On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Ed Sim Lanham Napier McKeever “Mac” Conwell II Mike Smerklo Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out. Did you miss our guests' full-length episodes? Ed Sim Episode #266 Lanham Napier Episode #248 McKeever “Mac” Conwell II Episode #277 Mike Smerklo Episode #278 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on ...
Jul 08, 2021•11 min
Ali Tamaseb of DCVC joins Nick to discuss Data on the Key Traits of Billion-Dollar Startups with the Author of Super Founders: What Data Reveals About Billion-Dollar Startups. In this episode we cover: Founders' history of building Second-time founders and their larger chance of being unicorns Super Founders bouncing to different industries isn't detrimental to their success Having domain experience does not correlate to success How non/technical founders partner with the same How proxy metrics ...
Jul 05, 2021•46 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Farooq Abbasi Ty Findley Lo Toney Monique Woodard Each investor discusses a portfolio company that did not survive and why it was that they failed. Did you miss our guests' full-length episodes? Farooq Abbasi Episode #251 Ty Findley Episode #250 Lo Toney Episode #249 Monique Woodard Episode #273 For other great episodes, go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter . The host o...
Jul 01, 2021•11 min
Tsune Shirota of World Innovation Lab joins Nick to discuss Tech Competition between China, Japan, and Korea, Why IT is King in Japan, and When American Tech Should Expand to Asia. Other topics include t he transition from manual services to software, B2B buying behavior in the US vs Japan, determining the shape of your S-Curve, and best markets - determined by need and distribution. Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter . The ...
Jun 28, 2021•41 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Reid Christian Glenn Rockman Spencer Maughan Billy Libby Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor....
Jun 24, 2021•11 min
Ben Sun of Primary Venture Partners joins Nick to discuss Distribution vs. Product, Founders vs. Markets, and Winning Deals in a Hyper-Competitive Seed Market. In this episode, we cover: Can you tell us a bit about your founder journey? What are your thoughts on the major differences and challenges now versus when you started a Community Connect? Is there a bias at Primary toward consumer investments? What region focus does Primary have? Is Miami a viable tech center or is this hype? What is the...
Jun 21, 2021•48 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Nicole Quinn Niko Bonatsos Niki Pezeshki Shawn Carolan Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach....
Jun 17, 2021•9 min
Amy Nauiokas of Anthemis Group joins Nick to discuss Embedded Finance, Community-based Fintech, the Demise of Legacy Institutions, and Driving Returns with a Diversity Investment Mandate. In this episode, we cover: Tell us a bit about your background and your path to venture. Anthemis. What is it? Tell us a bit about the thesis and what you guys do? So where do you find yourself spending most of your time? Amy can you give us a quick primer on the difference between FinTech and tech fin? What is...
Jun 14, 2021•51 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Paul Martino David Goldberg Maren Bannon Neil Sequeira Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns....
Jun 10, 2021•10 min
Billy Libby of Upper90 joins Nick to discuss Non-Dilutive Financing Options, Fintech is Eating the World, Digital Asset Aggregation, and Quants Investing in VC. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC. What’s the thesis at Upper90? On the website, it says "We are not looking to finance major technology disruptors but rather the derivative businesses being created around them." Can you explain what you mean by that? How do you underwrite and assess the risk of so...
Jun 07, 2021•43 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Eric Collins Gigi Levy Weiss Tim Guleri Ben Casnocha Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out....
Jun 03, 2021•11 min
Spencer Maughan of Finistere Ventures joins Nick to discuss How the Generational Shift Is Affecting Food, Investing in Vertical Farming and in New Biologics, and Platform Solutions to Food Dilemmas. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC What’s the thesis at Finistere Ventures? Focus? Check Size? Talk a bit about your global footprint, and why that is of value to the firm or the founders? What makes Finistere unique? What do you see as some of the biggest drive...
May 31, 2021•32 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Jonathan Hsu Janet Bannister Avichal Garg Simeon Iheagwam Each investor discusses a portfolio company that did not survive and why it was that they failed....
May 27, 2021•11 min
Dharmesh Thakker of Battery Ventures joins Nick to discuss The Future of Cloud, Business Model Transitions from Subscription to Consumption, and The Shift from Technology-first to End-User Value. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC. What’s the thesis at Battery? Any significant differences in types of products being built across geographies? How does Battery segment the cloud infrastructure market and find opportunity areas in the subsegments of most interes...
May 24, 2021•47 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Monique Woodard Sach Chitnis Brendan Wallace Mike Smerklo Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor....
