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

Jonathan Ebinger of Transform Capital joins Nick to discuss Donating Half Your Carry, Why Open Banking is the Future, and Recruiting Outside the Bay Area. In this episode we cover:

  • Walk us through your background and path to VC
  • Tell us about your experience at Blue Run and why you decided to launch Transform.
  • What is the thesis at Transform?
  • Portfolio construction / stage / check size
  • How did you come up with the model to donate 50% of your carry?
  • What causes are you allocating carry to?
  • What was the biggest challenge in the transition from early stage to late stage venture investing? 
  • So you led the Series A in Jackpocket at BlueRun and the later stage Transform. How do you avoid conflicts of interest across both firms?
  • I know you are an active fintech investor -- w/ regards to crypto... what areas are most compelling right now from an investment standpoint?
  • We're in a hot market at the moment -- seeing lots of fund creation, lots of startup formation, and valuations are inflating  to 2-3x what they were a few years ago.  Is the market overheated and are too many startups getting funded?
  • Is the bay area being threatened in its supremacy?
  • The Economist last week talked about the slowing pace of innovation and rise of mega-companies. What's your take on their position that innovation has slowed -- and what does that mean for venture?

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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 outsiders.

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