together. Aligning values with partners and maintaining a shared long-term vision are essential for building a successful relationship amidst the challenges of entrepreneurship.
Elicia McDonald is a partner at Airtree Ventures, one of the leading VC funds in Australia (where Sachin used to work). Airtree has invested in many unicorns including Canva, Pet Circle, Immutable, Employment Hero and Linktree.
There's a lot to admire about Elicia. She's hyper intelligent, analytical, emotionally intelligent, focuses on the work and has a sharp awareness of what's really important in life.
We talk to Elicia about drivers, the effect of her mums sickness, learning sales as a VC, personality traits and much more.
We tell the raw stories of the world’s tech leaders, by asking the vulnerable questions that no one else does. Guests have included former Prime Ministers, unicorn tech founders and the world’s top investors.
Join us for these interviews and get a real behind the scenes look into 25 year old best friends building the company of their dreams.
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode