The Full Ratchet (TFR): Venture Capital and Startup Investing Demystified
The podcast dedicated to demystifying Venture Capital. Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti interview VC's & Startup Founders and on how they build great technology startups.
Investor Stories 469: What Visionary Leaders at Pixxel, eToro, and Founders Fund Do Differently (Mohapatra, Banks, Orlovski)
9 mins; April 02, 2026
505. The Ins and Outs of EquipmentShare's $6B IPO, The Construction Job Site in 10 Years, Where AI Thrives and Struggles to Solve Complex Problems, and Roll Ups in the VC Space (Willy Schlacks)
49 mins; March 30, 2026
Investor Stories 468: Selling Too Early, LP Pressure, and Investor Tension — Lessons from Investors at Foundry Group, Centana Growth, and Andreessen Horowitz (Levine, Byunn, Ulevitch)
10 mins; March 26, 2026
Investor Stories 467: Investors from Techstars, Redpoint, and Andreessen Horowitz on Strategy, Writing, and Building an Edge in Venture (Cohen, Effron, Simpson)
5 mins; March 23, 2026
Investor Stories 466: Jim Tananbaum, Eric Byunn, and Ben Orthlieb on the Questions LPs Should Be Asking (Tananbaum, Orthlieb, Byunn)
5 mins; March 19, 2026
504. American Dynamism: The Future of U.S. Industrials, Backing Companies with Major Production Components, Manufacturing Sovereignty, and Why Space Dominance is Critical (David Ulevitch)
44 mins; March 16, 2026
Investor Stories 465: Pricing Too Late, Selling Too Early, Investing Too Fast — Hard Lessons from Top VCs (Ramanujam, Cohen, Orlovski)
6 mins; March 12, 2026
Investor Stories 464: Anti Portfolio Confessions: Missing Twilio, Zoom, DocuSign, MongoDB, and Solana (Austin, Simpson, Chaddha)
6 mins; March 09, 2026
Investor Stories 463: Selling Transformation Not Software, Managing Through Activists and Mergers, and Scaling Culture with Intent (Agarwal, Tananbaum, Cohen)
8 mins; March 05, 2026
503. The Future of Fintech, If VC Growth Has Become a New Asset Class, and the Case For and Against Vertical Integration in the AI Age (Eric Byunn)
35 mins; March 02, 2026
Investor Stories 462: Study the Masters, Develop Your Own Eye, and Stop Outsourcing Conviction (Wang, Mohapatra, Banks)
5 mins; February 26, 2026
Investor Stories 461: Feast and Famine in Crypto, When to Take the Off Ramp, and Evaluating Founder Temperament (Simpson, Chaddha, Orthlieb)
6 mins; February 23, 2026
Investor Stories 460: The Math Behind Venture Returns, When Sizing Matters More Than Selection, and Growth Over Discounts (Wallach, Okike, Banks)
5 mins; February 19, 2026
502. A New Era For Venture: Dynamic Capitalism, Finding Alpha in the AI Cycle, Are Bubbles a Feature or a Bug, and Why the Future for America is Still Bright (Seth Levine)
48 mins; February 16, 2026
Investor Stories 459: Inside the Best LP Questions: Getting Better Over Time, Building Networks, and Driving Outcomes (Effron, Austin, Simpson)
4 mins; February 12, 2026
Investor Stories 458: Anti Portfolio Lessons: Netflix by Mail, Palantir at the Wrong Price, and the Cost of Price Sensitivity (Madera, Bussgang, Orlovski)
9 mins; February 09, 2026
Investor Stories 457: Lessons for Early Career VCs: Fiduciary Mindset, Power Law Discipline, and Personal Edge (Dash, Okike, Hudson)
7 mins; February 05, 2026
501. Spotting the Next Big Thing, Why This Cycle Is Different, Acceptable vs Unacceptable Risk, and Why Duration Is a Feature Not a Bug (Jon Callaghan)
Investor Stories 455: Lessons Learned: Building Investment Criteria, Missing HubSpot, and Staying True to Your Model (Madera, Agarwal, Bussgang)
6 mins; January 26, 2026
Investor Stories 454: When There Are No Good Choices: Navigating Ethical Dilemmas, Founder Splits, and Existential Company Threats (Cohen, Effron, Austin)
7 mins; January 22, 2026
500. AI Native VC, Achieving 50%+ Graduation from Seed to Series A, Why Access Is the Key to Success, and Why Network Driven Firms Can No Longer Compete (Ben Orthlieb)
46 mins; January 19, 2026
Investor Stories 453: Founder Led Capital Flywheels, Thoughtful Reserve Strategies, and Long Term Fund Design (York, Hsieh, Ramanujam)
6 mins; January 15, 2026
Investor Stories 452: Raising the Bar on Founders, What 100x Looks Like in Practice, and Why People Matter More Than Ever (Bussgang, Okike, Hudson)
6 mins; January 12, 2026
Investor Stories 451: Why I Passed: Moving Too Slowly, Misreading Return Drivers, and Passing on Lyft (Banks, Tananbaum, Cohen)
7 mins; January 08, 2026
499. A 17 Time Midas Lister on Greatness, the $6T AI Teammate Market, Why AI Sovereignty Is Critical, and Who Wins the Battle Between Incumbents and Startups (Navin Chaddha)
49 mins; January 05, 2026
Investor Stories 450. How to Succeed Early in VC: Slow Down, Commit to Relationships, and Become an Active Listener (Niehenke, York, Hilaly)
5 mins; January 01, 2026
Replay - The Biggest Misconceptions About AI Agents, Why Defensibility Doesn't Matter at Seed, and Whether the AI Center of Gravity Is Shifting to China (Aaref Hilaly)
30 mins; December 29, 2025
Investor Stories 449: Exceptional Founders Up Close: Listening Over Posturing, Integrity Over Ease, and Deliberate Execution from Day One (Hsieh, Delk, Maples Jr.)
