The Full Ratchet: Vc | Venture Capital | Angel Investors | Startup Investing | Fundraising | Crowdfunding | Pitch | Private E

Victor Pascucci of Energy Capital Ventures joins Nick to discuss The Trillion $ Opportunity in Natural Gas, Building A Strategic LP-Base, and Creating a Strong LPAC. In this episode we cover: Give us an overview of the data and the opportunity within the natural gas sector for tech disruption.  What percentage of our energy consumption is natural gas based? Why focus on natural gas? Why is now the right time for a natural gas focused venture fund? Let's talk for a moment about the digital transformation of the natural gas industry. Where can we expect to see the most change going forward? Exploration, development, or production?  Any concerns about the volume and quality of dealflow in this specialized sector? What kind of founder do you look for to change this legacy industry? How may these founders differ from the Silicon Valley stereotype?  5 large publicly-traded LPs -- Talk a bit about how you plan to work with the LPs as you make investments, manage the portfolio? How do you avoid the tai

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Maren Bannon Sach Chitnis Jonathan Hsu Glenn Rockman Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? Maren Bannon Episode 268 Sach Chitnis Episode 269 Jonathan Hsu Episode 243 Glenn Rockman Episode 282 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We’ll send a list of possible investors right to your email’s InBox!

Seth Levine & Elizabeth MacBride of The New Builders joins Nick to discuss The Decline of Entrepreneurship in America, Systemic Inequity in Supporting Small Businesses, and the "Capital vs. Labor" Debate. In this episode we cover: Why did you write the book? I’d actually like to start w/ Chapter 6, which is a history of entrepreneurship in the US… we can’t really do it justice in the interview but can you give us an overview of the history and where we are at today? You cover that entrepreneurship has been declining in the US for the past 40 years and more significantly within the past 15. What are some of the big factors that have led to that decline? Why are entrepreneurship and new business creation so important for the future of our country and society? How does the Silicon Valley version of entrepreneurship differ from the reality of entrepreneurship? What does the real profile of entrepreneurship look like vs. what we see in the data on the tech / venture-funded part of entrepreneurship

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Reid Christian David Goldberg McKeever “Mac” Conwell II Neil Sequeira Each investor discusses a portfolio company that did not survive and why it was that they failed. Did you miss our guests' full-length episodes? Reid Christian Episode 259 David Goldberg Episode 272 McKeever “Mac” Conwell II Episode 277 Neil Sequeira Episode 281 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We’ll send a list of possible investors right to your email’s InBox!

Emily Paxhia of Poseidon Asset Management joins Nick to discuss The $61B Cannabis Market, Overcoming Compliance and Regulation, and the Declining Social Stigma Around Cannabis. In this episode we cover: Can you give us an overview of the Cannabis Space -- size, growth, major sub-segments? Which segments are you most interested in? What areas do you not invest in and why? Raising a cannabis fund in 2013... I have to imagine you had to find a certain type of LP for that pitch to land. How hard was that? Regulation can be a break or a gas pedal --how have you or do you assess and underwrite the regulatory and legal risks in the space? To what extent are Cannabis businesses shut out of the existing financial system?  Are there any other major differences in sourcing or diligence for a cannabis focused fund vs. your standard VC fund? How many cannabis focused funds are there and is follow-on financing risk significant when you're dealing with a smaller pool of capital providers? In 2018 we saw t

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt Ali Tamaseb Jonathan Hung Vanessa Larco Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor. Did you miss our guest's full-length episodes? Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt Episode 291 Ali Tamaseb Episode 289 Jonathan Hung Episode 292 Vanessa Larco Episode 295 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We’ll send a list of possible investors right to your email’s InBox!

Winter Mead of Oper8r joins Nick to discuss How to Raise a VC Fund, The YC for Emerging Managers, and Family Office Trends. In this episode we cover: Tell us a little more about Oper8or. Why did you leave Sapphire to start this program? Give us an overview of Oper8or? Walk us through the selection process and what you're looking for. Bring us up to speed on progress-to-date, how you measure success, and what the plan is going forward? You published your first book last year -- “How to Raise a Venture Capital Fund”.   The target audience for the book is fairly obvious... was the motivation to write the book similar to why you started Oper8r? What are the most common mistakes new fund managers make? How do you think about types of LPs or profiles that fund managers should be targeting? What are the patterns, practices or even tactics of the most successful fundraisers that you've observed? You co-authored a research effort w/ First Republic on Family Office Investors -- what were the key take

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Monique Woodard Spencer Maughan Paul Martino Ben Casnocha Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. Did you miss our guest's full length episodes? Monique Woodard Episode 273 Spencer Maughan Episode 284 Paul Martino Episode 275 Ben Casnocha Episode 245 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We’ll send a list of possible investors right to your email’s InBox!

Ben Wiener of Jumpspeed Ventures joins Nick to discuss Investing in Jerusalem, Applying Helmer's 7 Powers to VC, and Writing a Business Murder Mystery. In this episode we cover: How difficult was it raising a fund to invest only in Jerusalem-originated startups? What do you say to critics who claim that "focusing only one one geo is too limiting?" Are there specific sectors or types of tech that are uniquely positioned to thrive in Jerusalem? What are the similarities and differences in raising a fund vs. raising funds for a startup? You've spoken before about the mismatch between supply and demand for early stage capital in Jerusalem. Has it been tough finding  reliable and persistent follow-on capital for A or B rounds? Since inception ~35% of your investments have been in female-led (female founder/CEO) startups, which is an order of magnitude greater than the 2-3% industry average. Talk about sourcing and what you do on the sourcing side to increase the number of diverse and women led startups you meet w

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Stephen McIntyre Brian Luerssen Ty Findley Tsune Shirota Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? Stephen McIntyre Episode #244 Brian Luerssen Episode #290 Ty Findley Episode #250 Tsune Shirota Episode #288 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We’ll send a list of possible investors right to your email’s InBox!

