What Invoice2Go’s Chris Strode has learnt after raising $50m

Find people that share your vision and sense of humour, build a strong relationship with them and know exactly what you want to achieve.

Invoice2go founder Chris Strode’s approach may sound simple but it has secured the Sydney-based mobile invoicing business $50 million from US venture capital funds.

The latest instalment of the company’s funding coup, a $15 million third round completed in early November, was led by Silicon Valley firm Ribbit Capital and included Accel Partners, once of the world’s largest venture funds.

Both Ribbit and Accel participated in Invoice2go’s two 2014 funding rounds, which collected a total $35 million.

“I have learnt that so much is not about the money; for us, it is more about the relationships,” Strode says.

“You are going to be spending a lot of time with these people. You are going to see them more than you see your relatives a lot of the time, so you just have to know that you can work together, that you get their sense of humour and they get your sense of humour.”

In an environment where countless start-ups are scrambling for funding, Strode’s trademark casual approach was aided by the fact Invoice2go was already a profitable business with about 100,000 users.

IMMEDIATE SMARTPHONE INVOICING

The Invoice2go app allows small business owners and freelancers to invoice customers from a smartphone or tablet immediately after completing a job.

The easy-to use technology, developed by Strode while has was working as a freelance software developer for companies such as Macquarie Bank, has doubled its customer base over the past 12 months and is now used by 200,000 small businesses across the globe.

More than 1 million invoices are sent through the app each month.

Strode said that, as well as establishing a strong working relationship, venture capital funds were looking to invest in companies with obvious direction and a simple structure.

“Figure out exactly what it is you want and how much money you need,” he advises.

“Don’t take any more money than what you need and know what you are going to do with the money once you get it, because that is what they are going to be looking for.

“Have a fair valuation and I think, a lot of the time, they want to deal with companies that aren’t overly complicated at that time.”

NOT EASY TO STEP BACK

As part of the company’s growth, a new office has been set up in Redwood City, complete with chief executive, Greg Waldorf, and 35 of Invoice2go’s more than 100 staff.

Strode, who retains a chunk of the company’s equity and heads up its product division from Sydney, says it was “definitely not easy” to step back but he has welcomed the opportunity to learn from experienced colleagues such as Waldorf, the former chief executive of eHarmony.

And he doesn’t believe the company’s increasing skew towards the US will mean that one day, little of Invoice2go will remain in Australia. Strode says 90 per cent of Invoice2go’s engineering resources remains in Australia.

“It’s not essentially government handouts that are going to do it, it is the job market,” he says.

“In San Francisco, it is so red-hot that building a team takes twice if not three times longer there than if you were based in Australia. You have just as smart guys over here and I think Australia has a lot going for it in that respect. And a lot of these guys want to, and now can, work for companies that are doing something at a global level, like Invoice2go.”

Invoice2go plans to use the recently raised funds to increase its global footprint (it is already translated into 11 languages) and look at other growth opportunities in the fintech space after integrating a credit and debit card payment feature.

“We have got some things in mind but they are a little bit confidential at the moment,” Strode says.

“We see so much opportunity in the fintech space, so payments is our first product … but there are other opportunities there to explore.”

• Tweet