In this special replay episode Semil Shah of Haystack joins Nick to discuss 1st Institutional VC Fund Raised– Key Learnings.  We address questions including:

• Maybe we can start off with how your investment focus has evolved since the last time you joined us.
• What are your thoughts on how seed has split into pre-seed, seed, seed extension, and post seed?
• Are you investing once with a company or reserving for these various stages within seed?
• You just closed fund 3… tell us about the first two funds that set the stage.
• Would you do things differently if you could go back?
• Which raise was the hardest?
• How did the expectations of LPs change from the early funds to the institutional fund?
• What surprised you most about the raise?
• Did you connect w/ prospectives through referrals, cold calls, a combination?
• Walk us through the metrics… how many targets, meetings, avg commitment amt, etc.
• Did you ever think you might not complete the raise?
• What’s the best advice you got on the raise and who’d you get it from?
• In our first interview, you talked about how you couldn’t get a full-time job at a venture firm. I’m sure you’ve had plenty of offers as you’ve built a track record. Did you ever consider making the jump?
• When I sent my fund deck to you, you said “Awesome and looks good. As I always say, the deck matters much less than having capital partners who believe in you” For anyone listening that aspires to raise… talk about what you meant by this comment.

Guest Links:

• Semil’s Blog
• Semil on Twitter
• How To Transform A VC Fund Capital Base From Individuals To Institutional LPs

The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social.

You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we’ll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

• Peter Wagner
• Lily Lyman
• Michael Jones

Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out.

The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social.

You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we’ll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!

In this special replay episode Ed Sim of Boldstart ventures joins Nick to discuss Maintaining a Disciplined Fund Size and Strategy, The Rise of NYC Tech, and Changes in the Exit Environment. In this episode, we cover:

• Walk us through your background and path to VC
• What’s the thesis at boldstart ventures?
• What was it like starting Boldstart in NYC in 2010?
• Tell us a bit about the thesis at investment and how things evolved over the years until the ultimate exit?
• What’s your preference…  Niche and narrow problems or big and expansive opportunities?
• What is your mental model for investing in enterprise founders with ideas?
• category creation
• Why only technical founders?
• Will this enterprise bull market sustain?
• You’ve talked about being involved and sitting on boards from “whiteboard to scale” ?…  how do you manage ever-increasing board responsibilities with other demands of the job?
• Where are VCs most lacking when it comes to the value that early-stage founders require?
• Do you think there’s too much money in venture?
• How do you win in a seed with so many seed funds?

Guest Links:

• boldstart ventures
• Ed’s Twitter
• Ed’s LinkedIn

The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social.

You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we’ll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!

In this special replay episode Jason Calacanis joins Nick to discuss his new book and his secrets to successful angel investing. We address questions including:

• Why Jason wrote the book
• What drives him to continue angel investing after all his success
• His thoughts on angels that make large investments during their first year of angel investing
• His focus on finding 5,000x returns and his response to those that say he is discouraging innovation w/ this approach
• How he thinks about the economics and business model of early-stage businesses in nascent markets
• If he takes a contrarian or adversarial approach with founders

Guest Links:

• Calacanis.com
• Jason on Twitter

The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social.

You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we’ll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

• Roger Ehrenberg
• Sebastian Duesterhoeft
• Risa Stack

We asked guests to discuss the factor that could cause the most disruption to the industry going forward and how that will change the next decade of venture.

The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social.

You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we’ll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!

Jon Keidan of Torch Capital joins Nate to discuss The Consumer Investing Framework, The Importance of Building a Brand, And Tactical Advice for Founders on how to find Product-Market Fit. In this episode we cover:

• Investing in Consumer Companies, Pain Points, Market Size, and Founder Qualities
• Balancing Top-Down and Bottom-Up Investing Strategies
• Consumer Distribution and Unit Economics in Early-Stage Investing
• Building a Strong Brand and Moat for a Successful Business
• Consumer Social Platforms and Their Potential for Growth
• Fundraising Strategies for Early-Stage Startups

Guest Links:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Torch Capital

The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social.

You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we’ll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

• John Cowgill
• Jerry Neumann
• Lily Lyman

We asked guests to share the best question they've ever been asked by an allocator.

The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social.

You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we’ll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!

Jules Schwerin of RTP Global joins Nate to discuss How AI Will Transform Legacy Industries, The Bull Case for Vertical SaaS, and the Future of the Series A Market. In this episode we cover:

• Investing in Lagging Industries and Overcoming Inertia to Adopt Modern Tech
• Market Entry Strategies and AI Adoption
• Market Size, Competition, and Funding for Vertical SaaS Companies
• Logistics Investments and Niche Markets
• IPOs, Deal Making, and Valuations in the Venture Capital Industry

Guest Links:

• Email
• LinkedIn
• RTP Global

The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social.

You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we’ll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:

• Risa Stack
• Joe Kaiser
• Tim Tully

Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out.

The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social.

You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we’ll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!

Mitchell Green of Lead Edge Capital joins Nick to discuss The Hierarchy of Bullsh*t, The 8 Criteria that Matter Most, Why Boiler Rooms Win, and the Key to Raising Capital. In this episode we cover:

• Investment Criteria for Scaling Companies
• Leveraging a Network of High-Net-Worth Individuals for Investment Opportunities
• Hiring and Evaluating Analysts in the Venture Capital Industry
• Investing in Private Companies and IPOs
• AI, Entrepreneurship, and Investing

Guest Links:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Lead Edge Capital

The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.

Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social.

You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we’ll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!