The Full Ratchet (TFR): Venture Capital and Startup Investing Demystified

Jed Cairo of Juxtapose joins Nick to discuss Building Unicorns from the Ground Up, Recruiting Founders from the C-Suite, and Driving Top 1% Returns with Concentration. Missed a recent episode? 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 outsiders. 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: Sunil Nagaraj, Ryan Falvey, and Karen Page. 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? For all great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Kevin Frechette of Fairmarkit joins Nick to discuss the $8.3T Opportunity in Procurement, How to Sell to the Fortune 500, Building a Bottoms Up Culture, and Mastering Cold Emails. In this episode we cover: What Leading Investors Insight Partners and GGV Found Interesting Sales Lessons from Kevin The Future of Procurement Missed a recent episode? 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 outsiders. 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: Jonathan Hung, Santosh Sankar, & Matt Cohen. 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? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Cameron Borumand of FUSE joins Nick to discuss Why the Pacific Northwest Will Win Big, Tapping the Enterprise Talent Pool, and Investing in Apps over Infrastructure. In this episode we cover: The Story of FUSE Spinouts in VC Attracting & Building Talent Networks Why Cameron avoids the Zoom Pitch Enterprise Apps v. Infrastructure Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Emily Paxhia, Nihal Mehta, and TX Zhuo. Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Steve Sarracino of Activant Capital joins Nick to discuss The Late Stage Reset, Competing with Tiger, and Last Mile's Unit Economics. In this episode we cover: Launching a Growth Fund & The Late Stage Repricing The Economics of Full Stack Delivery Startups Why Europe Maybe the Next Leading Market The State of Ecommerce & Unbundling Amazon Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt, Nagraj Kashyap, and Parker Barille. 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? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Jenny Stojkovic of The Vegan's Women Summit joins Nick to discuss FoodTech's Female Founders, Crossing the Chasm for Alt Proteins, and Why the Psychedelics Market isn't like Cannabis. In this episode we cover: The SF Tech Exodus Learning from Ron Conway Alternative Milks & Crossing the Chasm How to Avoid the GreenTech Failures of the 2000's Why Delivery Matters in Psychedelics Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Winter Mead, Yanev Suissa, and Ruth Foxe Blader. Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Sara Zulkosky of Recast Capital joins Nick to discuss Finding Alpha in Emerging Managers, Common Mistakes & Pitfalls, and Sources of Differentiation. In this episode we cover: Sara's Background and Path to VC Tips for Emerging Managers How To Differentiate Your Fund & more! Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Ali Tamaseb Jonathan Ebinger Russ Heddleston 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? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Maryanna Saenko of Future Ventures joins Nick to discuss Support for Ukraine, 3 Measures for Evaluating DeepTech, a 15-year Fund Horizon, and Today's Most Compelling Climate Technologies. In this episode we cover: How Maryanna and Steve Jurvetson Founded Future Ventures 3 Measures they look for when Evaluating DeepTech How to "Grow the Pool" of Investors Climate Tech Trends & Regenerative Agriculture And more! Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Brian Requarth Emily Paxhia Eric Sippel 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? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Karen Page of B Capital Group joins Nick to discuss Box's Go-To-Market Strategy, Building the Enterprise Sales Motion, and When to Bring on a Sales Leader. Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Seth Levine Ben Wiener Rob Go Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Jamison Hill of Base10 joins Nick to discuss Attacking Inequality with VC, How Ecommerce Infrastructure Competes with Amazon, The Future of Hourly Work, and the Body as a Platform. In this episode we cover: How Base10 supports HBCU Endowments Trends in Ecommerce Infrastructure, Fintech, and the Future of Work The Body as a Platform Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Ben Sun Ruth Foxe Blader Manan Mehta 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? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Matt Cohen of Ripple Ventures joins Nick to discuss Solo Capitalist Firm Building, Supporting Founder Mental Health, and Navigating Board Dynamics. In this episode we cover: Solo GP's vs. Firm Building The Toll of Rising Valuations and Remote Work on Founder's Mental Health Trends in the Canadian Ecosystem & More! Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Emily Paxhia Tony Wilkins Russ Heddleston Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Ryan Falvey of Financial Venture Studio joins Nick to discuss Consumer Fintech, the Future of Banking, and Navigating Web 3.0 Regulation. In this episode we cover: The "Masters Degree for Fintech Startups" National Banks Staying Power DAO's, Crypto, and Web 3 Regulations Why Ryan's Bearish on B2B2C Models Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt Rob Go Jonathan Lehr 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? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Sunil Nagaraj of Ubiquity Ventures joins Nick to discuss Investing Nerdy & Early, The Story of Auth0's Seed Round, and Why You Shouldn't Leave to Start "The Right" Company. Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Billy Libby Vanessa Larco Nagraj Kashyap 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? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Marcelino Pantoja of Measurement joins Nick to discuss Founding the 1st VC Index Fund, Rethinking the Future of Capital Deployment, and Advice for Emerging Managers. Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Brian Luerssen Victor Pascucci Jonathan Ebinger Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Santosh Sankar of Dynamo Ventures joins Nick to discuss The Rise of Supply Chain Startups, Why We're Feeling Whiplash, and What the Future Holds for Labor & Data. Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Jonathan Hung Brian Requarth Winter Mead 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? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

