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

Latest Episodes:

Investor Stories 445: Navigating High Stakes Conflicts: Partnership Tension, Capital Inflection Points, and the Risks of Underfunding (Terbell and Clark, Banks, Tananbaum) Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

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

Jon Terbell and Ted Clark of FourBridge Partners
Lara Banks of Makena Capital Management
Jim Tananbaum of Foresite Capital

We discuss major conflicts that guests have faced and how they resolved them.

The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Investor Stories 444. The Biggest Misses in VC: Passing on Airbnb, Overlooking Skype, and Arriving Hours After Postman Closed (Maples, Okike, Mohapatra) Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

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

Mike Maples Jr. of Floodgate
Nnamdi Okike of 645 Ventures
Hemant Mohapatra of Lightspeed India

Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out.

The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

497. Investing in Outsiders, Why Extreme Personalities Win, Weighing Timing versus Trends, and Rethinking Liquidity and Option Exercise Windows (Ethan Austin) Dec 01, 2025

Show notes

Ethan Austin of Outside VC joins Nick to discuss Investing in Outsiders, Why Extreme Personalities Win, Weighing Timing versus Trends, and Rethinking Liquidity and Option Exercise Windows. In this episode we cover:

Lessons from Founding Give Forward
Investment Philosophy and Timing
Founding Outside VC
Characteristics of Strong Investment Candidates
Supporting Founders and Building Knowledge
Trends in FinTech and Climate
Role of a VC and Early Liquidity

Guest Links:

The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Investor Stories 443. Why Great Investors Move Slowly, Go Deep, and Surround Themselves with the Right People (Hsieh, Madera, Bussgang) Nov 27, 2025

Show notes

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

Vince Hsieh of Cypress Growth Capital
Paul Madera of Meritech Capital
Jeff Bussgang of Flybridge Capital

We asked guests for the most important piece of advice that they'd share with folks early in their venture career.

The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Investor Stories 442. The Habits of Exceptional Founders, From Recruiting Great Teams to Understanding Customers (Walsh, Niehenke, Hilaly) Nov 24, 2025

Show notes

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

Shamin Walsh of BAM Ventures
Alexander Niehenke of Scale Venture Partners
Aaref Hilaly of Bain Capital Ventures

We asked guests to discuss the most visionary founder that they've worked with and what makes them so special.

The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Investor Stories 441. How Great Leaders Build Alignment, Set the Bar High, and Learn When to Let Go (Schroepfer, Saxena, Delk) Nov 20, 2025

Show notes

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

Mike Schroepfer of Gigascale Capital
Shashank Saxena of Sierra Ventures
Ryan Delk of Primer

We asked guests to tell the most important lesson they've learned in their career.

The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

496. How Model Progress Shifts the Goalposts, Why The Death of Software Is Overstated, and How to Diligence Hypergrowth Without Getting Burned (Jacob Effron) Nov 17, 2025

Show notes

Jacob Effron of Redpoint joins Nick to discuss How Model Progress Shifts the Goalposts, Why The Death of Software Is Overstated, and How to Diligence Hypergrowth Without Getting Burned. In this episode we cover:

Investing in AI and Vertical Applications
Model Layer Advancements and Future Milestones
Challenges and Opportunities in Agentic AI
Investing in Tooling and Middleware
Product Market Fit and Defensibility in AI Applications
Verticals with Real Product Market Fit
The Evolution of AI Investing Metrics
Future Trends in AI and Robotics

Guest Links:

The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Investor Stories 440. The Questions That Expose True Alignment, How Founders Test Investors, and Why the Hard Ones Matter Most (Wang, Banks, Cohen) Nov 13, 2025

Show notes

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

Casber Wang of Sapphire Ventures
Lara Banks of Makena Capital Management
David Cohen of Techstars

We asked guests to share the best question they've ever been asked by an allocator.

The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Investor Stories 439. From Angel Bets to Scalable Platforms, The Power of Listening, and Doing the Work Yourself (York, Dash, Madera) Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

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

Kyle York of York IE
Somesh Dash of IVP
Paul Madera of Meritech Capital

We asked guests for the most important piece of advice that they'd share with folks early in their venture career.

The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Investor Stories 438. The Deals That Got Away: LinkedIn, Snowflake, and Zeitview (Jiang, Schuler, Rizik) Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

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

Kevin Jiang of Mangusta Capital
Barry Schuler of DFJ Growth Ventures
Chris Rizik of Renaissance Venture Capital

We asked guests for the most important piece of advice that they'd share with folks early in their venture career.

The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

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