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

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Tae Hea Nahm SC Moatti Jeff Clavier Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out. To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Scott Kupor of Andreessen Horowitz joins Nick to discuss Secrets of Sand Hill Road. In this episode, we cover: When Marc and Ben first reached out to you about joining A16Z, you hesitated. Why? "When Marc and Ben first started A16Z, they described a founder's leadership capability as "egomaniacal"... what do you think they mean by that and do you share this belief? What are the key factors in determining if venture is appropriate for the new business and its founder? How should one decide how much to raise? Scenario I've heard all too often... founder goes out to raise their next round, they've more than doubled the business, hit major milestones but the offers are less than double that of the last round. Scott, can you talk us through the valuation mistakes you most often encounter? Founder has started fundraising... the first step is to get their foot in the door. Talk us through the right and wrong way to get a meeting. You mention the 5 pitch essentials in the book - can you talk us through each? We've d

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following individuals are featured: Nick Moran Shea Balish Henri Deshays This will be a unique segment where, Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures and Henri Deshays of NewFund will discuss why they invested in Curv Labs. Founder of Curv, Shea Balish, will join Nick and Henri to discuss his startup story and how he chose New Stack and NewFund to participate in the funding round. To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Steve Glickman Craig Wortmann John Fein Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor. To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

David Horowitz of Touchdown Ventures joins Nick to discuss Corporate VC. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/ Path to Venture Talk about the 14 years you spent with Comcast Ventures -- what you learned and why you left? What lead to founding Touchdown Ventures? At Touchdown, you partner with leading corporations to manage the complete venture lifecycle from entity formation to investment management…Can you dive into the thesis/focus of the firm? Why would a founder choose corporate VC funding over institutional funding? I was reading through the “Risky Business” blog on the Touchdown website and found some pretty interesting articles…specifically one that talks about “the most overlooked skill in Corporate venture" being deal management…that it “requires more effort than all other activities combined”…why is deal management so challenging? Why do you think CVC’s funding has historically been more inconsistent than institutional venture funds? Why are corporations willing to take minority stakes in startups?

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Bradley Tusk Jim Kim Jenny Rooke Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Bobby Franklin of NVCA joins Nick to discuss Immigration, Privacy, and Foreign Investment -- The Biggest Threat to Venture is in Washington D.C.. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/path to Capitol Hill. You served as the Executive Vice President of CTIA --tell us a bit about that experience and how it led to NVCA. At NVCA - what's the mandate? What specific actions does the organization take in order to deliver on this mandate? You just wrapped up NVCA’s annual VC’s to DC conference this month-- What were the three most critical issues that Venture Capital is facing? I came across your article on TechCrunch about FIRRMA (the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act) and CFIUS (the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.). Can you talk a bit about the issue the industry is facing and the key players? What suggestions do you have for VCs and high growth companies -- with exposure to FIRRMA and the expanded power of CFIUS? At the VCs to DC conference there was a panel on the rise of populism…Trend

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Roy Bahat Ash Rust Wayne Kimmel Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns. To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Scott Dorsey of High Alpha joins Nick to discuss The Venture Studio. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/ path to tech. The story behind ExactTarget leading up to selling the company for $2.7B to Salesforce. Why'd you launch HighAlpha? Briefly touch on the thesis at High Alpha.  I want to deep dive into the venture studio model as it's a bit misunderstood... Can you start us off with an overview of the venture studio model? What are the key differences between a studio model and a traditional venture fund? Why are you doing both at High Alpha? Different studios have different specialities and focus areas - what is your studio speciality at High Alpha? What types of founders and/or businesses are a strong fit for partnership with a venture studio? What do you say to critics of the studio model that say that studios take too much equity? Do you think that a studio-based approach can drive higher alpha ; ) than the traditional fund model? In what ways do your portfolio companies get more value out of a partner

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Aydin Senkut John Fein Cheryl Cheng Each investor discusses a portfolio company that did not survive and why it was that they failed. To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Steve Glickman of Develop Advisors joins Nick to discuss Opportunity Zones --- A Fit for VC?. In this episode, we cover: Quick overview of your background prior to Develop Advisors? Walk us through the origin story of EIG? You are also the founder & CEO of Develop Advisors - tell us more about the work you do with fund managers. Let's talk about OZ's -- and we'll start with the basics -- Give us an overview of the $6T OZ program. Incentives aside from tax benefits? Which asset classes are best suited to invest in OZs? How is an Opportunity Zone defined? What credentials make a community an OZ? As governors change -- are these OZs going to change with different administrations? Is the expectation that entrepreneurs will actually relocate to these areas for the HQ of their business? It seems like that is a bit of a stretch. Are there statistics on the number and amount of private capital funds that have been raised with a mandate to invest in OZs? In your estimation, what are some risks factors and/or pote

