Dan grew up in Perth and still prefers AFL to Rugby. He moved across to Sydney for a role covering publicly-listed software companies at an investment bank. He really enjoyed diving deep into what made these scaled tech companies successful and spending time chatting with experienced executive teams. However, he wanted to be closer to the fundamental source of value for these tech companies. Brilliant, gritty founders setting out to bridge the gap between what is, and what should be.

Behind the scenes of his role

As a Principal, Dan is fortunate to get to spend a lot of time chatting with founders, both with the portfolio and when looking for new opportunities to partner with entrepreneurs. He has the privilege of investing across all stages from both the Seed Fund and the Growth Fund. Although there are unique challenges at different stages, this visibility across the spectrum has given him an appreciation for the through lines that exist in successful businesses, in particular the uniqueness and depth of products, and the quality and relentlessness of great teams.

Here's where you'll find Dan on the weekend

Surfing, stand-up paddleboarding, swimming, body surfing, or virtually any other beach-related activity. If he's not in the ocean, then he'll likely be embarrassing himself on the tennis court or parked up with a book.

What Dan nerds out over

He's a massive music fan and used to play guitar in a band. He likes digging into the history of bands and the stories behind their songs. He feels like he's got a pretty broad taste, but his Spotify Wrapped always seems to turn up the same handful of old-school rock bands each year, while his karaoke repertoire seems to skew to early 2000s grunge.

Craig Blair is the co-founder and a partner at AirTree Ventures, one of Australia's leading venture capital firms. With a background as a serial entrepreneur, Craig has been instrumental in shaping the Australian startup ecosystem.

Elicia McDonald is a Partner at AirTree Ventures, one of Australia's leading venture capital firms, where she has been instrumental since joining in 2016.