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

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

The podcast dedicated to demystifying Venture Capital. Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti interview VC’s & Startup Founders and on how they build great technology startups.

Latest Episodes:

Investor Stories 174: Post Mortems (McIntyre, Levy Weiss, Kerby, Hsieh) Jan 07, 2021

Show notes

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

Stephen McIntyre
Gigi Levy Weiss
Richard Kerby
Kane Hsieh

Each investor discusses a portfolio company that did not survive and why it was that they failed.

263. The Founding Story of Kickstarter — Community, Competition, and Customer-Obsession (Charles Adler) Jan 04, 2021

Show notes

Charles Adler of Kickstarter joins Nick to discuss The Founding Story of Kickstarter — Community, Competition, and Customer-Obsession. In this episode, we cover:

Walk us through your background and path to tech.
Growing up what inspired you most?
How did the idea for Kickstarter begin?
Was there an MVP - was there an initial target vertical?
When did you know that it was working?
What was the biggest mistake you made during the journey?
When competition arose... did it scare you?
Is Kickstarter today still delivering on the initial vision you and your co-founders had?
What was the hardest part of growing a venture-backed company?
What advice would you have for founders before selecting VC partners?
Organic growth and categories?
We often talk on the show about the importance of customer obsession, really knowing what they care about and spending time to understand that -- what has been your philosophy and approach w/ customers?
Many founders and investors talk about the importance of diversity. We talk about the importance of climate change and the environment. We campaign for socio-economic equality. How do you think founders (and investors) can be more intentional about building their beliefs into their business and their culture?
What are you focused on now... tell us about Lost Arts?
Why do it alone?
Community has been a common thread/focus across many of your efforts. Is community core to everything you do... if so why?

Investor Stories 173: Strange & Unusual (Casnocha, Bannister, Basu Trivedi, Abbasi) Dec 31, 2020

Show notes

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

Ben Casnocha
Janet Bannister
Nikhil Basu Trivedi
Farooq Abbasi

Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor.

Replay — The Self-Made Engineer, Angel, and Venture Capitalist (Cyan Banister) Dec 28, 2020

Show notes

Guest Update: When the episode was recorded in 2019, Cyan was a partner at Founders Fund. Currently, Cyan is a partner at Long Journey Ventures.

In this special replay of episode 180, Cyan Banister of Long Journey Ventures 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 time as an angel to now your experience as a VC ?
Do you have any good stories or learnings from Naval?
Prior to FF you were an early stage investor in successful companies like Uber, Postmates, PayPal at others... I know you invest alongside Scott... who started angel investing?
What was your early approach to angel investing and how were you able to source and select such iconic tech companies at very early stages?
Can you tell us a bit about Founder's Fund and your focus? Stage, Sectors, Geographies?
"The most promising companies tend to share a few characteristics: They are not popular. They are difficult to assess. They have technology risk, but not insurmountable technology risk. If they succeed, their technology will be extraordinarily valuable. We have no idea what these companies might look like, only that they probably will share these characteristics. Entrepreneurs often know better than we do what might be enormously valuable in the future." -- It's a very humble approach and one that resonates with me and many others. Can you elaborate on the thesis and characteristics of founders that are the best fit for Founders Fund?
What's your take on the prevalent number of VCs that remove CEOs of their portfolio companies, on average, within three years of investment?
What's your take on contrarian vs. conformist investing... first, how do you even determine what is contrarian and then what's your take on how each ties to performance?

Replay — Dispelling Conventional Wisdom in VC (Eric Paley) Dec 26, 2020

Show notes

In this special replay of episode 135 & 136, Eric Paley of Founder Collective joins Nick to dispel some conventional wisdom in VC. We address questions including:

What's the focus at Founder Collective?
What are the downsides of heavily funded companies?
Overview and Methodology of the study of 71 IPOs: 'Overdosing on VC: Lessons from 71 IPOs' Conventional VC...

Investor Stories 172: Lessons Learned (Collins, Vassallo, Adeeb, Siegler) Dec 24, 2020

Show notes

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

Eric Collins
Trae Vassallo
Ramy Adeeb
M.G. Siegler

Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach.

262. Why I Invested in Shotcall (Thomas Gentle) Dec 21, 2020

Show notes

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following individuals are featured:

Nick Moran
Thomas Gentle

This will be a unique segment where, Founder of Shotcall, Thomas Gentle, will discuss his startup story and how he chose New Stack to participate in the funding round.

Investor Stories 171: What's Next (Warner, Dubugras, Currier, Napier) Dec 17, 2020

Show notes

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

Check Warner
Henrique Dubugras
James Currier
Lanham Napier

Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have a significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns.

261. The Intersection of Crypto and VC, and the Future of Digital Currency (Avichal Garg) Dec 14, 2020

Show notes

Avichal Garg of Electric Capital joins Nick to discuss The Intersection of Crypto and VC and the Future of Digital Currency. In this episode, we cover:

Walk us through your background and path to VC
What's the thesis at Electric Capital?
How does the crypto focus change the fund structure of Electric Capital?
When you invest capital and receive equity and/or coins in return... What determines that breakdown?
For pure coin investments, how do you think about and manage liquidity and transactions over time?
What are some of the big differences between traditional tech investing and crypto investing?
How are the founder's different?
What's are the biggest risk factors that are unique for early-stage cryptocurrencies?