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

Victor Pascucci of Energy Capital Ventures joins Nick to discuss The Trillion $ Opportunity in Natural Gas, Building A Strategic LP-Base, and Creating a Strong LPAC. In this episode we cover:

  • Give us an overview of the data and the opportunity within the natural gas sector for tech disruption.  What percentage of our energy consumption is natural gas based?
  • Why focus on natural gas?
  • Why is now the right time for a natural gas focused venture fund?
  • Let's talk for a moment about the digital transformation of the natural gas industry. Where can we expect to see the most change going forward? Exploration, development, or production? 
  • Any concerns about the volume and quality of dealflow in this specialized sector?
  • What kind of founder do you look for to change this legacy industry? How may these founders differ from the Silicon Valley stereotype? 
  • 5 large publicly-traded LPs -- Talk a bit about how you plan to work with the LPs as you make investments, manage the portfolio?
  • How do you avoid the tail wagging the dog?
  • How do you handle a situation where the tech you are investing in is highly disruptive and margin eroding to LPs in the fund?
  • Many talk about the importance of carbon neutrality, yet it's a very opaque and difficult thing to measure.  One company's carbon footprint extends beyond just what happens within but all the partners, suppliers, distributors and, at times, customers that they interact with.  How can we appropriately assess carbon impact in the pursuit of carbon neutrality?
  • Tell us a bit about learnings and best practices in building an advisory board.  I'd suspect that, much like a startup, there is a point where a well-constructed board can really amplify efforts, and a bloated or not well functioning board can kill momentum and progress.  How have you structured a board for long term success?

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The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in the exceptions.

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