The Full Ratchet (TFR): Venture Capital and Startup Investing Demystified 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
Casber Wang from Sapphire Ventures, Lara Banks of Makena Capital, and David Cohen, co-founder of Techstars, share critical insights into investor-founder dynamics. Wang stresses the importance of aligning expectations by posing tough questions about responses to setbacks. Banks discusses how she scrutinizes fund managers and evaluates long-term success criteria. Cohen emphasizes the necessity for founders to connect with investors who have faced challenges, highlighting personal stability as a crucial factor in ensuring effective management.
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Give Context To Make Intros Useful
- Challenge investors and give context when they make intros so they can help effectively.
- Ask follow-up questions about whom they're connecting you to and what context they shared.
Ask How Investors React When Things Go Wrong
- Ask investors exactly what they do when a company misses a quarter or things go wrong.
- Repeat and clarify until you understand their real reaction and support plan.
Clarify How LPs Will Judge Success
- Ask LPs whether they'll judge your performance and how they'll evaluate success for future funds.
- Use those criteria to align expectations about what counts as a successful fund.