TX Zhuo of Fika Ventures joins Nick to discuss Fika's Playbook for Success, Finding Value Outside of Central Casting, and the Future of Fintech as Banks Get Unbundled. In this episode we cover: TX's Background & Path to VC Fika's Playbook Lessons From Cobra Kai DAO Infrastructure Unbundling the Bank Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Ramy Adeeb of 1984 joins Nick to discuss 2022 Predictions P2: Web 3.0 Dorsey vs. Andreesen, Crypto's Killer App, Omicron's Staying Power, Which FAANG Co. Loses to Anti-Trust First. In this episode we cover: The Web 3 Twitter War What Nick thinks about Crypto's Killer App Omicron and Labor Market Dynamics Inflation Expectations Regulation for Big Tech and Crypto & More! Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Ramy Adeeb of 1984 joins Nick to discuss 2022 Predictions P1: $100M Seed Valuations, Universe vs. Metaverse, Hottest and Coolest Sectors, Sequoia's VC Shakeup. In this episode we cover: Ramy's New $75M Fund Bubbles in Crypto and NFT's Why Ramy is sticking to the Universe Sequoia's New Strategy & More! Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Parker Barrile of Norwest Venture Partners joins Nick to discuss Norwest's New $3B Fund, the Effects of VC Capital Explosion, and Scaling LinkedIn's Product 20x. In this episode we cover: Norwest's Largest Ever Fund The Capital Allocator's Environment How Parker Scaled LinkedIn's Product to $2B Compelling Customer Acquisition Strategies & Much More! Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Emily Paxhia Ben Sun Yanev Suissa 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? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

On this special replay episode, Joanne Wilson joins Nick to discuss predatory investor practices and the dark side of venture, including: On the founder-side, What are some of the activities you've seen from early-stage investors, that are predatory toward founders? What are some of the major differences between investor practices of the mid-90's and today? What actionable measures would you recommend founders take in order to help prevent getting taken advantage of? Moving to the investor-side. What are some of the things that later-stage VCs will do to eliminate or water-out an angel's equity position? What can early-stage angels do to prevent this from happening? How has your approach evolved throughout your investing history to position you and your portfolio companies for success? Generally, what is your take on the gender balance in venture, how has it changed and what specific things are you involved in to help promote the role of women? Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special replay, Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures joins Nick to discuss Getting Smart on a New Market. In this episode we cover: What Charles' experience at SoftTech was like and how he made the transition to founding Precursor. What his continuing role as a Venture Partner at SoftTech entails. How Charles decides to study a new, emerging market and some of the markets that he's analyzed over the years. The three components of his approach to getting smart on a new area. How important timing is and how he considers if the timing is right for a new area. If he assesses markets vertically and looks for the level within the supply chain stack to see where a company is playing and which level within the chain is going to exert the most control over the market. How he breaks down market structure and the critical components therein. The importance of the degree of homogeneity of the customer base within a target market. How he thinks about companies disrupting existing markets and those creating brand new markets. We discuss how there's always a good reason to say no to startups and, more importantly, the key, recurring reasons that come up that cause him to say yes. How do you look at companies addressing industries where the incumbent product offerings are free. Businesses like Slack that were replacing free options Fresh Eyes… You've written about how you don't look at decks before the first meeting w/ an entrepreneur. Can you touch on the key reasons why you take meetings without reviewing the deck? If you are evaluating a startup that is pre-traction – what do you look for and why? In the spirit of continuous improvement… What are your thoughts on how one can learn and improve once they have a job in VC? What startup investor has inspired and influenced you most and why?

