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

Seth Levine & Elizabeth MacBride of The New Builders joins Nick to discuss The Decline of Entrepreneurship in America, Systemic Inequity in Supporting Small Businesses, and the "Capital vs. Labor" Debate. In this episode we cover: Why did you write the book? I'd actually like to start w/ Chapter 6, which is a history of entrepreneurship in the US… we can't really do it justice in the interview but can you give us an overview of the history and where we are at today? You cover that entrepreneurship has been declining in the US for the past 40 years and more significantly within the past 15. What are some of the big factors that have led to that decline? Why are entrepreneurship and new business creation so important for the future of our country and society? How does the Silicon Valley version of entrepreneurship differ from the reality of entrepreneurship? What does the real profile of entrepreneurship look like vs. what we see in the data on the tech / venture-funded part of entrepreneurship? What can Main Street entrepreneurs learn from the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship? You did a lot of research and pulled together data sets/stats for the book — what were some of the most surprising findings from the data? Can you define the 'capital vs. labor' debate for us and give us your stance on that debate? Is this book a call-to-action… are you trying to encourage more broad-based entrepreneurship? Seth, how do you reconcile your interests and recommendations from the book with your career which is geared toward funding a very small percentage of founders that are focused on building multi-billion dollar outcomes? You address some issues that are systemic to our country -- government policies, economic system, etc. -- How big of a role do you think politics have in shaping entrepreneurship for the future? What advice or final thoughts would you like to share w/ listeners? Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We'll send a list of possible investors right to your email's InBox!

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Reid Christian David Goldberg McKeever "Mac" Conwell II Neil Sequeira Each investor discusses a portfolio company that did not survive and why it was that they failed. Did you miss our guests' full-length episodes? Reid Christian Episode 259 David Goldberg Episode 272 McKeever "Mac" Conwell II Episode 277 Neil Sequeira Episode 281 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We'll send a list of possible investors right to your email's InBox!

Emily Paxhia of Poseidon Asset Management joins Nick to discuss The $61B Cannabis Market, Overcoming Compliance and Regulation, and the Declining Social Stigma Around Cannabis. In this episode we cover: Can you give us an overview of the Cannabis Space -- size, growth, major sub-segments? Which segments are you most interested in? What areas do you not invest in and why? Raising a cannabis fund in 2013... I have to imagine you had to find a certain type of LP for that pitch to land. How hard was that? Regulation can be a break or a gas pedal --how have you or do you assess and underwrite the regulatory and legal risks in the space? To what extent are Cannabis businesses shut out of the existing financial system? Are there any other major differences in sourcing or diligence for a cannabis focused fund vs. your standard VC fund? How many cannabis focused funds are there and is follow-on financing risk significant when you're dealing with a smaller pool of capital providers? In 2018 we saw this massive boom and bust cycle for cannabis and hemp companies. How cyclical is the industry and, aside from consumer consumption behaviors, what macro drivers do you watch closely? There's recently been news that Molson-Coors has launched a CBD-infused drink and several major health and wellness retailers will offer CBD topicals. 5 years from now will all of the major household CPGs have CBD and Cannabis products available? Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We'll send a list of possible investors right to your email's InBox!

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt Ali Tamaseb Jonathan Hung Vanessa Larco Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor. Did you miss our guest's full-length episodes? Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt Episode 291 Ali Tamaseb Episode 289 Jonathan Hung Episode 292 Vanessa Larco Episode 295 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We'll send a list of possible investors right to your email's InBox!

Winter Mead of Oper8r joins Nick to discuss How to Raise a VC Fund, The YC for Emerging Managers, and Family Office Trends. In this episode we cover: Tell us a little more about Oper8or. Why did you leave Sapphire to start this program? Give us an overview of Oper8or? Walk us through the selection process and what you're looking for. Bring us up to speed on progress-to-date, how you measure success, and what the plan is going forward? You published your first book last year -- "How to Raise a Venture Capital Fund". The target audience for the book is fairly obvious... was the motivation to write the book similar to why you started Oper8r? What are the most common mistakes new fund managers make? How do you think about types of LPs or profiles that fund managers should be targeting? What are the patterns, practices or even tactics of the most successful fundraisers that you've observed? You co-authored a research effort w/ First Republic on Family Office Investors -- what were the key takeaways? What are some of the common reasons that LPs pass that might not be so obvious? What's the biggest difference between winning fund strategies of the early 2010s vs winning fund strategies in the next decade? What factor do you find to be of critical importance that is most often underappreciated by LPs? Currently over 1500 active venture funds... Do you think the market can support this high of a volume of funds? Often, a startup investor may get early positive or negative signals on an investment within the first 18-24 months. As an LP, how long does it take to get a sense whether the decision to invest was good or you might want to have that one back? Why is emerging VC compelling as an sub-asset class of VC? Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We'll send a list of possible investors right to your email's InBox!

