Tropical Innovation Festival kicked off with an investor roast: Dan Gavel proves VCs are human (barely)

CAIRNS, QLD — The Tropical Innovation Festival opened with the annual Investor Roast and Reverse Pitch, where some of Australia’s finest venture capitalists bravely agreed to be publicly mocked, for free, by their peers and a room full of founders who probably DM’d them last week.

Hosting duties fell to Dan Gavel, otherwise known as Queensland’s answer to Succession’s Cousin Greg. Dan gleefully introduced each investor with what can only be described as LinkedIn bios rewritten by their high school nemeses.

“It’s the only time you’ll see VCs willing to endure public ridicule without demanding equity in the punchline,” one founder whispered, between sips of their warm sponsor beer.

The Roast Menu

From Cheryl Mack, dubbed the “Bunnings sausage sizzle of Australian venture,” to Glen Richards, praised for proving that “dog shit, when scaled, can be a business model,” no cap table was safe.

Photo cred to ChatGPT: Pompt "Dan Gavel at the TIF Roast"

Brian Cooke was hailed as the man “who’s advised on more exits than a fire warden.” Elaine Stead was lauded for backing deep tech “so deep even ChatGPT needs a snorkel.” Meanwhile, Aaron Birkby was saluted as “one Burning Man tent away from being a wellness cult.”

And in what might have been a meta joke, Mitchell Hughes’s NextGen Ventures was described as “possibly a uni assignment that accidentally raised a fund.”

Tidal Ventures’ Fee Barry also got the treatment, described as what happens when a corporate lawyer reads one too many TechCrunch articles and decides they’re ready for the chaos.

In short: the only safe person in the room was the bartender.

Dan Gavel: The Roastmaster Supreme

Dan, of course, wasn’t spared in the crowd’s post-roast debriefs:

• The only VC who could turn a pitch night into a stand-up set and somehow make it about his fishing trip.

• A man who introduces investors with such brutal accuracy, you wonder if he’s secretly shorting all their funds.

• A founder’s dream: direct, unfiltered, and somehow still likeable enough that you’ll text him again after he says your business is “not investable.”

The Reverse Pitch

After the roast, the VCs tried to claw back some dignity with the Reverse Pitch, their chance to explain why their fund isn’t like the other funds (it is). Highlights included:

• Several funds claiming to be “founder-first,” though no one could define what that meant beyond replying to WhatsApp messages at 11pm.

• One brave VC admitting they’ll back you as long as your startup isn’t based in Sydney or Melbourne, a refreshing stance in a world where regional founders usually get ghosted harder than a Tinder date in Byron.

Bottom Line

The festival couldn’t have asked for a better start: investors humbled, founders entertained, and Dan Gavel proving once again that Queensland VCs might not know how to write a term sheet without outside counsel, but they sure know how to take (and dish out) a roasting.

The Rocket: reporting on the only festival where the investors got grilled harder than the founders.