How I Raised It - The podcast where we interview startup founders who raised capital.

Foundersuite.com - software for raising capital
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Aug 19, 2025 • 35min

Ep. 306 How I Raised It with Nik Talreja of Sydecar.io

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with with Nik Talreja, CEO of Sydecar.io, a platform that helps investors and founders set up a “Special Purpose Vehicle” or SPV. In this episode we go deep into SPVs… what are they, why you should care, etc. We get into how to set up an SPV to build a track record as an investor, how to use one to create an Opportunity Fund, the difference between an SPV and a Syndicate, the use case for Founders, and much more. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com
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Aug 11, 2025 • 45min

Ep. 305 How I Raised It with Nisha Dua of BBG Ventures

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with with Nisha Dua of BBG Ventures, a VC fund that invests in “underestimated founders” and founders building a polycultural future. Learn more at https://www.bbgventures.com/ In this episode we talk about the evolution of the fund from a focus on female founders to one with a polycultural thesis, how to treat your first fundraise as a structured process, how to de-risk and solve the chicken and egg problem by warehousing deals, how to broaden your LP base for Fund II and beyond, advantages of raising capital from Fund of Funds LPs, and more. Nisha also drops an excellent tip for sourcing LP intros around the 18:00 mark :) BBG Ventures most recently raised a $60 million Fund II from LPs including the State of Michigan Retirement Services, Illumen Capital, and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, alongside new LPs Fairview, Pivotal Ventures, California Endowment, and Mizuho. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com
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Jul 31, 2025 • 36min

Ep. 304 How I Raised It with Yoav Oz of Rep AI

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with with Yoav Oz, CEO of Rep AI, an ecommerce sales and support chatbot that optimizes every step of the customer journey, much like a personal shopping concierge. Learn more at HelloRep.ai In this interview, we discuss the Israeli startup scene, how he tried to sell a previous company but was blocked by his Board, raising capital from US investors for a non-US startup, the importance of resilience, his process for segmenting VCs into tiers, how he got multiple term sheets in one month, questions he asks investors to check alignment, and more. The Company most recently raised $8.2 million in funding. Led by Osage Venture Partners (OVP), and joined by Oryzn Capital and Flashpoint Venture Capital. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com
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Jul 8, 2025 • 1h 2min

Ep. 303 How I Raised It with Renata Quintini of Renegade Partners VC

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with with Renata Quintini of Renegade Partners, an early stage VC fund that supports companies during the high-stakes phase between early traction and significant growth. Learn more at https://www.renegadepartners.com/ In this wide-ranging episode, we talk about the rise of micro-VCs (she was previously at Felicis Ventures and Lux Capital), tips for raising Fund I, the evolution and challenges of graduating to Fund II, tips for sourcing and communicating with LPs, how to create FOMO, and much, much more. Renegade most recently raised a $128 million Fund II from LPs including Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, and Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation among other institutional LPs. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com
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Jul 2, 2025 • 35min

Ep. 302 How I Raised It with Laura Epstein of Pulse Charter Connect

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with with Laura Epstein, CEO of Pulse Charter Connect, an organ transport logistics startup that helps move hearts and livers and kidneys and other critical organs around the country via air. To fund her business, Laura went through multiple accelerator programs including Tampa Bay WAVE, Techstars, Mass Challenge, 1871, TeamRise, Cedar Sinai and others, so we talk about how to make the most of accelerators, demo day tips, questions to ask investors to make sure they have capital to deploy, tips for communicating noteworthy events to investors, how she used Foundersuite to manager her investor pipelines, and more. The Company most recently raised $2 million in seed funding, which brings their total funding to $3.3 million. The oversubscribed round was led by Ivy Ventures and Simplex Ventures, with participation from Cedars Sinai Health Ventures, Belal Badat Ventures, Techstars, and angel investors How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com
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Jun 13, 2025 • 41min

Ep. 301 How I Raised It with Marlon Nichols of MaC Venture Capital

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with with Marlon Nichols of MaC Venture Capital, a a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in technology startups leveraging shifts in cultural trends and behaviors. Learn more at https://macventurecapital.com/ In this episode, we discuss Marlon's path to becoming a VC, details of raising his previous fund Cross Culture with Troy Carter, lessons learned from the Kauffman Fellows program, how he tapped mentors such as Freada Kapor and Jason Green to learn the VC trade, why it's so important to "do what you say you will do" when building relationships with LPs, tips for cold outreach and much more. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com
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May 13, 2025 • 49min

Ep. 300 How I Raised It with Stacy Havener of Havener Capital

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with with Stacy Havener of Haver Capital, a a firm that helps asset managers launch and raise funds. In this episode we discuss the “old way vs. the new way” of raising capital, the art and science of fundraising, how to build your "personal brand"… one that both attracts and repels investors (and we talk about why each is important). We also get into how to tell your story, tips for running that first pitch meeting, and much more How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC, fundraising consultant, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com
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Apr 25, 2025 • 44min

Ep. 299 How I Raised It with Jed Ng of AngelSchool.vc

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with with Jed Ng of AngelSchool.vc, an accelerator and training platform for aspiring angel investors. In this episode, we go deep into "how to become an angel investor" including how to get deal flow, how to identify good deals, how to run due diligence on a startup, how to set up syndicates and much more. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC, aspiring angel, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com
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Mar 26, 2025 • 49min

Ep. 298 How I Raised It with Noah Helman of Industrial Microbes

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with with Noah Helman of Industrial Microbes, a startup using programmable microbes to turn renewable feedstocks like ethanol and methane into eco-friendly chemicals and materials. More information at https://imicrobes.com/ In this episode, Noah talks about fermentation technology and the science behind metabolic engineering, how he got his initial funding from government grants in Canada, tips and procedures for applying for grants from the DoD, NSF, SBIR and other agencies, lessons learned from his time in Y Combinator, advice for raising an equity round of capital and finding investors who "get it" (meaning science and biology) and much more. iMicrobes most recently raised a seed round of funding, bringing the company’s total investment to over $10M. The funding was led by First Bight Ventures, with participation from Universal Materials Incubator Co. (UMI). How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com
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Mar 20, 2025 • 6min

Ep. 297 How I Raised It with Arto Yeritsyan of Podcastle

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with with Arto Yeritsyan of Podcastle.ai, a startup using AI to help podcasters create professional-quality audio & video content. Learn more at podcastle.ai In this episode, Arto shares his journey building and fundraising in Armenia, how he used Chat GPT to research investors and find the right person at each VC firm, how he got a 90% conversion rate from sending a deck to securing a pitch meeting, how he built a relationship with Point Nine Capital even after they said "no," how he used early investors as part of his deal team, and more. Podcastle most recently raised $13.5m in a Series A funding round led by Mosaic Ventures, with participation from existing Podcastle investors RTP Global, Point Nine, Sierra Ventures, and Andrew Ng’s AI Fund. The CEOs of Squarespace and Moonbug Media also participated in the round. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016. If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

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