GTM 101: A Founder's Guide to Financing Environments and Navigating Venture Debt with Nick Dolik

Nick Dolik is a NYC-based investor, currently the Managing Director at TriplePoint Capital, and is focused on supporting founders and funding high-growth technology companies. Nick is passionate about entrepreneurship and has spent the past ~10 years backing various startups, including multiple unicorns.

Discussed in this Episode:

• The current state of the financing environment for startups.
• Venture debt: what it is, how it works, and why it exists.
• Advantages of venture debt for founders and when to consider it.
• The importance of building long-term relationships in the venture capital world.
• Nick's unconventional path into venture capital and lessons learned.
• The value of getting "closer to the sun" when pursuing a career in VC.
• Common misconceptions about the founder-investor relationship.

Highlights:
[12:26] – The current financing environment for startups.
[24:45] – Nick explains venture debt and its benefits for founders.
[39:30] – Nick shares his journey from credit derivatives to venture capital.
[47:22] – The importance of getting "closer to the sun" in pursuing a VC career.
[51:30] – Advice for founders approaching their first fundraise.
[59:41] – One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Nick thinks is bull$***
[1:04:01] – One thing that is working for Nick in go-to-market right now.

Guest Speaker Links (Nick Dolik):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ndolik/

Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsors:

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The GTMnow Podcast
The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.

Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.