Nick Moran

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

Business EN ↓ 1014 episodes

The podcast dedicated to demystifying Venture Capital. Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti interview VC's & Startup Founders and on how they build great technology startups.

Author

Nick Moran

Episodes

Investor Stories 448: Hard Lessons in Investing: Mistiming Trends, Relying on Partnership Debate, and Avoiding Good Money After Bad (Hilaly, Dash, Rizik) 22.12.2025 8:13

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Aaref Hilaly of Bain Capital Ventures Somesh Dash of IVP Chris Rizik of Renaissance Venture Capital We asked guests to tell the most important lesson they've learned in their career. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outsid...

Investor Stories 447: Choosing the Right VC: Understanding Value Add, Assessing Alignment, and Identifying the Best Board Partner (Jiang, Walsh, Saxena) 18.12.2025 4:56

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Kevin Jiang of Mangusta Capital Shamin Walsh of BAM Ventures Shashank Saxena of Sierra Ventures We asked guests to share the best question they've ever been asked by an allocator. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside o...

498. The Crypto x AI Convergence, the Truth About Stablecoins, Tokens vs Equity, and Whether NFTs Will Make a Comeback (Arianna Simpson) 15.12.2025 46:30

Arianna Simpson of Andreessen Horowitz joins Nick to discuss The Crypto x AI Convergence, the Truth About Stablecoins, Tokens vs Equity, and Whether NFTs Will Make a Comeback. In this episode we cover: Stable Coins and Their Impact on Crypto Geopolitical and Regulatory Risks for Stable Coins Crypto's Role in the Financial System and Emerging Use Cases Investing in Tokens and Equity Institutional A...

Investor Stories 446: What Experience Teaches Investors: When to Trust Conviction, How to Read Founders, and Why Coachability Matters (Rizik, Wang, Agarwal) 11.12.2025 8:09

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Chris Rizik of Renaissance Venture Capital Casber Wang of Sapphire Ventures Medha Agarwal of Defy We asked guests to describe the biggest change to their investment philosophy over the course of their career The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to inv...

Investor Stories 445: Navigating High Stakes Conflicts: Partnership Tension, Capital Inflection Points, and the Risks of Underfunding (Terbell and Clark, Banks, Tananbaum) 08.12.2025 7:16

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Jon Terbell and Ted Clark of FourBridge Partners Lara Banks of Makena Capital Management Jim Tananbaum of Foresite Capital We discuss major conflicts that guests have faced and how they resolved them. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing...

Investor Stories 444. The Biggest Misses in VC: Passing on Airbnb, Overlooking Skype, and Arriving Hours After Postman Closed (Maples, Okike, Mohapatra) 04.12.2025 6:19

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Mike Maples Jr. of Floodgate Nnamdi Okike of 645 Ventures Hemant Mohapatra of Lightspeed India Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to inves...

497. Investing in Outsiders, Why Extreme Personalities Win, Weighing Timing versus Trends, and Rethinking Liquidity and Option Exercise Windows (Ethan Austin) 01.12.2025 41:24

Ethan Austin of Outside VC joins Nick to discuss Investing in Outsiders, Why Extreme Personalities Win, Weighing Timing versus Trends, and Rethinking Liquidity and Option Exercise Windows. In this episode we cover: Lessons from Founding Give Forward Investment Philosophy and Timing Founding Outside VC Characteristics of Strong Investment Candidates Supporting Founders and Building Knowledge Trends...

Investor Stories 443. Why Great Investors Move Slowly, Go Deep, and Surround Themselves with the Right People (Hsieh, Madera, Bussgang) 27.11.2025 4:48

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Vince Hsieh of Cypress Growth Capital Paul Madera of Meritech Capital Jeff Bussgang of Flybridge Capital We asked guests for the most important piece of advice that they'd share with folks early in their venture career. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm comm...

Investor Stories 442. The Habits of Exceptional Founders, From Recruiting Great Teams to Understanding Customers (Walsh, Niehenke, Hilaly) 24.11.2025 6:17

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Shamin Walsh of BAM Ventures Alexander Niehenke of Scale Venture Partners Aaref Hilaly of Bain Capital Ventures We asked guests to discuss the most visionary founder that they've worked with and what makes them so special. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm c...

Investor Stories 441. How Great Leaders Build Alignment, Set the Bar High, and Learn When to Let Go (Schroepfer, Saxena, Delk) 20.11.2025 5:51

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Mike Schroepfer of Gigascale Capital Shashank Saxena of Sierra Ventures Ryan Delk of Primer We asked guests to tell the most important lesson they've learned in their career. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the...

496. How Model Progress Shifts the Goalposts, Why The Death of Software Is Overstated, and How to Diligence Hypergrowth Without Getting Burned (Jacob Effron) 17.11.2025 37:42

Jacob Effron of Redpoint joins Nick to discuss How Model Progress Shifts the Goalposts, Why The Death of Software Is Overstated, and How to Diligence Hypergrowth Without Getting Burned. In this episode we cover: Investing in AI and Vertical Applications Model Layer Advancements and Future Milestones Challenges and Opportunities in Agentic AI Investing in Tooling and Middleware Product Market Fit a...

Investor Stories 440. The Questions That Expose True Alignment, How Founders Test Investors, and Why the Hard Ones Matter Most (Wang, Banks, Cohen) 13.11.2025 5:56

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Casber Wang of Sapphire Ventures Lara Banks of Makena Capital Management David Cohen of Techstars We asked guests to share the best question they've ever been asked by an allocator. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside...

