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

Foundersuite.com - software for raising capital
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Oct 10, 2025 • 41min

Ep. 310 How I Raised It with Chaz Flexman of Starday Foods (raised from Slow VC, Equal Ventures)

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for emerging manager 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 Chaz Flexman of Starday Foods, AI-driven food innovation company that uses software and data to identify unmet consumer needs. Then Company then fulfills those needs with new products such as the All Day Chickpea Protein Toppers and the Abeya Allergen-Free Sweet Potato Crackers, among others. Learn more at https://www.stardayfoods.com/ In this episode, we discuss how they use market research and AI to identify unmet needs and opportunities in the CPG market, the importance of building an investor funnel of 150+ potential VCs, tips for updating investors on your funding progress to maintain a timeline, 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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Oct 1, 2025 • 38min

Ep. 309 How I Raised It with Mark Phillips of 11 Tribes 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 Mark Phillips of 11 Tribes, an early stage VC fund that invests in the care and resilience of its founders. Another notable difference is that the fund focuses on businesses and founders that are pursuing profitability within their business model and comfortable seeking exit opportunities between $75M-$250M. Learn more at https://11tribes.vc/ In this episode, we discuss Mark’s journey to getting into VC and how his previous (failed) startup shaped his vision, how he had over 200 Zoom pitches to get to his first yes, why selling the vision and passion worked well for Fund I, how the narrative changed for Fund II, the critical importance of resilience, tips for landing Family Offices, and more. 11 Tribes most recently raised a $46 million for Fund II from 220 HNW investors and Family Offices. That follows a Fund I that was $11 million and largely sourced from around 80 HNW 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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Sep 11, 2025 • 42min

Ep. 308 How I Raised It with Andrew Ackerman

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 Andrew Ackerman, a 2x startup founder, professor, investor in 70+ companies, and author of a new book called the Entrepreneur’s Odyssey. Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbackerman/ We cover a lot of things in this episode including tips for your pitch deck, the art of the ask, prospecting for investors, portfolio company jiu jitsu, term sheet negotiation and 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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Sep 2, 2025 • 50min

Ep. 307 How I Raised It with Woodie Neiss of Crowdfund Capital Advisors

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 Sherwood "Woodie" Neiss of Crowdfund Capital Advisors (https://crowdfundcapitaladvisors.com/). In this episode we go deep into crowdfunding… the different types of crowdfunding such rewards-based, equity-based, donation based etc., as well as the differences between Reg CF vs. Reg D vs. Reg A. We discuss some of the leading platforms founders can use, as well as some surprising insider tips for running a successful raise. 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 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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