5 mins; December 25, 2025
Investor Stories 448: Hard Lessons in Investing: Mistiming Trends, Relying on Partnership Debate, and Avoiding Good Money After Bad (Hilaly, Dash, Rizik)
8 mins; December 22, 2025
Investor Stories 447: Choosing the Right VC: Understanding Value Add, Assessing Alignment, and Identifying the Best Board Partner (Jiang, Walsh, Saxena)
4 mins; December 18, 2025
498. The Crypto x AI Convergence, the Truth About Stablecoins, Tokens vs Equity, and Whether NFTs Will Make a Comeback (Arianna Simpson)
46 mins; December 15, 2025
Investor Stories 446: What Experience Teaches Investors: When to Trust Conviction, How to Read Founders, and Why Coachability Matters (Rizik, Wang, Agarwal)
8 mins; December 11, 2025
Investor Stories 445: Navigating High Stakes Conflicts: Partnership Tension, Capital Inflection Points, and the Risks of Underfunding (Terbell and Clark, Banks, Tananbaum)
7 mins; December 08, 2025
Investor Stories 444. The Biggest Misses in VC: Passing on Airbnb, Overlooking Skype, and Arriving Hours After Postman Closed (Maples, Okike, Mohapatra)
6 mins; December 04, 2025
497. Investing in Outsiders, Why Extreme Personalities Win, Weighing Timing versus Trends, and Rethinking Liquidity and Option Exercise Windows (Ethan Austin)
41 mins; December 01, 2025
Investor Stories 443. Why Great Investors Move Slowly, Go Deep, and Surround Themselves with the Right People (Hsieh, Madera, Bussgang)
4 mins; November 27, 2025
Investor Stories 442. The Habits of Exceptional Founders, From Recruiting Great Teams to Understanding Customers (Walsh, Niehenke, Hilaly)
6 mins; November 24, 2025
Investor Stories 441. How Great Leaders Build Alignment, Set the Bar High, and Learn When to Let Go (Schroepfer, Saxena, Delk)
5 mins; November 20, 2025
496. How Model Progress Shifts the Goalposts, Why The Death of Software Is Overstated, and How to Diligence Hypergrowth Without Getting Burned (Jacob Effron)
37 mins; November 17, 2025
Investor Stories 440. The Questions That Expose True Alignment, How Founders Test Investors, and Why the Hard Ones Matter Most (Wang, Banks, Cohen)
5 mins; November 13, 2025
Investor Stories 439. From Angel Bets to Scalable Platforms, The Power of Listening, and Doing the Work Yourself (York, Dash, Madera)
6 mins; November 10, 2025
Investor Stories 438. The Deals That Got Away: LinkedIn, Snowflake, and Zeitview (Jiang, Schuler, Rizik)
7 mins; November 06, 2025
495. From CTO to $500M AUM: Entry Point Discipline, Why People Matter at Every Stage, and the AI-Driven Future of Banking (Victor Orlovski)
38 mins; November 03, 2025
Investor Stories 437. Why Founders Must Hold Their Ground, Why Investors Must Break Their Rules, and How Both Survive the Chaos (Binatti, Schroepfer, Ruscio)
8 mins; October 30, 2025
Investor Stories 436. Visionary Founders, From Steve Jobs to Brian Armstrong, and the Leaders Blending Life Sciences and Technology (Schuler, Saxena, Bussgang)
5 mins; October 27, 2025
Investor Stories 435. Why Complacency Kills Momentum, The Cost of Over-Diligence, and Accepting the Limits of Control (Walsh, Wang, Hudson)
5 mins; October 23, 2025
494. The Techstars Refresh, Why Bigger Isn't Better, Investing in the Seed-Strapping Era, and Why Quantum May Dwarf Every Tech Shift (David Cohen)
31 mins; October 20, 2025
Investor Stories 434. How LPs Judge Performance, Managing Founder Conflict, and The Blind Spots Investors Must Confront (Schuler, Niehenke, Agarwal)
4 mins; October 16, 2025
Investor Stories 433. The Art of Sensing Greatness, From Analytical to Intuitive Investing, and the Case for Industry Outsiders (Hsieh, Hilaly, Maples)
7 mins; October 13, 2025
Investor Stories 432. The Pain of Passing: Missed Bets on Uber, DoorDash, and Great Founders Who Proved Them Wrong (Shapiro, York, Dash)
5 mins; October 09, 2025
493. From Data Science to Drug Design: How AI Shifts Discovery, Target Validation, and Portfolio Construction (Jim Tananbaum)
39 mins; October 06, 2025
Investor Stories 431. Level Heads Build Enduring Companies, The Power of Persistence, and Why Conviction is Everything (Saxena, Delk, Rizik)