Investor Stories 439. From Angel Bets to Scalable Platforms, The Power of Listening, and Doing the Work Yourself (York, Dash, Madera) 10.11.2025 6:00

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Kyle York of York IE Somesh Dash of IVP Paul Madera of Meritech Capital We asked guests for the most important piece of advice that they'd share with folks early in their venture career. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders ou...

Investor Stories 438. The Deals That Got Away: LinkedIn, Snowflake, and Zeitview (Jiang, Schuler, Rizik) 06.11.2025 7:29

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Kevin Jiang of Mangusta Capital Barry Schuler of DFJ Growth Ventures Chris Rizik of Renaissance Venture Capital We asked guests for the most important piece of advice that they'd share with folks early in their venture career. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital fi...

495. From CTO to $500M AUM: Entry Point Discipline, Why People Matter at Every Stage, and the AI-Driven Future of Banking (Victor Orlovski) 03.11.2025 38:49

Victor Orlovski of R136 Ventures joins Nick to discuss From CTO to $500M AUM: Entry Point Discipline, Why People Matter at Every Stage, and the AI-Driven Future of Banking. In this episode we cover: Exit Strategies and Market Challenges Risks and Opportunities in Late-Stage Investments Banking and FinTech Challenges Future of Financial Markets and AI in Banking Impact of AI on Financial Institutio...

Investor Stories 437. Why Founders Must Hold Their Ground, Why Investors Must Break Their Rules, and How Both Survive the Chaos (Binatti, Schroepfer, Ruscio) 30.10.2025 8:06

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Daniela Binatti of Pismo Mike Schroepfer of Gigascale Capital Joseph Ruscio of Heavybit We asked guests for the most important piece of advice that they'd share with folks early in their venture career. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investin...

Investor Stories 436. Visionary Founders, From Steve Jobs to Brian Armstrong, and the Leaders Blending Life Sciences and Technology (Schuler, Saxena, Bussgang) 27.10.2025 5:57

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Barry Schuler of DFJ Growth Ventures Shashank Saxena of Sierra Ventures Jeff Bussgang of Flybridge Capital We asked guests to discuss the most visionary founder that they've worked with and what makes them so special. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm commit...

Investor Stories 435. Why Complacency Kills Momentum, The Cost of Over-Diligence, and Accepting the Limits of Control (Walsh, Wang, Hudson) 23.10.2025 5:24

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Shamin Walsh of BAM Ventures Casber Wang of Sapphire Ventures Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures We asked guests to tell the most important lesson they've learned in their career. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside...

494. The Techstars Refresh, Why Bigger Isn't Better, Investing in the Seed-Strapping Era, and Why Quantum May Dwarf Every Tech Shift (David Cohen) 20.10.2025 31:07

David Cohen of Techstars joins Nick to discuss The Techstars Refresh, Why Bigger Isn't Better, Investing in the Seed-Strapping Era, and Why Quantum May Dwarf Every Tech Shift. In this episode we cover: Refocusing TechStars Programs and Deal Structure Selection Process and Follow-On Investments Successful Programs and Founder Network Geographic Distribution and AI-First Companies Seed Strapping and...

Investor Stories 434. How LPs Judge Performance, Managing Founder Conflict, and The Blind Spots Investors Must Confront (Schuler, Niehenke, Agarwal) 16.10.2025 4:48

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Barry Schuler of DFJ Growth Ventures Alexander Niehenke of Scale Venture Partners Medha Agarwal of Defy We asked guests to share the best question they've ever been asked by an allocator. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders o...

Investor Stories 433. The Art of Sensing Greatness, From Analytical to Intuitive Investing, and the Case for Industry Outsiders (Hsieh, Hilaly, Maples) 13.10.2025 7:04

n this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Vince Hsieh of Cypress Growth Capital Aaref Hilaly of Bain Capital Ventures Mike Maples of Floodgate We asked guests to describe the biggest change to their investment philosophy over the course of their career The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to i...

Investor Stories 432. The Pain of Passing: Missed Bets on Uber, DoorDash, and Great Founders Who Proved Them Wrong (Shapiro, York, Dash) 09.10.2025 5:51

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Craig Shapiro of Collaborative Fund Kyle York of York IE Somesh Dash of IVP Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders ou...

493. From Data Science to Drug Design: How AI Shifts Discovery, Target Validation, and Portfolio Construction (Jim Tananbaum) 06.10.2025 39:14

Jim Tananbaum of Foresite Capital joins Nick to discuss From Data Science to Drug Design: How AI Shifts Discovery, Target Validation, and Portfolio Construction. In this episode we cover: Data Science and Investment Approach Investment Practices and Market Conditions China's Role in Biotech and Regulatory Considerations Impact of AI on Biotech and Healthcare Healthcare Adoption of AI and Preventiv...

Investor Stories 431. Level Heads Build Enduring Companies, The Power of Persistence, and Why Conviction is Everything (Saxena, Delk, Rizik) 02.10.2025 3:04

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Shashank Saxena of Sierra Ventures Ryan Delk of Primer Chris Rizik of Renaissance Venture Capital We asked guests for the most important piece of advice that they'd share with folks early in their venture career. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed t...

Investor Stories 430. Focus and Execution at Nubank, How Storytelling Wins Customers, and How Creative Partnerships Unlock Growth (Binatti, Madera, Okike) 29.09.2025 8:45

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Daniela Binatti of Pismo Paul Madera of Meritech Capital Nnamdi Okike of 645 Ventures We asked guests to discuss the most visionary founder that they've worked with and what makes them so special. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in f...