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: Michael Cardamone Jenny Rooke Scott Dorsey 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.

John Vrionis of Unusual Ventures joins Nick to discuss The DNA of Startup Success. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/path to venture. Talk about your experience at Lightspeed and your decision to leave. Where/when did you first meet Jyoti Bansal, the founder, AppDynamics? What's unusual about what you do? 'Unusual Academy' and 'Get Ahead Platform' -- what are they and what's the difference? You’ve spoken about your team at Unusual being focused on redesign the early-stage VC market and giving founders a distinct advantage. What about your approach gives founders a distinct advantage? You've spoken about founder focus on "How it works" vs. "Why it matters" -- what's the disconnect you've observed with early-stage founders? You've covered your own experience of learning through suffering -- is that also a quality/characteristic you look for in founders? Arrogance vs. Humility -- have you invested in founders displaying these traits? What's been your experience? 3 must-haves that you look for in a new invest

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Jeff Clavier Bradley Tusk Scott Kupor 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.

Courtney Reum of M13 joins Nick to discuss Creating Unfair Advantages, Surviving Founder Burnout and Driving Successful Exits. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/path to venture Tell us about your experience being an investor at Goldman Sachs and working with brands like Procter & Gamble, Under Armour and Vitamin water. What are some takeaways you got from that experience that influence you today?  You and your brother founded VEEV Spirits which became the first line of organic ready-to-drink cocktails. VEEV received the Technomic Fast 50 Award and was named an Inc. Magazine 500 Fastest-Growing Companies in the U.S. What are some key factors that helped you establish such a successful brand? Tips for founders? Tell us about the approach you used to raise capital for Veev? Tell us the story behind founding M13. What was your vision for the firm early on?  What is your current focus/thesis at M13? Tell us about your “repeatable playbook” approach.  You took some big risks investing early in companies lik

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: David Horowitz Jim Kim Ash Rust 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.

Oren Klaff of Intersection Capital joins Nick to discuss Flip The Script & Perfect Your Pitch. In this episode, we cover: Backstory/path to finance What led to the founding of Intersection? What's your mandate and focus at Intersection? Tell us about the Velocity product. Your bestselling book Pitch Anything, provides a detailed methodology on effectively presenting, persuading and winning a deal during the pitch. Can you go over some key takeaways from the book for listeners? In the book you talk about the "S.T.R.O.N.G Method.” Can you briefly summarize the most important components of this approach and give some examples on how it works?  Your newest book "Flip the Script: Getting People to Think your Idea is Their Idea" is about to launch on August 13th.. why'd you write the book? I liked the title of your first chapter... Inception.  Many will remember the blockbuster movie.  What's the "We are evolved distrust information from the outside world"... how does this impact the approach? Is ther

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Adeyemi Ajao Roy Bahat Cheryl Cheng 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.

John Gannon of Going VC interviews Nick to discuss The Story Behind TFR & New Stack Ventures. In this episode, we cover: How did you get Brad Feld on early on? How did you stay true to your vision when you were getting asked early on by entrepreneurs to feature them on the podcast? (you mentioned this in episode 10, w/Brad Feld) If you were starting TFR again, in 2019, what would you do differently? Why the podcast format vs blogging vs. ... ? When did you know that the podcast was "working" ... bringing deal flow or whatever you thought was a strong signal that things were clicking for your audience? What surprised you once the podcast got "big"? Anything unexpected on the positive or negative side? How did the podcast tie into your recent fundraising process? Where did it help, and did it hurt or cause any issues, too? How did the podcast tie into your recent fundraising process? Where did it help, and did it hurt or cause any issues, too? Do you measure deal flow that is podcast related, and

Michael Cardamone of Acceleprise joins Nick to discuss SaaS Acceleration, Sales Savvy Founders & the Rise of Tech-Enabled Services. In this episode, we cover: What is Aaron Levie like to work for? Backstory and path to Acceleprise When you started Acceleprise a lot of folks told you not to -- the world doesn't need another accelerator. Why did you proceed? Why an Accelerator and not a traditional VC fund? Check size then and now? The biggest criticism of accelerators that I'm hearing from investors is that accelerators admit companies that need a lot of help and can't figure things out on their own -- and those are not the companies that one wants to invest in. What's your response to these folks? You've mentioned your interest in working w/ founders that have a "willingness to sell." How specifically do you develop the sell-skills of founders that are willing but green w/regards to sales. What are some the best demand-gen techniques that you use? Talk to us about how you think through pricing models and

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Scott Dorsey Aydin Senkut Cyan Banister 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.

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.