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Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures joins Nick on a Pre-Crisis chat to discuss Building a VC Franchise; The Shift to Bite-Sized Video Content; Last-Mile Attribution; & the Impact of Corona Virus Over The Next 6-12 Months. In this episode, we cover: Last time we had you on the show was December 2016. Any notable updates or changes at Upfront since then? Just chatting w/ Minnie Ingersoll and she was saying how great the Upfront Summit was and how I need to attend next year... what were the highlights for you this year? Content companies are beginning to optimize for quick 1-5 minute gaps everyone has in their day, on their commute, between meetings, etc. where really short form content can be consumed beginning to end.  You had a chat w/ Meg Whitman, CEO of Quibi at the Summit... and I'm going to read a quote from your blog post about that interview "her analogy of content like “The Da Vinci Code” which had 464 pages and 105 bite-sized, fully realized chapters. In essence, you’re not intimidated by the size of

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: John Vrionis David Horowitz Cyan Banister 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.

Ryan Gembala of Pathbreaker Ventures joins Nick to discuss Breaking Convention, Hitting The Fundraise Wall & Why Deep-tech Is Not More Capital Intensive Than Software. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/Path to Venture Talk about your time at Facebook and working in M&A. What's the thesis at Pathbreaker? How do you define pre-seed? Most of your dealflow inbound or outbound? Quote from the website: "We don't believe all great companies, nor all phenomenal investments, look the same early on. So we are flexible, realistic, and patient - solving for supporting the founders best-suited for tackling the most meaningful problems." I'm curious, what are the must-haves that cut across all investments that you do?   You've said to me that hardware isn't more capital intensive than software. As a hardware investor myself, that was refreshing to hear but I'm sure there are many founders and investors that would strongly disagree. Why is not more capital intensive? Do you think the time horizon to exit is long

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Jeremy Neilson Jason Whitney Jenny Rooke 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.

Alex Osterwalder of Strategyzer joins Nick to discuss The Ultimate Testing Framework. In this episode, we cover: Take me back and talk through the origin of the business model canvas? Just to refresh listeners can you provide a high-level overview of the business model canvas and how it's used? Let's chat about your new book, Testing Business Ideas, co-authored with David J. Bland... Why'd you right the book? Who is the target audience? If I'm the reader, what outcome can I achieve after reading this book and applying it's principles? What are the four phases outlined in the book? Walk us through the objective and key elements of the testing phase. A significant focus is the elimination of risks?  How does one systematically reduce or remove risks from their business? We recently had Leo Polovets on the program and discussed the challenge of balancing testing with executing.  I think it can be difficult to know when something is working well enough that you should stop testing and move forward quickly in tha

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Scott Dorsey Jeff Clavier John Fein 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.

Jason Calacanis joins Nick to discuss Unicorn vs Pegasus, The Softbank Effect, & Impacts of a Recession on VC. In this episode, we cover: Last time we had you on the show was July 2017. What big things have happened over the past (almost) three years with yourself and Launch? Last time you talked a bit about the "Goldilocks zone"... sort of that post-seed, pre-A round. Is that still the stage getting most focus from you? I read an article where you suggested that SoftBank is changing the way Silicon Valley thinks about going public. What are the biggest positive effects you've seen from the Vision Fund? What about negatives and adverse effects? The volume of startups seems to be ever increasing... Any advice for founders on how to stand out? Lots of people talking about an upcoming recession in 2020. If a recession were to hit, what happens to venture? How do you think it could potentially impact startups as well as investors or VCs? How does your investment strategy change in a recession? Anything found

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Scott Kupor Michael Cardamone M.G. Siegler Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have a 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.

Minnie Ingersoll of TenOneTen Ventures joins Nick to discuss Embracing Failure, Capitalizing on Crisis & Building Resilience. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/path to Venture You co-founded Shift, which you scaled to $100M. What was the most unexpected/surprising aspect of leading and scaling a venture-backed startup? Where did you spend most of your time (and mindshare) at A vs. B vs. C/D? What was it like building a venture-backed startup as a woman? Tell us a bit about the thesis at TenOneTen. I was recently speaking with M.G. Siegler about the societal impacts of tech... all of which are not positive.  I know you're a mother, so this probably takes on new meaning for you... but how to you consider social and societal responsibility in your role as a tech investor? You've experienced early struggles in your life that have informed your approach as an investor and founder.  Can you talk about what you've been through, the impact and the perspective you've gained from it? Is failure acceptable?  As

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Jim Kim Courtney Reum Aydin Senkut 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.