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Check Warner Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt Erik Torenberg Avichal Garg Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? Check Warner Episode #242 Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt Episode #291 Erik Torenberg Episode #252 Avichal Garg Episode #261 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We’ll send a list of possible investors right to your email’s InBox!

Ash Fontana of Zetta Venture Partners joins Nick to discuss How to Value AI, Data Network Effects vs. Data Learning Effects, and Evolution of the VC Asset Class. In this episode we cover: What was the inspiration for the new book? What's the difference between a Data Network Effect and a DLE (data learning effect)? How do you advise those that are building tech where AI will be a valuable piece in the distant future but doesn't really play a role until the growth stage or beyond? Tell us about the Lean AI Method, described in the book, and how companies can use it to start implementing AI. How do you feel about companies using "off-the-shelf" AI, like TensorFlow? Why is now the right time for AI to pervade throughout tech and industry? How do you value AI and determine what's real? How does one put a valuation multiple on fairly nascent category where the value can be exponential and the moat can be unbreachable but there's not a whole lot of precedent? What are the key data categories or types that are mos

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Eric Collins Nicole Quinn Paul Martino Alfred Chuang Each investor discusses a portfolio company that did not survive and why it was that they failed. Did you miss our guests' full-length episodes? Eric Collins Episode #253 Nicole Quinn Episode #279 Paul Martino Episode #275 Alfred Chuang Episode #274 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We’ll send a list of possible investors right to your email’s InBox!

Brian Requarth of Latitud joins Nick to discuss Viva Latam Startups, Losing Talent to the U.S., and Building the Zillow of Brazil. In this episode we cover: What’s the thesis at Latitud? Could you tell us a little about the company you started, Viva Real? What was your goal in writing the book... Viva the Entrepreneur? You get quite vulnerable w/ regard to your experience building Viva Real. What was the hardest part of your founder journey? You have a large focus on helping entrepreneurs navigate building and scaling venture backable businesses in LatAm. Both Latitud and the book are in service of that mission. What are some of the unique headwinds that LatAm startups face? You recently had Henrique Dubugras, co founder of Brex, on the podcast. Notably, he is a founder that left south america, after some modest starutp success, to launch his large and fast growing company here in the states.   How do you keep from losing the most ambitious and creative tech talent to the U.S.? Rappi coming up

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: David Goldberg Ben Sun Tsune Shirota Amy Nauiokas Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor. Did you miss our guest's full-length episodes? David Goldberg Episode #272 Ben Sun Episode #287 Tsune Shirota Episode #288 Amy Nauiokas Episode #286 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We’ll send a list of possible investors right to your email’s InBox!

Jonathan Hung of Unicorn Venture Partners joins Nick to discuss Why Sales Cycle Determines Success, the Challenges of International Deal Diligence, and Fractional Hiring in a Post COVID World. In this episode we cover: Jonathan's background and path to VC The launch of Unicorn Venture Partners The thesis at Unicorn Venture Partners Deal volume Unicorn Venture Partners is doing each year Jonathan's role as Senior Venture Partner and head of due diligence at Expert Dojo Thesis and workings of Expert Dojo What due diligence entails when targeting companies all across the world and at super early stages How to deal with teams that have different cultural backgrounds when trying to get the psychology of the team and figure out if it's a team that has the ambition and the capability to win and win big Jonathan's role as an LP in over 22 VC funds and the common success factors across those funds? Things that funds do that lend themselves well to success and or failure How Jonathan's decision process is different o

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Brendan Wallace Tim Guleri Dharmesh Thakker Brian Hirsch Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. Did you miss our guest's full length episodes? Brendan Wallace Episode #276 Tim Guleri Episode #267 Dharmesh Thakker Episode #283 Brian Hirsch Episode #265 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We’ll send a list of possible investors right to your email’s InBox!

Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt of Construct Capital joins Nick to discuss Competing with Amazon, Combatting 60% Talent Attrition, and Driving Transformation of Foundational Industries. In this episode we cover: Can you each give us the two-minute background and path to VC? What is the thesis at Construct? How do you define series A?  Is there a geographic scope in which you'll invest? Why have you chosen to focus on these sectors and categories? How have you seen the current environment issues affect sales cycles and velocity over the past year? How do you deal with inertia, slow sales cycles, and tech aversion amongst these buyer and user groups? Is there any concern that the skills gap will broaden over time? Will capital intensity, timing of financing rounds, timing to exit, size/scale of exits, valuation multiples, etc. look different for a legacy industry portfolio vs. a standard SV SaaS portfolio? Investment philosophy has shifted from being much more decision-maker focus and top-down startups versus

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Nikhil Basu Trivedi Janet Bannister Sach Chitnis Guy Perelmuter Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? Nikhil Basu Trivedi Episode #246 Janet Bannister Episode #255 Sach Chitnis Episode #269 Guy Perelmuter Episode #280 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We’ll send a list of possible investors right to your email’s