
How I Raised It - The podcast where we interview startup founders who raised capital.
Produced by Foundersuite.com, makers of the leading software stack for raising capital: Investor CRM + VC/Angel database + Pitch Deck Hosting + Investor Update tools. Used by startups to raise > $2.5 Billion.
Latest episodes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan 28, 2025 • 54min
Ep. 296 How I Raised It with Pablo Srugo of Mistral.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 Pablo Srugo of Mistral.vc, a seed stage venture capital firm based in Toronto that invests in early stage startups that have achieved (or are close to reaching) "product-market fit." Learn more at https://mistral.vc/
Previously, Pablo was the Founder of Gymtrack, a VC backed startup in the FitTech space. In this episode we go through Gymtrack's wild startup rollercoaster ride, from raising capital, to getting a strategic investor, to getting an acquisition offer -- all to have it come crashing down suddenly.
We also talk about how being a VC is different (hint: easier) than being a Founder, how to use a podcast to stay top of mind with Founders, the perils of strategic investors 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

Jan 22, 2025 • 1h 4min
Ep. 295 How I Raised It with Jorian Hoover - Fundraising Prep 101
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 Jorian Hoover, a startup fundraising consultant based in London. In this episode, we go deep into "Fundraising Prep 101"... everything you need to do BEFORE you start to raise capital, including i) tips for getting your materials together; ii) building a target investor list; iii) legal and tax setup; iv) figuring out how much to raise and a target valuation; v) socializing your deal well in advance of raising; vi) preparing for tough questions; vii) creating a timeline; viii) running a process, 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

Jan 21, 2025 • 37min
Ep. 294 How I Raised It with Joe Ruscio of VC firm Heavybit
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 Joe Ruscio of Heavybit, a venture capital fund that invests in developer-first startups (many of their portfolio companies make products used by software and technology developers). Learn more at www.heavybit.com.
In this episode we talk about what’s happening in the software developer tools market, how AI is changing the game, why AI is like having a “weird intern” on your team, how VC is evolving, good and bad reasons to raise capital 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