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

Craig Wortmann of Sales Engine joins Nick to discuss Sales Mastery & Storytelling at Scaling Startups. In this episode, we cover: -Craig's background and how he became involved in the early stage tech community. -You've spent a lot of time looking at how companies make this difficult transition from the scrappy, do-it-all world of "Entrepreneurial Selling" to a "Professional Selling" organization. Talk to us about what you've observed and how companies struggle in this transition. -When is the right time to transition from 'guerilla selling' to a more organized, professional process? -When we had Tae Hee Nahm on the program he talked about three different types of sales leaders at different stages of a startup. At the beginning it was a Davey Crocket- like individual, an independent explorer who will find their own path through the wilderness... then at the growth stage, Braveheart individual- someone with that warrior spirit and finally at the scale stage he looks for the Dwight Eisenhower-- someone with political savvy to align all the sales folks and move in the right direction... do you agree or disagree and how does your philosophy differ? -What do you do when a top performing salesperson won't use the tools, align with the culture or conform to processes. -How do you handle it when the product is broken... it's clear that the offering is lacking and the issue is not with sales. -How about situations where one is selling something that doesn't exist? -Storytelling... I see founders fail at this often and even I often failed in telling my story when raising Fund I. Where do most people go wrong? -What's the story canvas and how should it best be used? -You talk about how folks should think about 'capturing, distilling, and telling' the right story at the right time for the right reasons. What's your advice here? -One of the more popular things you teach at Kellogg is called the 'The Perfect Sales Meeting'. Can you talk to us about how one should think, plan and increase their sales meeting effectiveness? -Between sales meetings or when a prospect is slow to make a decision... how does one create urgency and positive momentum toward a decision?

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Ash Fontana Wayne Kimmel Chris Farmer   Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach. 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.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Tae Hea Nahm David Cohen Yoav Leitersdorf Each investor discusses a portfolio company that did not survive and why it was that they failed. 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.

Cheryl Cheng of Blue Run Ventures joins Nick to discuss The Gen-Z Consumer, Real-Time Health Data, and Persistent Top Fund Returns. In this episode, we cover: Cheryl's background in retail marketing and innovation while you were with Clorox and The Sharper Image. How did that lead to your career in venture? On your website it says, "WE HELP ENTREPRENEURS BUILD MAGICAL COMPANIES,"... how specifically do you help? Talk to me about about the Gen-Z folks... this is part of your focus at BRV... what are the high-level characteristics of this coveted consumer segment? Are founders adjusting their approach to tech to better serve this group? How the evolution of mobile apps and real time data has influenced the health and consumer industries? You recently spoke on a panel about acquisitions... can you talk a bit about what it takes to build a company that's well-positioned for an exit? Talk to me about Equity Summit coming up in January... what is it, what was the genesis and what are you hoping to accomplish? This year Prequin reported that BRV is one of the most consistently high performing firms in venture... I know that you've been at this for ten years now at Blue Run... what are some of the key factors that have led to your sustained success? I came across your recent article on succession planning and it had me a bit worried... are you planning leaving the industry anytime soon?

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Chris Olsen James Hardiman Elizabeth Galbut   Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor. 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.

Welcome back to TFR for another Cram Session. In these special releases, we have aggregated the takeaways and tips from previous episodes. In this installment, we will be recapping the following episodes: 121. Customer-centric Startup Investing Down Under, Part 1 (Niki Scevak) 122. Customer-centric Startup Investing Down Under, Part 2 (Niki Scevak) 124. Space Tech Investing, Part 1 (David Cowan) 125. Space Tech Investing, Part 2 (David Cowan) 127. Sector & Niche Focused Funds, Part 1 (Jordan Nof) 128. Sector & Niche Focused Funds, p2 and Driving Value with a Regulatory Focus (Jordan Nof)   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.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Rebecca Kaden Chris Duovos Carter Cast   Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach.   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.

SC Moatti of Mighty Capital joins Nick to discuss Creating Powerful Networks, 3 Rules for Great Products, and the Future of Mobile Tech. In this episode, we cover:   Backstory/ Path to becoming involved in venture? What led you to start Mighty Capital? Talk more about Products that Count, what was the origin and why? You successfully built a network of over 25,000 PM's and continue to lead the network... How have you built such a large network? We all have ever-expanding networks... do you have any guidelines or essential rules to maintaining, staying connected, and strengthening your existing network? In your book, you share 3 rules to create successful products. Can you give us an overview of these rules? You've developed products that billions of people use at Facebook, Nokia and Electronic Arts. Can you give us an example of a key product decision or change that you led? Portfolio companies have said that Mighty Capital brings the “best value for the dollar invested.” How, specifically, are you creating value for your portcos? How do you determine if a startup has reached product-market fit? Let's say, for example, you come across a product that, based on the metrics, has clear product-market fit, growth is accelerating and the team appears quite strong... but you have serious reservations about the product itself... maybe you question the design principles, the UX requires significant improvement, maybe it feels like it was designed by an engineer for an engineer instead of a customer... how do you approach a investment opportunity like this? Part of your investment criteria is 'Bay Area-based leadership' Why do you only invest in companies based in the Bay Area? Tell us more about your book... why'd you write it and what would you like readers to gain from reading it? So, to go a bit deeper on mobile and mobile products? What are some new innovations or opportunities that you think will emerge in the coming years? What current mobile trends do you think have a limited shelf life and will phase out? What are the most concerning trends to you... whether they be related to mobile, entrepreneurship, product or investing?

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Brendan Wallace Bilal Zuberi Joe Medved 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.

John Fein of Firebrand Ventures joins Nick to discuss From Operator to Accelerator MD to Fund Manager. In this episode, we cover:   So you participated in 5 startups, after which you scaled an organization from zero to 1,500 employees and $2B/year in revenue. Talk about your background and experience at United Health. Tell us a bit about your decision to raise a fund. When I started raising fund I, I had calls w/ 30+ GPs and my target was $5M but I told him, under no circumstances would I raise more than $10M, even if things went really well. He responded that the difference between a $5M and a $10M is significant and that the story and strategy would be very different for the two. So I know that you started with a $7M target and ended at $18M... how did your strategy change and did you get any pushback from early LPs as the fund got larger? How did the process play out... in what ways was it different than what you expected? How early do you go? How did you create urgency w/ prospective LPs to make a decision. From personal experience, I found a number of large LPs that preferred to wait until final close You've gone on the record stating that you'll avoid investing in arrogant founders, where many VCs specifically look for this character trait in entrepreneurs. Do you think it's the best economic decision to avoid working w/ arrogant founders? Everyone says they're a founder-focused VC... but when I speak w/ founders I find that there are very few that are actually qualify. What does this mean from your standpoint and how are you serving founders in ways that others aren't? What are some of the key strengths of your pipeline and dealflow.... how are you seeing more deals and higher quality deals than others? The feedback cycle in venture is really long... you won't truly know how your fund stacks up against others from you vintage for many years. How do you track progress and assess if you're winning over the near term?