Backing founders before it’s obvious.
Angel investment and early-stage counsel for technical founders in Australia and New Zealand — often before a raise is on the table.
Reach out if you’re…
A fit
- Building something technical or scientifically grounded, in ANZ or with ANZ ties.
- Pre-seed or seed — or earlier. Pre-deck conversations are preferred.
- Willing to have your assumptions tested, not just validated.
- Comfortable with honest, unvarnished feedback.
Not a fit
- Later-stage rounds or growth capital.
- Generalist consumer plays without a technical edge.
- Pitches built on momentum rather than evidence.
- Founders looking for a quick “yes” rather than a useful conversation.
If you’re unsure — write anyway. A short note on the problem you’re working on is the best place to start.
Three ideas that shape every decision.
Falsifiable assumptions.
Every thesis is a set of claims that can be tested. I spend more time trying to break them than confirm them.
Execution over mythology.
Startup folklore is cheap. Founder capability and domain insight are not. I weight the second far more than the first.
Outcome pre-filter.
Before deep diligence, a simple question: is the realistic outcome shape worth anyone’s time? If not, we both save it.
Sector-agnostic, with repeated pull toward a few places.
Technical innovation keeps opening new possibility spaces. These are the ones I keep returning to.
John Keith.
Sydney-based angel investor. I back early-stage founders across ANZ from personal capital — not a fund.
Day job: Managing Director at BNP Paribas, working in capital markets, regulatory, and structured finance. Former Chair of Atomo Diagnostics (ASX:AT1), which I saw from kitchen table to public listing. That experience — capital markets, governance, regulatory scar tissue — is what I bring to the companies I back.
I mentor at StartMate, explore at AirTree, and teach as a Practice Coordinator/Mentor at the University of Sydney Business School, working with MBA, EMBA, and Genesis accelerator founders.
Portfolio details on request.
Notes on early-stage investing.
Published as the OpEn series — on venture, the ANZ ecosystem, and what early-stage investing actually demands.
Building something that shouldn’t work?
A short note on the problem you’re solving beats a polished deck every time.
- Email john@earlywork.ventures
- Based Sydney, Australia
- Reply time Within 48 hours. Personally.