Leo Polovets of Susa Ventures joins Nick to discuss Raising Fund III, A Framework to De-risk Your Startup, & When to Explore vs. Exploit. In this episode, we cover: Give us an update on your investments at Susa since we last chatted? How has the thesis at Susa evolved over the past couple of years? Do each of the GPs at Susa have specialty areas of focus? This year Susa closed on 2 new funds - Susa III a $90M early stage fund, along with your first opportunity fund to which investors committed $50M. What was the elevator pitch to LPs and what worked well in the first two funds that resonated with LPs, leading to the successful raise? What would you have done differently in Fund I and Fund II if you could go back? What it takes to raise a Series A... often founders will have a singular focus on the vanity metrics -- they assume if they hit $2M in ARR they'll attract the A round at an attractive multiple from Tier 1 investors. But, we've seen this play out and it's not all that's required. Why is a singula

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Adeyemi Ajao Ash Rust SC Moatti 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.

Welcome back to TFR for another Cram Session. In these special releases, we have aggregated the takeaways and tips from previous episodes. In this installment, we will be recapping the following episodes:   138. How to Angel Invest Like the Best, Part 1 (Jason Calacanis) 139. How to Angel Invest like the Best, Part 2 (Jason Calacanis) 142. Beacon: An Engineering Systems Approach to Investing, Part 1 (Chris Farmer) 143. Beacon: Modernizing the VC Firm, Part 2 (Chris Farmer)   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.

Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures joins Nick to discuss Economic Theory in Venture Capital. In this episode, we cover: You’ve written about a major lesson from Clayton Christensen’s book, the Innovator’s Dilemma, which was one of ‘deflationary economics.’ Can describe what this means and why it should be a focus for startups? In light of deflationary economics, what are the key questions that a founder should ask him/herself about the business? Why is it that incumbents have such a hard time responding to startups w/ this approach? What should new market entrants focus on when it comes to price vs. functionality? At a high-level what are your thoughts on the trade-offs between growth and profitability? What are your impressions of what Bryce Roberts is doing at Indie VC? How have your thoughts on investment psychology and economics been influenced by The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb? What other principles of economics, that we haven’t touched on, have informed your investment philosophy? In light of today’s topi

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: John Vrionis Bradley Tusk Oren Klaff 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.

Jason Whitney of IU Ventures joins Nick to discuss University-Affiliated Funds & Angel Networks. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/path to venture At IU you have 3 core initiatives - The Quarry, IU Venture Fund and the IU Angel Network. What's the focus of each? Talk about the investment focus for the IU Philanthropic Fund. What're the criteria to be eligible for funding? How does IU Ventures support the University's mission? How does it affect or benefit current students?   As a broader goal, I know the organization ultimately hopes to entice investors and entrepreneurs from around the country to return to Indiana as a result of participating in the network. Are you measuring this and are your efforts working thus far? So, a criticism of both university venture funds and angel groups is speed -- traditional angel groups and academia move slowly with investment decisions.  How do you combat that issue for founders raising on a tight timeline, trying to close a round? I was speaking with a university-a

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Craig Wortmann David Horowitz Cyan Banister 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.

Can you give us a brief overview of Assure? Can you walk us through the history of how sidecars and/or angel groups have handled (or mishandled) these syndication style investments in previous decades? What are the pros and cons of utilizing an SPV as an LP or individual investors? Do the lead investors on these SPVs make money upfront -- initiation fees, mgmt fees, broker/transaction fees? Do you see fund managers that use SPVs exclusively for pro ratas? What are the advantages here? What are the regulatory risks for sidecar funds?

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Bobby Franklin Steve Glickman Cheryl Cheng Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have a 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.

M.G. Siegler of GV joins Nick to discuss Streaming Wars, The Future of Mobile & The Evolution of User Interaction. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/path to Venture How'd you find your way from Hollywood to SV? Who was the first VC that, based on your writing talent, saw your potential as an investor? Why did you leave Crunchfund for GV?  A little confusion about the array of venture funds affiliated with Google - can you give us a quick overview and whether there is still an affiliation between Google and GV? Tell us about your thesis. How hands-on do you get w/ portcos? How does Jony Ive's departure affect Apple? What are the most valuable consumer tech companies by market cap - five years from now? Right now, in the streaming market, we have a fragmented group of services yet know one platform to unify the user experience...  what do you see for the future of streaming? How do you see the competition between Apple and Disney play out?  Who wins? Just heard the announcement that Facebook is acquirin