Rick Baker

About Me

I love finding and helping Aussie and Kiwi startups. At Blackbird I've invested in companies such as Canva, Safety Culture, Baraja, Gilmour Space, Shoes of Prey, Lexer, and August Robotics. Prior to Blackbird I ran the venture portfolio at MLC and before this I co-founded two software companies. I grew up in Sydney and went to both UNSW and Sydney University, before spending some time in the UK and Silicon Valley. I'm now very happy to be in Australia at a time when the startup ecosystem is really gathering momentum.

Be product obsessed. The best bit of advice I can give a founder is to build a great product that people love. It's so simple to say, but so hard to do :)

What do you do at Blackbird?

My primary role is to find and invest in great tech startups and then help them as much as I can.

What did you do before Blackbird?

Prior to Blackbird I ran the venture portfolio at MLC and invested over half a billion dollars into venture capital. Before this I co-founded two software companies, Right Party Connect (sold to Adeptra) and IDC Global. I grew up in Sydney and went to UNSW and Sydney University, before spending some time in the UK and Silicon Valley. I'm now very happy to be back in Australia at a time when the startup ecosystem is really gathering momentum.

What do you believe that others do not?

Canva, Safety Culture, Baraja, Gilmour Space, Shoes of Prey and many more.

What ideas are you excited by right now?

I love new software platforms that truly change the ways people do things that they do every day. I love sales models that allow small teams to attack global markets right from the beginning, and I also love robotics, sensors and space.