Hannah Parton-Cyr is a venture analyst at Black Sheep Capital. Black Sheep is a leading early-stage VC in Australia, with a portfolio including Airtasker, sendle, go1 and amber.

Hannah studied chemical engineering at the University of Southern California, before making the jump to Australia and working at rail company Aurizon. After completing a masters in international economics and finance at UQ, she joined Black Sheep in August 2020. I chatted with Hannah about how she thinks about risk, the gender gap in VC funding and how a background in science helps her as an investor. 

Timestamps:
[1:08]- Who Hannah wanted to be when she grew up

[1:57]- Hannah’s college and career journey

[4:40]- Comparing the corporate environment of Aurizon to startups

[7:37]- Hannah’s experience at Black Sheep so far

[9:42]- How Hannah’s background in chemical engineering helps her as an investor 

[11:15]- What metrics do you look at in early-stage investing?

[13:40]- Companies in the Black Sheep portfolio

[14:32]- What’s surprised Hannah about the role?

[16:28]- The collegiate nature of Aussie VC

[17:41]- How does Hannah think about risk?

[20:45]- How Black Sheep works through different opinions on a company

[22:20]- What keeps Hannah up at night?

[23:36]- Favourite books

[25:00]- Black Sheep’s investment in Milestone Pay

[27:40]- Tackling the gender gap in venture funding

[33:03]- The best investment Hannah has made in her personal life

[35:20]- How a failure to get into consulting opened up other doors for Hannah

[38:58]- Hannah’s advice for students

References:
Black Sheep Capital
MilestonePay
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The real reason female entrepreneurs get less funding- Dana Kanze