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

Latest Episodes:

196. Creating Unfair Advantages, Surviving Founder Burnout and Driving Successful Exits (Courtney Reum) Oct 16, 2019

Show notes

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 like Lyft, Ring, and Slack, which of course has paid off. Can you share with us some key points as to why you invested and how you were able to get conviction so early on?
I want to switch gears and talk a bit about your book that you and your brother, Carter, wrote "Shortcut Your Startup." The book is focused on separating yourself from the pack and flipping traditional startup advice on its head to provide an empowering toolkit for founders. Can you dive into that toolkit and a brief summary of the book?
The benefits and biggest challenges to working with your brother?
One of the topics in the book I thought was interesting was "obsessively take advantage of your unfair advantages" tell us about what this means and how founders can implement it.
Another topic I want to ask you about was "Success doesn't equate to a successful exit" - What does lead to a successful exit and how do you gauge that you're on the right track?
You also talk about "getting into the trenches" and "knowing if you're a speedboat or a sailboat" in the book. Can you give us some insight on these topics and why they're important?
From your experience, what do you think contributes most to founder burnout and how do you avoid it?
What advice would you give CEOs or other C-suite executives to keep employee morale high and help their employees thrive?
What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as a founder and that you commonly see founders face today?
You have a passion for startups that are thinking about what consumers don't even know they want -- maybe for 10-20 years. Yet, in the future can't imagine living without. How do you vet a startup investment with such nascent consumer demand?

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.

Investor Stories 123: Strange & Unusual (Horowitz, Kim, Rust) Oct 09, 2019

Show notes

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.

195. Flip The Script & Perfect Your Pitch (Oren Klaff) Oct 02, 2019

Show notes

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 there a framework of structure that folks should follow to successfully flip the script?
What's the biggest mistake folks make when trying to sell?
Whats' the most practical, simple, pragmatic advice you can give... let's say a founder trying to raise venture capital... that they can take away from this convo and implement immediately.
Do you have a set of questions and structure for every sales discussion going in or do understand the concepts and then treat every conversation organically? Any tips on getting the meetings w/ prospects?
Let's say someone has optimized their close rate... do you have tips on securing more qualified meetings?
If you write another book... what topic is next?

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.

Investor Stories 122: Lessons Learned (Ajao, Bahat, Cheng) Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

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.

194. Special Edition! The Story Behind TFR & New Stack Ventures (John Gannon interviews Nick Moran) Sep 18, 2019

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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 how much of your deal flow is it? How many completed investments came from the TFR community?
I have heard from multiple Angel List employees re: Angel List syndicates that it's very hard to get people to back a deal unless the deal has a lead like Sequoia or KPCB or another top firm attached to it. Has that been true for your syndications? If no, why?
What benefits did you see by using Angel List syndicates platform so early on? For those thinking of starting up a syndicate now, how has the game changed?
How do you find and vet interns for your fund? Or how do they find you?
Are there any processes at your fund that you think work REALLY well, and what are they? How do you execute them?
Since we're both Dads: Other than having less time now that you have a child, have there been new tactics you've applied to the podcast, the firm, etc to help you get more leverage at work and free up time for home life?

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.

193. SaaS Acceleration, Sales Savvy Founders & The Rise of Tech-Enabled Services (Michael Cardamone) Sep 13, 2019

Show notes

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 strategies at early-stage SaaS businesses.
ACV initial vs. expansion rev opportunity
Lemkin.. TAM... initial traction in SOM/Beachhead niche market is most important. Any company that gets traction here can find a $1B market. Agree, disagree?
We talk a lot, on this show, about either why SF is the best place to build a company or why any place but SF is the best place to build a company. You've done both -- Objectively, can you break down the biggest advantages to building in the valley vs. the advantages to building outside?
Let's talk a bit about pedigree -- most investors have simple heuristics here. If the founder didn't study at a Stanford/Ivy level institution... pass. If the founder didn't work for a FAANG tech company or fast-growing private tech company... pass. At New Stack, we like to say we're in the business of exceptions (deals that have all the right ingredients for success -- except these optics of provenance). Michael, where do you stand on pedigree and how do you define it?
What percentage of the companies in the cohort to you invest in at completion?
In terms of measuring success -- what key metric do you measure that you're most proud of?
Over the past few years, what trends or major changes have you seen with regards to SaaS that founders and investors should be aware of?
Tech-enabled services - a real trend or not? Venture fundable?
There has been some recent issues in the Tech space with employee options -- what have you witnessed and what would you like to see change?

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.

Investor Stories 121: What's Next (Dorsey, Senkut, Banister) Sep 11, 2019

Show notes

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.

Investor Stories 120: Why I Passed (Hea Nahm, Moatti, Clavier) Aug 29, 2019

Show notes

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.

192. Secrets of Sand Hill Road (Scott Kupor) Aug 23, 2019

Show notes

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 done an episode with Brad Feld where we went into detail on the Term Sheet... both Economics and Governance. I don't want to cover each term today but first, related to Economics, what's different now about the Economics terms or the negotiation than what you saw maybe five years ago?
Same question for Governance, what has changed and what are the key terms in focus?
Do you have any guidelines on how much of their business founders should sell in any given round?
So the next topic, we've all seen before, assuming you've been doing this long enough, but a founder is struggling to raise, has little capital left, and is scrambling to get creative. What are some of the more common mistakes and outcomes you see in this scenario?
Why should entrepreneurs care who the LPs are behind the VC fund that's investing?
We could spend hours discussing boards... any key items you'd like to highlight w/regards to boards?
Talk us through the acquisition process?
IPO process?
Great summary section where you talk about good VCs... can you recap your thoughts on what Good VCs do?

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.

Investor Stories 119: Special Edition! Why I Invested in Curv Labs (Moran, Balish, Deshays) Aug 19, 2019

Show notes

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.

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