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 118: Strange & Unusual (Glickman, Wortmann, Fein) Aug 07, 2019

Show notes

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.

191. Corporate VC (David Horowitz) Jul 31, 2019

Show notes

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? As Fred Wilson said on CVC—"You want the asset? Buy it." Is there a risk to founders of taking investment from a large corporate that can "look under the hood" and reverse-engineer the tech or exploit the IP?
Is the core objective of a CVC financial return or is it more of a strategy play? (i.e. market insight, actively trying to grow certain sectors)
How does the mindset of a CVC change in a bear market, especially compared to institutional VC?
How does follow-on funding work in corporate VC? If the corporate has a poor financial year, does a lower funding allocation affect follow-on allotment for winners?
The firm was recognized by Global Corporate Venturing for having both established and managed the most corporate venture funds to date… At the industry level corp VC has peaked in funding in recent years. Why do you think corp VC has grown to this level and why did you raise the number of funds that you did?
One of the articles on the Risky Business blog talks about fraud detection with reference to Fyre Festival and Theranos…Talk about some red flags that an opportunity may be a fraud and what you should do if those red flags are present?

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 117: Lessons Learned (Tusk, Kim, Rooke) Jul 24, 2019

Show notes

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.

190. Immigration, Privacy, and Foreign Investment -- The Biggest Threat to Venture is in Washington D.C. (Bobby Franklin) Jul 17, 2019

Show notes

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…Trends from trade to immigration, tax policy and cross-border financial flows, that are rapidly impacting global commerce - Can you talk a bit about these issues and their impact on the ecosystem?
Currently large tech companies are under increased scrutiny in DC and policymakers are cracking down on data privacy regulation, antitrust enforcement, etc. Do you think this "techlash" is appropriate or not?
What guidance or insight would you give entrepreneurs to ensure that their companies are operating within regulatory boundaries?
Any other suggestions for the audience -- a mix of VCs, LPs, Angels and Founders -- on specific things we all can do to support this asset class in D.C.?

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 116: Whats Next (Bahat, Rust, Kimmel) Jul 10, 2019

Show notes

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.

189. The Venture Studio (Scott Dorsey) Jul 03, 2019

Show notes

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 partnership with you than non-studio-based partners?
I was browsing the High Alpha website and came across a passage about one of the core components of your process called "Sprint Week" which states "During Sprint Week, we focus on building the Minimally Viable Business (MVB) including branding, prototyping, and go-to-market strategy" Can you dive into the details of Sprint Week and how it helps your portfolio companies?
How do you define product-market-fit?
In regards to your partnership program at the firm, I see that not only do you partner with top tech corporations but also leading universities and academic programs. Talk about the benefits of these partnerships for your founders in terms of talent, networks, and technology?

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 115: Post Mortems (Senkut, Fein, Cheng) Jun 26, 2019

Show notes

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.

188. Opportunity Zones --- A Fit for VC? (Steve Glickman) Jun 20, 2019

Show notes

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 potential unintended consequences that we should be mindful of?
Part of my hesitation around this topic and why I've waited to cover it until I could get you specifically on the program, is because with any new gov't incentive program or over-hyped area in general (like we saw with crypto last year), it attracts a lot of "opportunists" or even "charlatans" looking to capitalize on something that's new and not well understood. How do we avoid and discourage "bad actors" from taking advantage of either LPs or Entrepreneurs?
One of the services that Develop Advisor's provides is the OZI or Opportunity Zone Index. What is this attempting to measure?
What do you say to the pundits that claim the majority of the benefits will accrue to the financial services investors and not to the distressed communities?

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 114: Strange & Unusual (Ajao, Banister, Clavier) Jun 12, 2019

Show notes

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

Adeyemi Ajao
Cyan Banister
Jeff Clavier

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.

187. Transformative Tech for Old World Industry (Jim Kim) Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

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 serial founders vs. first-time and how does your approach differ with each?
You've stated that "Synthetic biology will be the most important enabling technology of our lifetimes." Why?
Talk about some exciting innovations in the science and data space and what industries will they be most beneficial to?
How do you measure success with the companies in your portfolio and how do you help them get to that place?

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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