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Adeyemi Ajao Cyan Banister Jeff Clavier

Jim Kim of Builders VC joins Nick to discuss Transformative Tech for Old World Industry. In this episode, we cover: Quick Backstory/ Path to founding tech? Big news a few years ago that Formation 8 decided not to raise a fund 3. What happened with Formation 8 - why the decision not to raise fund 3? Tell us about the thesis at Builders. Why do you think these old world industries haven't been re-invented? I've worked in some old world industries myself... that move quite slowly. I'm curious if you think the timeline is a bit longer for tech companies to scale in these industries, if, for nothing else than the decision makers are much more methodical?  What are some of the key technology characteristics you're looking for in the companies you back? Aside from technology, what are the other key ingredients your hunting for? Vertical integration... building your own brand and own the customer relationship vs. serving many others as a component provider? What percentage of your new investments are seria

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Jim Tananbaum Brian Ascher Tae Hea Nahm Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.  

Jenny Rooke of Genoa Ventures joins Nick to discuss Seed Investing at the Intersection of Biology & Technology. In this episode, we cover: Her background in genetics, physics, computer science... and how that lead to venture. How was it to work with Melinda and Bill Gates? You also successfully built the largest life-sciences syndicate on Angellist that is also one of the highest performing syndicates of any sector... I just took a peek at the rankings this morning and both New Stack and Genoa are in the top 5. Of course those rankings are done based on follow-on rate... so, it's nice to see we are in good company, up there w/ you Jenny... but talk a bit about why you started with a syndicate and how you've been able to drive such high performance. You launched the Genoa fund last year... Syndicate and fund now? "Genoa ventures invests in early-stage companies innovating at the intersection of biology and technology"... Jenny, what does that mean to you and what types of companies are you looking f

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following individuals are featured: Nick Moran Rick Stokes Joe Dwyer This will be a unique segment where, Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures and Joe Dwyer of Founder Equity will discuss why they invested in Winston Privacy. Founder of Winston, Rich Stokes, will join Nick and Joe to discuss his startup story and how he chose New Stack to lead the investment and Founder Equity to participate in the funding round.   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.  

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Craig Wortmann SC Moatti Bradley Tusk Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns. To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Ash Rust of Sterling Road joins Nick to discuss "Blessed" Teams, Pseudo Deal Leads, and Caps at Pre vs Post. In this episode, we cover: His beginnings in tech and how that led to starting the fund What's the investment thesis at Sterling Road? What's unique about your approach that other firms aren't doing? Something that I think is frustrating for many founders is seeing these idealistic stories of founders that are raising $5M on a $20M cap with zero traction. And, it's also misleading in that I have a number of founders that think they need to be raising a lot more than they are... very early on before indications of product fit or even a focused commercial plan. Can you talk about the profile of these teams that are able to raise seemingly irrational seed rounds and then later let's jump into consequences. The seed round has now divided into a series of phases... we have pre-seed, seed, mango seed, seed+, seed exensions, etc. We've spoken to Semil Shah about this and how it's no longer a stage it's a ser

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Cyan Banister David Cohen John Fein Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out. To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Aydin Senkut of Felicis Ventures joins Nick to discuss Iconic Companies, Frontier Markets & a Truly Founder Centric Approach. In this episode, we cover: Backstory / Path to tech in SF? Prior to founding Felicis Ventures, you were a Product Manager at Google, launching their first 10 international sites, its first online search licensing products, and its first Safe Search…talk about what lead to your transition to investing. What’s the story behind founding Felicis Ventures? Talk about the investment focus and approach of your firm. It states on the firms website that you back founders looking to open up frontier markets, such as longevity and engineered foods, and reinvent critical markets such as mental health and insurance….what are some of the success factors you've observed in startups trying to create or reinvent markets. You’ve invested in many iconic companies that have revolutionized their industry such as Shopify, Fitbit and CreditKarma, when investing at early stages, how do you differentiate