May 20, 2021•10 min
Glenn Rockman of Adjuvant Capital joins Nick to discuss The Future of Public Health, VC Differentiation within Life Sciences, and Preventing the Next Pandemic. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC. What’s the thesis at Adjuvant? When taking on strategic LPs, especially those that are very high profile, and have their own mandates and their own agendas, do they inform you where you deploy capital, or is Adjuvant completely independent and financially motivated...
May 17, 2021•44 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Erik Torenberg Patrick Gallagher Alfred Chuang Stephen McIntyre Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach....
May 13, 2021•11 min
Neil Sequeira of Defy joins Nick to discuss Overlooked Opportunity in EdTech, Letting the Entrepreneur Be the Guide, and Defy’s Sage Program. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC. Remind us of the thesis at Defy. Tell us a little about your team at Defy. How it has grown and evolved and all of the things each person brings to the table which makes the firm stronger? What do you think is one of the most underappreciated skills of the great venture investor? Ho...
May 10, 2021•46 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Monique Woodard Marcelino Pantoja Niko Bonatsos Jim Douglass Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns.
May 06, 2021•8 min
Guy Perelmuter of GRIDS Capital joins Nick to discuss The Deep Tech Revolution, Predictions for the Job Market, Crypto, and NFTs, and The Inevitabilities of the Next Decade. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC. What's the thesis at GRIDS Capital? A common critique of deep tech — it takes longer, it's more unpredictable, timing is of greater risk, and it's more capital intensive — why commit your firm to exclusively targeting a segment that most venture inves...
May 03, 2021•43 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Ryan Gembala James Currier Jesse Middleton Ramy Adeeb Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out.
Apr 29, 2021•11 min
Nicole Quinn of Lightspeed Venture Partners joins Nick to discuss The Effect of Technology on Relationships, The 5 Indicators of a True Brand, The Appeal of Love/Hate Businesses, & the Rise of Super Apps. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC What if anything changed the most from your early days, angel investing on your own to the days you joined the team at Lightspeed? I think a good place to start is with an article you wrote a little over a year ago about ...
Apr 26, 2021•36 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Henrique Dubugras Nikhil Basu Trivedi Check Warner Brian Hirsch Each investor discusses a portfolio company that did not survive and why it was that they failed.
Apr 22, 2021•10 min
Mike Smerklo of Next Coast Ventures joins Nick to discuss The Sustainable & Temporary Trends of COVID, The Self-Aware Founder, and Writing the Survival Guide for the Mental Aspect of Entrepreneurship. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC. What's the thesis at Next Coast Ventures? What are 'Next Coast' markets? How do you come up with the themes that drive investment focus at NCV? What are some of the trends emerging now that you are following that may have th...
Apr 19, 2021•48 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Maren Bannon Simeon Iheagwham Ty Findley Paul Martino Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor.
Apr 15, 2021•8 min
McKeever "Mac" Conwell II of RareBreed Ventures joins Nick to discuss Raising a Fund via General Solicitation & Twitter, How Rolling Funds Can Disadvantage LPs, and Facing the Reality of Diversity in VC. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC What’s the thesis at RareBreed Ventures? Why did you start RareBreed Ventures? Tell me about the fundraise... when did you first kickoff and then start getting momentum? Have you gotten better at raising over time? What ha...
Apr 12, 2021•47 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: David Goldberg Sach Chitnis Kane Hsieh Reid Christian Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach.
Apr 08, 2021•10 min
Brendan Wallace of Fifth Wall joins Nick to discuss How COVID Has Instigated a Massive Demographic Reshuffling, Accelerating the Transformation of Retail, and Why Real Estate Will Become the Largest Consumer of Climate Tech. In this episode, we cover: The world becomes more flat over time, and w/ mobility tech, like Uber and others, the distance between points shortens over time, which all fundamentally disrupts urban planning of the cities themselves but also the suburbs and beyond... now we're...
Apr 05, 2021•50 min
On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Ben Casnocha Elizabeth Yin Ed Sim Tim Guleri Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns.
Apr 01, 2021•12 min
Paul Martino of Bullpen Capital joins Nick to discuss Doubling Down on Data to Discover Overlooked Founders, Teaching and Coaching CEOs, & Bullpen's Approach to Measuring Fund Success. In this episode, we cover: Can you first refresh us on the thesis at Bullpen and then maybe give us an update on the firm over the past three years? How do you define post-seed today... and is it moving as other stages have? Are you still one of the few specialized at post-seed or have you seen increasing competit...
Mar 29, 2021•39 min
