Welcome to Seed Space’s series of profiles introducing the core members of our team. Next up is Lynda Coker, Seed Space Advisor.
How did you come to this point in your career?
Serendipity by design! I’d had a very extensive corporate background in financial services, mostly in corporate finance, and felt like I needed a change. I initially started as a FinTech mentor and began to meet lots of people in the startup ecosystem. Having worked with later stage investors in my corporate career, the shift to early stage has been quite a different journey yet very natural.
What is great about working in venture capital in general and fintech VC in particular?
I met Dirk Steller at Money 2020 in Singapore a few years ago and we immediately got talking about the gap that exists in Australia for early seed stage funding. I love working with early stage companies, it’s very invigorating and I love seeing entrepreneurs attempting to innovate and do things differently.
What keeps you busy when you’re not at work?
Lots of things! Sadly for me travel isn’t one of them at the moment as I love travelling, but the silver lining has been that I’ve gotten back into playing music (electronic keyboard) which has been lots of fun. I’m a bit sports mad and have spent more time playing tennis, swimming, biking and hiking. I’m also a real people person and I love spending time connecting with and helping others.
That’s what drew me to mentoring — I’m interested in people’s stories and values, and I find I learn as much or more than I manage to impart, it’s a real two-way value exchange.
What’s the best restaurant you’ve ever been to?
There’s lots of fabulous fine dining in the world but I like things that are a bit different re ambience and experience. One of my favourite food experiences was actually in Cuba, which isn’t really known for its food. We went driving from Santiago de Cuba and around to Baracoa, which is a beautiful little coastal town. We spent a few days there eating the most delicious fresh seafood at little nameless family run places, enjoying stunning weather and gorgeous coastal vistas. Good times.
In my home town of Sydney my favourite is a little place called House in Potts Point. It’s in an actual house and is run by two Italian chefs and two French waitresses. It’s amazing food, yet very reasonably priced. My favourite is the truffle injected burrata — they bring out a giant stainless steel syringe full of truffle oil and inject into the burrata right in front of you — yum!
What sport or hobby would you love to take up if time and money were no object?
I love skiing — I’d like to get better at that, as I grew up in Queensland so I didn’t get much opportunity as a kid. SCUBA diving is something I started but never had the time to focus on, so skiing and SCUBA, that’s a sport for each season.
What was your favourite place to travel on business, back in the good old days when we could?
I was very lucky and got to go to many places when I was based in Europe. I remember there was one deal I was on where we went to Moscow, Kiev, Bucharest, Istanbul and Amsterdam all in the one week! It was all for the same company, visiting different management teams, and it was interesting to see how different culturally each of those places are (generally but also re how operations within the same company differ!). I love travelling for fun the most though and my three favourite countries all start with ’N’: Norway, Nicaragua and Namibia.
What three essential items would you take to a desert island?
It’s probably not what you’re meant to say as the presumption is no connectivity but I’d take my phone, as it’s connectivity, reading and a link to the world as I want to still be learning things. I’d take a kayak for exercise, which may also help me escape. And I wouldn’t want to be by myself so I would take one of my best travel buddies in life: my Mum.