James Palmer

Investments

Associate

Auckland

New Zealand

This Blackbird has flown the nest. You can get in touch with them below.

About Me

I’m an associate in the investment team based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa. I love my job - it’s a privilege spending my time speaking with amazing founders and learning about their wild version of the future. I live with my fiancé Shannon and our cat Alfie - outside of work I’m and avid sports fan (NBA + F1) and love cooking and easting great food.

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“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” —Mark Twain

What do you do at Blackbird?

I find and back Aotearoa's most ambitious founders who solve truly painful problems.

What did you do before Blackbird?

I've taken a random walk through finance. Corporate Banking > Corporate Development & Strategy > Venture Capital. Most recently I worked for NZ Growth Capital Partners investing in VC funds (Blackbird included!) and seed stage companies.

What do you believe that others do not?

Naivety is a strength. To solve unreasonably challenging problems and build generational companies it helps to be naive about 1) just how hard it will be; and 2) how people have tried to solve that problem before them.