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 73: Why I Passed (Draper, Farmer, Suster) Nov 20, 2017

Show notes

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

Adam Draper
Chris Farmer
Mark Suster

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.

147. Monetization Strategy & Why Price Trumps Product (Madhavan Ramanujam) Nov 16, 2017

Show notes

Madhavan Ramanujam of Simon-Kutcher & Partners joins Nick to discuss Monetization Strategy & Why Price Trumps Product. In this episode, we cover:

What's the backstory and how did you develope this monetization expertise?
What VC firms and/or investors have you worked with?
What's the most common missteps that innovators make?
What are the 4 types of innovation fails?
I want to talk about your three key rules for monetizing new products: Having the WTP conversation early, Investigating how to charge not just what to charge and not settling for one-size fits all... Let's start w/ the WTP conversation, walk us through this point and the three questions one should ask?
Essentially, are you suggesting that startups run a conjoint analysis to see what features customers want and how much they'll pay or is it more than that?
How do the results inform the pricing strategy? Is this the Van Westendorp methodology, if not, how's it different?
Talk more about the second rule... Investigating how to charge, not just what to charge.
The final rule is: Don't settle for one-size-fits-all... walk us through your point here. form factor, application, segment
This is controversial in the venture space where many investors are looking for one business model across all customers... what's your response to VCs here?
How do you apply your methodology in situations with a nascent market... where customers may not fully understand their needs, the problems they will experience or the solutions available?
Final thoughts and advice for startups that are creating a new product?
Any words of advice for investors that are assessing startups very early on?

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 72: The Strange & Unusual (Verrill, Mason, Calacanis) Nov 11, 2017

Show notes

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

David Verrill Galen Mason Jason Calacanis

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.

146. Investing in Rocket Ships Before they Take Off (Zach Coelius) Nov 08, 2017

Show notes

Zach Coelius of joins Nick to discuss Investing in Rocket Ships Before they Take Off, Part 1. We address questions including:

His Path to investing
The Biggest difference between entrepreneur Zach vs. the entrepreneur Zach invests in?
Best lesson from his startup, Triggit?
Right place, right time... how do you apply to investing?
Top 3 characteristics you look for in founders?
Great entrepreneur... bad idea/bad market... how do you proceed?
How about with founders that aren't quite ready yet for funding?
How did you get your start on AL?
Strengths of Syndication Process?
Krypto Labs in Abu Dhabi- major takeaways, thoughts on crypto & ICOs?
Early exits... do you take them when you get the option? At what amount/multiple do you take money off the table
Lessons from poker that you apply to investing?

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 71: Lessons Learned (Parker, Scevak, Roberts, Hudson) Nov 05, 2017

Show notes

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

Andrew Parker
Niki Scevak
Bryce Roberts
Charles Hudson

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

145. First Institutional VC Fund Raised-- Key Learnings (Semil Shah) Nov 01, 2017

Show notes

Semil Shah of Haystack joins Nick to discuss First Institutional VC Fund Raised-- Key Learnings, Part 1. We address questions including:

Maybe we can start off with how your investment focus has evolved since the last time you joined us.
What are your thoughts on how seed has split into pre-seed, seed, seed extension, and post seed?
Are you investing once with a company or reserving for these various stages within seed?
You just closed fund 3... tell us about the first two funds that set the stage.
Would you do things differently if you could go back?
Which raise was the hardest?
How did the expectations of LPs change from the early funds to the institutional fund?
What surprised you most about the raise?
Did you connect w/ prospectives through referrals, cold calls, a combination?
Walk us through the metrics... how many targets, meetings, avg commitment amt, etc.
Did you ever think you might not complete the raise?
What's the best advice you got on the raise and who'd you get it from?
In our first interview, you talked about how you couldn't get a full-time job at a venture firm. I'm sure you've had plenty of offers as you've built a track record. Did you ever consider making the jump?
When I sent my fund deck to you, you said "Awesome and looks good. As I always say, the deck matters much less than having capital partners who believe in you" For anyone listening that aspires to raise... talk about what you meant by this comment.

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 70: What's Next (Einstein, Galston & Larkins, Cowan) Oct 27, 2017

Show notes

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

-Ben Einstein -Ezra Galston & Stuart Larkins -David Cowan

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.

144. The 8 Startup Profiles & Those that Make the Strongest Investments (Guy Turner) Oct 25, 2017

Show notes

Guy Turner of Hyde Park Venture Partners joins Nick to cover founder profiles and the characteristics that lead to the strongest startups. We address questions including:

You've observed over 50 startups, across your portfolio, and have written extensively about founder profiles. What are the two high-level categories of characteristics that you've observed?
Within the inspection characteristics category... what are the three dimensions that matter most?
The first two modes seem to differ primarily on the experience dimension... what are the two modes and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
Mode 3 you call the exec turned founder.... and mode 4 seems to have the ingredients for big outcomes or big flameouts. Walk us through each of these and their defining characteristics.
We've discussed four modes, but based on your framework there should be eight. What about the other four modes?
Do you think modes 1 and 2 work better for all investors or just HPVP?
Dealflow filtering and evaluation... can you use the inspection characteristics?
So we've discussed the inspection characteristics... let's transition to the the second major category, the experience characteristics. Talk more about what they are and how you assess them.
What are the five actions that matter most in startup teams?
How do you handle a situation where the deal comes late and there's already a term sheet and you don't have time to observe these characteristics over time?
What are the five styles that matter most?
Self-reflection, do you and Ira and Tim look in the mirror w/ Hyde Park and consider these expectations
How about for building the team at HPVP... do you apply founder assessment criteria in your hiring?
Are there any soft skills or overlooked founder characteristics that you haven't written about but you look for?
What's your take on the issues w/ ethics, not only amongst founders but at the investor level?

Guest Links:

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.

144. The 8 Startup Profiles & Those that Make the Strongest Investments (Guy Turner) Oct 25, 2017

Show notes

Guy Turner of Hyde Park Venture Partners joins Nick to cover founder profiles and the characteristics that lead to the strongest startups. We address questions including:

You've observed over 50 startups, across your portfolio, and have written extensively about founder profiles. What are the two high-level categories of characteristics that you've observed?
Within the inspection characteristics category... what are the three dimensions that matter most?
The first two modes seem to differ primarily on the experience dimension... what are the two modes and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
Mode 3 you call the exec turned founder.... and mode 4 seems to have the ingredients for big outcomes or big flameouts. Walk us through each of these and their defining characteristics.
We've discussed four modes, but based on your framework there should be eight. What about the other four modes?
Do you think modes 1 and 2 work better for all investors or just HPVP?
Dealflow filtering and evaluation... can you use the inspection characteristics?
So we've discussed the inspection characteristics... let's transition to the the second major category, the experience characteristics. Talk more about what they are and how you assess them.
What are the five actions that matter most in startup teams?
How do you handle a situation where the deal comes late and there's already a term sheet and you don't have time to observe these characteristics over time?
What are the five styles that matter most?
Self-reflection, do you and Ira and Tim look in the mirror w/ Hyde Park and consider these expectations
How about for building the team at HPVP... do you apply founder assessment criteria in your hiring?
Are there any soft skills or overlooked founder characteristics that you haven't written about but you look for?
What's your take on the issues w/ ethics, not only amongst founders but at the investor level?

Guest Links:

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 69: Exceptional Founders (Olsen, Acunzo, Collett) Oct 20, 2017

Show notes

In today's special segment the following investors are featured:

Chris Olsen
Jay Acunzo
Mike Collett

Each investor describes an outstanding entrepreneur that they've worked with and what key traits and behaviors make for the best startup leaders.

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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