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Dharmesh Thakker Amy Nauiokas Jonathan Lehr 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? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

On this special replay, Jaclyn Hester of Foundry Group joins Nick on a special Crisis Coverage installment to discuss GP and LP Alignment, Challenges for Emerging Fund Managers, and How the Explosion in Seed Fund Volume Plays Out. Guest Update: Jaclyn is now Partner at Foundry Group. Congratulations Jaclyn! In this episode, we cover: Tell us about your background and path to VC For those who don't know talk about the approach at Foundry with both the LP and GP model Foundry traditionally had no apprenticeship model and no junior investors… were you the first? Pandemic… Are you making investments currently and what are you hearing from other LPs? What's your advice for GPs re. building relationships and momentum w/ LPs during these uncertain times? What's the biggest mistake emerging managers make when fundraising? What do new fund managers underestimate when starting a venture firm? Does it matter how specific a thesis is? Do you need to see a unique, focused and compelling edge or are you just as receptive to a generalist w/ a strong network and track record? What question tends to trip up GPs? What are some of the most important things GPs should ask LPs when raising? What do you think are the most important things GPs and LPs need to be aligned on for a successful relationship? How does the explosion in volume of seed funds affect you approach to selection? How do you think this plays out — most funds fail? Returns more evenly distributed? Power law no longer applies (or is less pronounced)? Fast forward 5 years and let's assume there's been a fundamental shift in early stage Venture. What do you think is the most likely, largest change that's occurred? What advice do you have for young people that aspire to be a VC someday? Not going to ask for favorite GPs but, I will ask, if you could break quarantine to grab a cocktail w/ one GP — who do you choose? ; ) 3 Data Points… You're approached by an emerging VC firm raising fund II. The fund manager did not work for a large, brand-name venture firm before and she has never had an institutional investor. Net TVPI is 1.4, and Net IRR is 35% and it's a 2018 vintage. The catch is you can only ask 3 questions (for 3 additional data points) to make your decision. What 3 questions do you ask?

In this special replay of Episode 154, Ben Narasin of NEA joins Nick to discuss NEA's Investment Process & The Key Ingredients for Startup Success. In this episode we cover: - Why he made the move to NEA - His Investment focus - The investment process the firm and if decisions are made by committee - Ben's Evaluation Process - The key factor that every successful founder possesses - The common red flags that pop up and cause him to say no to strong startups - Why he believes his job is to say no - How he assess opportunities with 100 reasons to say yes and one reason to say no - Ben's evolving approach toward weighing risk factors in startups - How the tech and investing industry has changed over the past decade - How AUM is driving a bifurcation in venture Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Mike Smerklo Spencer Maughan Vanessa Larco Ben Wiener 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? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Ruth Foxe Blader of Anthemis joins Nick to discuss The Embedded Opportunity in Insurtech, Crypto & Web 3.0 Applications, and the Future of Fintech. In this episode we cover: Ruth's Background and path from English Major to VC What trends she's following in Fintech and Insurtech Opportunities for developing market founders & more! Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Russ Heddleston of Dropbox joins Nick to discuss Founding DocSend, Creating a Winning PLG Motion, and Data From 1000's of Pitch Decks. In this episode we cover: Can you tell us a bit about your background and your path to founding DocSend? How did you think about the PLG strategy for DocSend? Why did you release the Seed Fundraising Report? What are the typical numbers like for a seed round? How much are they raising? How many investors are people meeting with? What makes for a successful pitch deck? How to find a good co-founder? Learnings from DocSend and a word of advice to founders. Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Andrew Antonio of Urban Sky and Nate Williams of Union Labs join Nick to discuss Why We Invested in Urban Sky. In this episode we cover: What is Urban Sky? How did Andrew and Nate originally connect? The thesis at Union Labs. What does the future hold for Urban Sky? Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Nagraj Kashyap of Softbank joins Nick to discuss The Future of Softbank and Vision Fund 2, Creative Monetization of User Growth, and Why VC's Missed on Zoom. In this episode we cover: Nagraj's Background and Path to VC. How do you think through horizontal, vertical, or geographic expansion and when the right time is to do so? What did other VC's miss about Zoom? How do you evaluate an opportunity? What key things are you looking for in a consumer startup? Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).

Nihal Mehta of Eniac Ventures joins Nick to discuss The Human Rolodex, How the 2021 VC Vintage will Perform, and the Importance of Partnership Dynamics. In this episode we cover: How do you think about active management of relationships over time? Do you have any advice, tricks, or tips? What is something you would have told yourself when you started Eniac? How have you built the team over time and thought about roles, responsibilities, skill sets required, and driving value/outcomes for the firm? What do you look for in a fund manager? Where do 2020 and 2021 Vintage Funds rank? What inspired you to start the 100K Pledge? Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155166/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TFR_Pod).