The Full Ratchet (TFR): Venture Capital and Startup Investing Demystified 500. AI Native VC, Achieving 50%+ Graduation from Seed to Series A, Why Access Is the Key to Success, and Why Network Driven Firms Can No Longer Compete (Ben Orthlieb)
Jan 19, 2026
Ben Orthlieb, co-founder of Blue Moon and former senior leader at LinkedIn, dives into the future of venture capital. He shares insights on how AI is reshaping investing, emphasizing the importance of personal interactions alongside technology. Orthlieb discusses the challenges traditional VCs face and why access can outweigh simply picking the right founders. He reveals Blue Moon's innovative sourcing strategies, achieving a remarkable 50% graduation from seed to Series A, and highlights how AI identifies overlooked talent in unexpected places.
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Product-First VC Model
- Blue Moon is an "AI native" seed fund that builds proprietary products to amplify human judgment.
- The firm uses an intelligence platform to see more, know more, and win more founders early and at scale.
Networks Are Becoming Commodities
- Traditional VC advantages like networks are commoditizing and no longer enough at scale.
- Blue Moon replaces brand with deep insights and algorithmic sourcing to compete for founders' attention.
Use AI To Amplify Judgment
- Amplify human judgment with tooling rather than replacing it with pure algorithmic decisions.
- Build proprietary systems where differentiation matters and use AI to scale routine parts of the process.
