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

Latest Episodes:

Investor Stories 102: Strange & Unusual (Olsen, Hardiman, Galbut) Dec 28, 2018

Show notes

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

Chris Olsen James Hardiman Elizabeth Galbut 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.

177. Cram Session, Episodes 121-128 (Nick Moran) Dec 21, 2018

Show notes

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:

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 101: Lessons Learned (Kaden, Duovos, Cast) Dec 12, 2018

Show notes

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

Rebecca Kaden Chris Duovos Carter Cast 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.

176. Creating Powerful Networks, 3 Rules for Great Products, and the Future of Mobile Tech (SC Moatti) Dec 11, 2018

Show notes

SC Moatti of Mighty Capital joins Nick to discuss Creating Powerful Networks, 3 Rules for Great Products, and the Future of Mobile Tech. In this episode, we cover:

Backstory/ Path to becoming involved in venture?
What led you to start Mighty Capital?
Talk more about Products that Count, what was the origin and why?
You successfully built a network of over 25,000 PM's and continue to lead the network... How have you built such a large network?
We all have ever-expanding networks... do you have any guidelines or essential rules to maintaining, staying connected, and strengthening your existing network?
In your book, you share 3 rules to create successful products. Can you give us an overview of these rules?
You've developed products that billions of people use at Facebook, Nokia and Electronic Arts. Can you give us an example of a key product decision or change that you led?
Portfolio companies have said that Mighty Capital brings the "best value for the dollar invested." How, specifically, are you creating value for your portcos?
How do you determine if a startup has reached product-market fit?
Let's say, for example, you come across a product that, based on the metrics, has clear product-market fit, growth is accelerating and the team appears quite strong... but you have serious reservations about the product itself... maybe you question the design principles, the UX requires significant improvement, maybe it feels like it was designed by an engineer for an engineer instead of a customer... how do you approach a investment opportunity like this?
Part of your investment criteria is 'Bay Area-based leadership' Why do you only invest in companies based in the Bay Area?
Tell us more about your book... why'd you write it and what would you like readers to gain from reading it?
So, to go a bit deeper on mobile and mobile products? What are some new innovations or opportunities that you think will emerge in the coming years?
What current mobile trends do you think have a limited shelf life and will phase out?
What are the most concerning trends to you... whether they be related to mobile, entrepreneurship, product or investing?

Investor Stories 100: Why I Passed (Wallace, Zuberi, Medved) Nov 28, 2018

Show notes

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

Brendan Wallace Bilal Zuberi Joe Medved

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.

175. From Operator to Accelerator MD to Fund Manager (John Fein) Nov 21, 2018

Show notes

John Fein of Firebrand Ventures joins Nick to discuss From Operator to Accelerator MD to Fund Manager. In this episode, we cover:

So you participated in 5 startups, after which you scaled an organization from zero to 1,500 employees and $2B/year in revenue. Talk about your background and experience at United Health.
Tell us a bit about your decision to raise a fund.
When I started raising fund I, I had calls w/ 30+ GPs and my target was $5M but I told him, under no circumstances would I raise more than $10M, even if things went really well. He responded that the difference between a $5M and a $10M is significant and that the story and strategy would be very different for the two. So I know that you started with a $7M target and ended at $18M... how did your strategy change and did you get any pushback from early LPs as the fund got larger?
How did the process play out... in what ways was it different than what you expected?
How early do you go?
How did you create urgency w/ prospective LPs to make a decision. From personal experience, I found a number of large LPs that preferred to wait until final close
You've gone on the record stating that you'll avoid investing in arrogant founders, where many VCs specifically look for this character trait in entrepreneurs. Do you think it's the best economic decision to avoid working w/ arrogant founders?
Everyone says they're a founder-focused VC... but when I speak w/ founders I find that there are very few that are actually qualify. What does this mean from your standpoint and how are you serving founders in ways that others aren't?
What are some of the key strengths of your pipeline and dealflow.... how are you seeing more deals and higher quality deals than others?
The feedback cycle in venture is really long... you won't truly know how your fund stacks up against others from you vintage for many years. How do you track progress and assess if you're winning over the near term?

Investor Stories 99: Post Mortems (Martino, Simoudis, Narasin) Nov 14, 2018

Show notes

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

Paul Martino Evangelos Simoudis Ben Narasin 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.

174. VCs Ride the Bus, Comeback Cities & Unorthodox Investing Nov 07, 2018

Show notes

Roy Bahat of Bloomberg Beta joins Nick to discuss VCs Ride the Bus, Comeback Cities & Unorthodox Investing. In this episode, we cover:

Backstory / Path to Bloomberg Beta
Bloomberg Beta has taken a self-described "unorthodox approach"-- Tell us about your approach and why it's unique.
I was exploring your page on Github and noticed that you've open sourced the entire operating manual-- why'd you do so and do you think other VCs should do the same?
What's worked and what hasn't?
You've talked about how you struggled figuring out what you wanted to do for a living. Have you figured it out?
So, last year a number of SF-based VCs got on a bus and traveled the Midwest in what they called the Comeback Cities tour. Tell us about the experience and why you and others came to the Midwest to look for opportunities?
How did the tour lead to a venture fund?
Why do you think it's important to work w/ angels in the Midwest?
What surprised you on the trip?
Can you talk a bit about machine intelligence and how it's impacting the future of work?
How do you see the VC asset class changing over the next few years?

Investor Stories 98: The Strange & Unusual (Anderson, O'Reilly, Pascucci) Oct 31, 2018

Show notes

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

Sarah Anderson Tim O'Reilly Vic Pascucci 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.

173. Corruption, Extortion and the Fight Against Entrenched Interests-- How a VC Saves Startups from Death by Politics (Bradley Tusk) Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

Bradley Tusk of Tusk Ventures joins Nick to discuss Corruption, Extortion and the Fight Against Entrenched Interests-- How a VC Saves Startups from Death by Politics. In this episode, we cover:

Why and how did you get into VC?
You have a nice model where you generate revenue through Tusk Strategies, which allows you to hire great talent and invest forward in startups. How has the model changed over time and how is the organization structured today?
How were you able to get allocations and generate dealflow when you were new to VC?
You spent some time in Illinois w/ an infamous Governor of our's... and you're very candid in the book about the issues and illegal acts that Rod Blagoyevich instructed you to do. Give us some of the highlights and lowlights from the experience.
You highlight the importance of narrative many times throughout the book. Can you touch on the key points w/ regard to picking and framing your narrative for tech startups?
You've said that when large industry incumbents are disrupted, "they punch back, and they punch hard"... have you seen situations where startups have died b/c of response of a large incumbent? Talk about some of your experiences.
Have you worked w/ any tech companies who's mission doesn't align w/ your political beliefs?
How can you possibly win a prolonged battle going jurisdiction by jurisdiction?
I enjoyed the section of the book you call "Pick your enemies = Win Your Battles (Strangle the baby in the crib). What's the best message founders can take away from this chapter?
We've all heard a lot about the political issues w/ independent contracts vs. employees. Uber has been the headliner in the media but you also cite Handy, in the book, the platform that connects independent handymen w/ home owners... what's been your involvement w/ this issue and where do we stand?
Talk a bit about your interactions w/ Elon and the work you did w/ Tesla against the dealership incumbents.
You close the book w/ an emphasis on voting and the importance of mobile voting. You've even said that mobile voting is "the biggest disruption fight of them all" and that "restoring our true democracy-- and actually confronting our nation's deepest problem."

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