Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings | Global Venture Capital Inside the Fund Fueling Aussie Unicorns: Canva, SafetyCulture, and Culture Amp w/ Rick Baker, Blackbird VC
What does it take to build a billion-dollar fund from Australia — and back global unicorns like Canva, SafetyCulture, and Culture Amp?
In this episode, we sit down with Rick Baker, Co-Founder of Blackbird VC, to unpack the journey from 530 investor rejections to becoming one of the most successful venture firms in the Southern Hemisphere.
Rick shares the real stories behind meeting and backing Canva’s Melanie Perkins, scaling a multi-generational VC franchise, and why storytelling and diversity are key to building enduring funds. This is a masterclass on conviction, culture, and capital.
Timestamps / Key Takeaways
00:00 Intro
02:01 The early days of Australia’s startup scene: Atlassian & the incoming of US VC firms: Sequoia, Accel, Benchmark, a16z and more.
05:27 From founder to investor: lessons from two failed startups
07:28 How 530 meetings led to Blackbird’s first $29M fund
11:02 The first Canva meeting and what convinced Rick to invest in Melanie Perkins
15:01 Luck vs pattern recognition; turning a $29M fund into 40x returns
17:43 Why funds should last longer than 10 years
19:39 Building a multi-generational VC franchise
21:22 Inside Blackbird’s blind hiring and bias-free investing
24:41 The future of AI and deep tech in Australia
29:02 The thesis of Blackbird VC and portfolio construction
32:00 Lessons from the Kiki incident: investing and accountability
35:13 Gender-lens investing, transparency, and joining Beyond The Billion’s pledge
43:02 “Would you have built Blackbird differently?”
44:25 Billion Dollar Questions
About Rick Baker
Rick Baker is a co-founder of Blackbird Ventures, a venture capital firm focussed on investing in the best global tech startups being formed in Australia. Rick has led the firm’s investments such as Canva, SafetyCulture, Baraja, Gilmour Space and Ovira. Prior to Blackbird, Rick ran MLC’s venture capital portfolio with investments of over half a billion dollars. Prior to MLC, Rick co-founded two successful software companies: IDC Global and Right Party Connect. Blackbird partners with founders at the very beginning and surrounds them with a community of other founders who have built successful technology companies before. The firm was founded in 2012 and currently manages $1.3 billion dollars.
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Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global VC Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network
In venture, every move can make—or break—a billion-dollar outcome. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, award-winning entrepreneur, investor, and venture insider, Billion Dollar Moves pulls back the curtain on the strategies, stumbles, and breakout moments that define the world’s most iconic companies.
From boardroom power plays to investor backchannels, you’ll hear the untold stories behind iconic companies like YouTube, Canva, and Vimeo, and go inside the minds of those moving capital at firms like Sequoia, Lightspeed, and beyond.
Whether you're chasing your first $10M—or your next billion—this show is your front-row seat to how the smartest founders and funders win. Think raw, unfiltered, no-BS insight—designed to help you move faster, smarter, and bolder.
This isn’t just another business podcast. This is your billion-dollar playbook.
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