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

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Madhavan Ramanujam Guy Turner Yoav Leitersdorf 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 mor...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Bilal Zuberi Zach Coelius Elizabeth Galbut 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...

Brian Ascher of Venrock joins Nick to discuss Product is Paramount. In this episode, we cover:  What is your story at Venrock and how have both you and your firm evolved over the past two decades. Talk a little about Venrock and your focus there. You were a product manager at Intuit, prior to Venrock.. what do you think is the VCs role in shaping product strategy? What are your thoughts on SaaS in...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following investors are featured: Paul Martino Jason Calacanis Chris Farmer Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns.   To listen more, please visit  http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us...

Carter Cast of Pritzker Group joins Nick to discuss Leadership from Origin to Scale. In this episode, we cover: What were some of the key lessons or surprises from those experiences? Clearly you've thought deeply about the personal side of entrepreneurship and the psychology of founders. When you're looking at new deals, what sort of traits are you looking for in the founders? You and I have discu...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Sarah Anderson Ash Fontana Chris Duovos 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...

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: 113. The Next Great Startup Ecosystem is… Part 1 (Chris Olsen) 114. The Next Great Startup Ecosystem is… Part 2 (Chris Olsen) 116. Index Investing, Mastering Dealflow & Seeing Everything at Serie...

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

David Cohen of Techstars joins Nick to discuss Techstars: What Worked, What Didn't, What's Next. In this episode, we cover: "What was the original vision for Techstars, when you started? How has that vision changed and evolved to where it is now? Techstars Ventures-- any concern that it sends a bad signal for those cohort companies that the fund does not invest in? What does winning look like for...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Chris Farmer Rebecca Kaden Ben Narasin 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 inform...

Evangelos Simoudis of Synapse Partners joins Nick to discuss AV, Mobility, and the Disruption of Big Auto. In this episode, we cover:   Backstory / Path to becoming an investor What is the investment focus/philosophy of your firm? What are the key drivers of automotive disruption? Can you talk about the role of big data and machine intelligence in AV? Can you give us an overview of the framework y...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: James Hardiman Nathan Benaich Paul Martino 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...

Yoav Leitersdorf of YL Ventures joins Nick to discuss The Cat and Mouse Game of Cyber Security -- Israel, CISOs, and GDPR. In this episode, we cover: How the emergence of new technologies have changed cybersecurity The framework to think about cybersecurity from a VC perspective Where innovation in cybersecurity stems from and how VCs impact this innovation. Industries that have the most volume of...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Jordan Nof Chris Olsen Elizabeth Galbut   Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns.   To listen more, please visit  http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us...

Joe Medved of Lerer Hippeau joins Nick to discuss The 'Softbank Effect', Financial Discipline and the Interworkings of a Top Seed Investment Firm. In this episode, we cover:   The focus at Lerer Hippeau The adoption and integration of the Binary Capital Portfolio Why they dropped ventures from the name Joe's take on the "Softbank Effect" and the challenges and opportunities created by it. how foun...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: -Bryce Roberts -Mike Collett -Niki Scevak   Each investor describes their investment thesis and how they evaluate startups for investment.   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 informa...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following investors are featured: Vic Pascucci Ben Einstein Ethan Kurzweil David Verrill 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  f...

Sarah Anderson of Cintrifuse joins Nick to discuss LP Value Creation, Why DPI is King, and Secondaries as a Means of Exit. In this episode, we cover: What is the investment focus/philosophy at Cintrifuse? Can you tell us a bit more about the Cintrifuse model? What impact has the Cintrifuse Syndicate Fund had? Can you explain how this benefits large corporates? What about startups-- what's in it fo...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following investors are featured: Bilal Zuberi Madhavan Ramanujem Tim O'Reilly Each investor discusses a portfolio company that did not survive and why it 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.

Ash Fontana of Zetta Venture Partners joins Nick to discuss Why SaaS is not a fit for VC and How AI Compounds Competitive Advantage. In this episode, we cover: Categories of AI that Ash is most interested in The difference between real AI and AI-enabled companies Why SaaS will cease to be investable by VCs The current AI stage of adoption How he times the market The four phases of AI What phase of...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following investors are featured: Lindel Eakman Chris Duovos Semil Shah 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 informa...

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: 105. Underserved Startup Ecosystems, Part 1 (Stuart Larkins & Ezra Galston) 106. Underserved Startup Ecosystems, Part 2 (Stuart Larkins & Ezra Galston) 107. Reinventing Venture Capital, Part 1 (B...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Sheel Mohnot Guy Turner Ben Narasin 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 mo...

Elizabeth Galbut of SoGal Ventures joins Nick to discuss Better Diversity, Better Outcomes. In this episode, we cover: Her involvement in creating the first VC investment group at Johns Hopkins What the focus is at SoGal and why that creates their edge How she and her partner divide responsibilities How the establishment has reacted to her and her firm We talk about her experience as a design prof...

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Vic Pascucci Brendan Wallace Rebecca Kaden  Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns.   To listen more, please visit  http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow u...