Alan Jones of M8 Ventures - Distribution barriers and backing founders you want to be mates with

Veteran angel investor and M8 Ventures co-founder Alan Jones joins host Kali Norman to unpack his 20-year investing journey—from writing A$30K–A$50K early cheques to building a syndicate model that opens up early-stage tech investing with A$5K minimums. Alan shares how his framework evolved from sourcing deals through top accelerators like Startmate to backing deeply mission-aligned founders across renewables, deep tech, and mental health.
Alan traces his path from tech journalism at the dawn of the web to serving as product director for Yahoo Asia Pacific during the dot-com boom and bust, followed by a ten-year stretch as a startup founder. He covers why product and people are equal, non-negotiable pillars, his strict stance on offshore technical teams vs world-class engineering equity, and why diversity is a critical operational indicator. He also reveals why true coachability means acting on advice between meetings, how to spot fatal flaws in a startup’s distribution channel strategy, and whether he would have backed Uber or Airbnb pre-seed.