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Monique Woodard Spencer Maughan Paul Martino Ben Casnocha Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. Did you miss our guest's full length episodes? Monique Woodard Episode 273 Spencer Maughan Episode 284 Paul Martino Episode 275 Ben Casnocha Episode 245 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We'll send a list of possible investors right to your email's InBox!

Ben Wiener of Jumpspeed Ventures joins Nick to discuss Investing in Jerusalem, Applying Helmer's 7 Powers to VC, and Writing a Business Murder Mystery. In this episode we cover: How difficult was it raising a fund to invest only in Jerusalem-originated startups? What do you say to critics who claim that "focusing only one one geo is too limiting?" Are there specific sectors or types of tech that are uniquely positioned to thrive in Jerusalem? What are the similarities and differences in raising a fund vs. raising funds for a startup? You've spoken before about the mismatch between supply and demand for early stage capital in Jerusalem. Has it been tough finding reliable and persistent follow-on capital for A or B rounds? Since inception ~35% of your investments have been in female-led (female founder/CEO) startups, which is an order of magnitude greater than the 2-3% industry average. Talk about sourcing and what you do on the sourcing side to increase the number of diverse and women led startups you meet with? You recently wrote a Murder Mystery novel. It's a startup fiction based on Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers. Why did you write a business strategy murder mystery? The book focuses on Addie Morita, a young crime researcher working on a serial killer case with clues buried in Hamilton's 7 Powers. What similarities can be drawn from 7 Powers and from solving a murder? Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We'll send a list of possible investors right to your email's InBox!

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Stephen McIntyre Brian Luerssen Ty Findley Tsune Shirota Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? Stephen McIntyre Episode #244 Brian Luerssen Episode #290 Ty Findley Episode #250 Tsune Shirota Episode #288 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We'll send a list of possible investors right to your email's InBox!

Vanessa Larco of NEA joins Nick to discuss Product Manager Turned Investor, Navigating Turbulence pre-IPO on Robinhood's Board, and Unique Sourcing Strategies. In this episode we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC. Why did you leave product to join NEA? Give us a update on NEA - AUM, stage, thesis, etc. What is your focus area at the firm? Are you ever tempted to jump back to the startup side (or launch your own startup)? You have significant and formative experience leading product. How do you think that shapes your approach as an investor. Do you think product managers are born or made? I also have a background in product and that has contributed greatly to our culture here at New Stack... I'm curious what, if any, blind spots one might have if they are an investor with a very strong product background or orientation? What KPI's/north star metrics do you use to hold yourself accountable? I'd love to hear the details of your process for sourcing and leading an investment. Everyone getting into tech gets the cliche advice... you've got to network... or "you are your network"... and that leads to a lot of productive and unproductive behavior. What is your approach to building and strengthening relationships and what advice would you give to newer folks in the tech community? Up until the recent IPO you were on the board of Robinhood. You're a board member for four companies and a board observer for several more-- How has your perception of being a good board member differed from the reality of the role after having had some experience on very notable boards. Re. Robinhood What did you learn from Vlad and Baiju that surprised you? I have to ask, take us behind the scenes a bit -- what was happening at Robinhood during the Gamestop and AMC run-ups when trading was halted? Do you invest in emerging tech hubs outside of NY & SF? If so what are the areas of highest interest and how do you see the evolving in the coming years? There's a lot of VC content across many blogs and Twitter threads. How do you cut through the noise? What do you read to stay educated? Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We'll send a list of possible investors right to your email's InBox!

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Check Warner Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt Erik Torenberg Avichal Garg Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out. Did you miss our guests full length episodes? Check Warner Episode #242 Dayna Grayson & Rachel Holt Episode #291 Erik Torenberg Episode #252 Avichal Garg Episode #261 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions. To learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website and LinkedIn and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and tell us about your business. We'll send a list of possible investors right to your email's InBox!