Matt Allen: Sydney's western suburbs upbringing, how revenue based financing works, 3 use cases & differences vs VC + hall of fame investors!

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Welcome to episode #78 w Matt Allen! Here are 5 key takeaways you will learn from this episode:

1. How Matt found his passion for music and computers in high school

2. Why success at age 20 was building out his first startup, providing web based solutions for insurance companies

3. Balancing a conservative approach to finance with investing in high growth (and high risk) startups 

4. What is venture debt, how it's structured and when should founders consider it

5. The five active hall of fame investors in Australia / New Zealand to be in a room with

Please enjoy!

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TIMESTAMPS

02:28 - Birth place and residence now

03:16 - First job and various roles now

04:07 -  High Flyers under the radar

05:08 - eldest of 3 brothers and attending agricultural school

08:24 - Computer teacher being an influence

09:37 - Infamous blue hat

10:25 - Early days of the internet: building web based solutions for insurance companies

11:25 - Biggest unknown for startups in the 90’s

14:03 - Balancing financial conservative approach with investing in high risk startups

16:10 - Most painful learning

17:43 - First time into angel investing

21:30 - Process for getting to know founder / business from scratch

24:33 - Meeting thousands of founders at Amazon startups

28:02 - 5 people to have in the “active hall of fame investors” room

30:24 - Decided to be a founder again with Tractor Ventures

36:04 - Financial structure within Venture Debt model

38:23 - 3 use cases for a founder to consider revenue based financing

41:10 - Supporting the longevity of a company

43:42 - Building education in community about finance and debt

46:56 - Matt’s routines to balance his various roles

49:09 - Building and maintaining reputation

52:07 - How Matt got started making websites for bands

54:02 - final sprint