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

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

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Rebecca Kaden Roy Bahat Elizabeth Galbut 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.

Adeyemi Ajao of Base 10 Partners joins Nick to discuss Automation vs. AI. In this episode, we cover: Backstory - Growing up in Spain and Nigeria and his path to entrepreneurship. Previous to Base10 Partners, you had quite a successful career as an entrepreneur, founding highly influential companies such as Tuenti, Identified and Cabify in Latin America - talk a bit about your experience founding and scaling multiple tech companies, ultimately to exit? How did you, TJ and Reggie come together and decide to create Base10? On the website it says that you "started Base10 to take a profoundly different approach to Automation." Tell us more about your thesis on automation and how it's different. Talk about Automation vs. AI and the potentially misleading guidance that we're hearing from many firms in the valley with regard to AI. Of course, with any big changes that are made to the way people traditionally do things, there is a reaction. While some will embrace automation tools, others will have an adverse

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Evangelos Simoudis Cheryl Cheng Wayne Kimmel 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.

Jeff Clavier of Uncork Capital joins Nick to discuss Market Cycles, Escalating Costs to Start Up, and the Micro VC Surge. In this episode, we cover:   In 2004 you started making angel investments in emerging Web 2.0 companies and at that time, only a handful of individuals backed entrepreneurs in the internet space…What was your first investment and how did you get involved in the space?  What's the story of the founding of SoftTech--now known as Uncork Capital.  What led to the rebrand from SoftTech to Uncork?  The investment focus/thesis of Uncork.  You mentioned...FitBit, EventBrite, and Sendgrid...it's striking how different each of these businesses are...How you are able to get conviction and understand key success factors across different sectors with different models and overall profiles?  How have the market cycles affected VC, your fund strategy, raising capital and the impact on portfolio companies?  What are the most common mistakes you see early investors making?  With the 600+ micro-VC funds now

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: SC Moatti Brendan Wallace Vic Pascucci 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.

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:   130. How Amazon, Fitbit & Snap Won; Where Apple, Pebble & Google Did Not, Part 1 (Ben Einstein) 131. How Amazon, Fitbit & Snap Won; Where Apple, Pebble & Google Did Not, Part 2 (Ben Einstein) 133. The Importance of Storytelling, VC EQ, and the LP-GP Dating Game, Part 1 (James R. ‘Trey’ Hart III) 134. The Importance of Storytelling, VC EQ, and the LP-GP Dating Game, Part 2 (James R. ‘Trey’ Hart III) 135. Dispelling Conventional Wisdom in VC, Part 1 | Does Capital Drive Outcomes? (Eric Paley) 136. Dispelling Conventional Wisdom in VC, Part 2 | Should Seed Investors Follow-on? (Eric Paley)   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: Jim Tananbaum John Fein Sarah Anderson 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.

Cyan Banister of Founders Fund joins Nick to discuss the Self-Made Engineer, Angel, and Venture Capitalist. In this episode, we cover:   So, Cyan you have a really interesting story and background that led you to where you are today. Feel free to start wherever makes most sense but can you talk about your life experience and how it led you to where you're at now? You spoke publicly about your early life at the 2018 TechCrunch Disrupt conference, from living on the streets to becoming a venture capitalist, tell us about this incredible journey, what you accredit your success to and how it lead to venture? Where along the way did you meet Scott? Did you guys every consider raising your own fund? How early are you able to go at Founder's Fund? How do you work with founders post-investment? Judicious with your magic bullets? Have you funded founders with non-traditional backgrounds or missions dedicated to folks living in poverty or providing access to upward mobility? How has your approach changed from your ti

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Bradley Tusk Roy Bahat Brian Ascher 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.

Craig Wortmann of Sales Engine joins Nick to discuss Sales Mastery & Storytelling at Scaling Startups. In this episode, we cover: -Craig's background and how he became involved in the early stage tech community. -You've spent a lot of time looking at how companies make this difficult transition from the scrappy, do-it-all world of "Entrepreneurial Selling" to a "Professional Selling" organization. Talk to us about what you've observed and how companies struggle in this transition. -When is the right time to transition from 'guerilla selling' to a more organized, professional process? -When we had Tae Hee Nahm on the program he talked about three different types of sales leaders at different stages of a startup. At the beginning it was a Davey Crocket- like individual, an independent explorer who will find their own path through the wilderness... then at the growth stage, Braveheart individual- someone with that warrior spirit and finally at the scale stage he looks for the Dwight Eisenhower-- someone with