3 mins; October 02, 2025
Investor Stories 430. Focus and Execution at Nubank, How Storytelling Wins Customers, and How Creative Partnerships Unlock Growth (Binatti, Madera, Okike)
8 mins; September 29, 2025
Investor Stories 429. Focus and Discipline in Growth, The Dangers of Rules of Thumb, and Fighting Cynicism in Venture (Stevens, Patel, Shapiro)
7 mins; September 25, 2025
492. Prioritizing Monetization: Beautifully Simple Pricing, AI Models for Profitable Growth, and Guardrails for Freemium and Expansion Tiers (Madhavan Ramanujam)
47 mins; September 22, 2025
Investor Stories 428. Trust and Integrity with LPs, What Churn Reveals About Founders, and Building True Differentiation (Ralston, Abel, Shen)
5 mins; September 18, 2025
Investor Stories 427. Balancing Growth with Profitability, Why the Customer's Pain Matters Most, and Lessons from Film Financing to Supply Chain (Jiang, Ruscio, Niehenke)
10 mins; September 15, 2025
Investor Stories 426. Investor Regrets and Hard Calls: From Tax Credit Dependence to Saying No to Zoom (Hsieh, Delk, Hilaly)
5 mins; September 11, 2025
491. How AI Reshapes LP Allocation Strategy, The Convergence of Venture and Buyout, and Permanent Shifts to Liquidity (Lara Banks)
35 mins; September 08, 2025
Investor Stories 425. Don't Rush the Process: Building Insights, Networks, and Patience Early in Your VC Career (Shen, Shapiro, Jiang)
8 mins; September 04, 2025
Investor Stories 424. The Unique Traits of Visionary Founders Backed by Gigascale, Heavybit & York IE (Schroepfer, Ruscio, York)
6 mins; September 01, 2025
Investor Stories 423. From Checklists to Leadership: Lessons from iFLY, DFJ Growth & Pismo Leaders (Shen, Schuler, Binatti)
8 mins; August 28, 2025
490. Why Foundry Isn't Raising a New Fund, Lessons from Hibernation, and the Benefits and Drawbacks of a Give First Philosophy (Brad Feld)
70 hours 21 mins; August 25, 2025
Investor Stories 422: Best LP Question (Stevens, Patel, Shapiro)
6 mins; August 21, 2025
Investor Stories 421: Rewriting the Playbook (Walsh, Schroepfer, Saxena)
5 mins; August 18, 2025
Investor Stories 420: Why I Passed (Abel, Ruscio, Niehenke)
6 mins; August 14, 2025
489. Investing in the Gen AI Extraction Layer, Value Accrual in New Tech Waves, and India's Digital Currency & Identity Economy (Hemant Mohapatra)
Investor Stories 417: Best LP Question (Delk, Hilaly, Dash)
7 mins; July 31, 2025
488. Lessons from 600+ Investments, Founder Profiles that Win, Reserve Strategies that Drive Returns, and the Hidden Potential in Consumer Standouts (Charles Hudson)
43 mins; July 28, 2025
Investor Stories 416: Lessons Learned (Niehenke, York, Hsieh)
4 mins; July 24, 2025
Investor Stories 415: Why I Passed (Walsh, Binatti, Schroepfer)
487. A 20-Year Journey from the Garage to Nine-Figure ARR, Reinventing with Every Platform Shift, Avoiding the Innovator's Dilemma, and Future-Proofing for Generative AI (Dave Link)
485. From Touring with Lady Gaga, Blink‑182, and Pharrell Williams to investing in Spotify, SpaceX, and Ripple… How an Artist Went from Tastemaker to Transformative Healthcare VC (D.A. Wallach)
59 mins; June 16, 2025
Investor Stories 407: Best LP Question (Chau, Terbell and Clark, Schilling)
Investor Stories 405: Why I Passed (Terbell and Clark, Patil, Schilling)
6 mins; June 05, 2025
484. Calculating the Market Size for AI, Building an "Experimentation Machine," the Bull Case for Non-Technical Founders, and the Key to PMF in the AI Age (Jeff Bussgang)
Investor Stories 402: Visionary Founders (Yunger, Tusk, Terbell and Clark)
4 mins; May 22, 2025
483. AI Revenue-Model Transformation, Building an AI Moat, and The Arrival of Agents (Medha Agarwal)
40 mins; May 19, 2025
Investor Stories 401: Best LP Question (Chase, Boduch, Whitmire)
4 mins; May 15, 2025
482. How AI Reshapes Distribution Models, What Startups Get Wrong About Product-Led Growth, and the Real Use Case for Agents (Casber Wang)
48 mins; May 12, 2025
Investor Stories 400: Lessons Learned (Yunger, Chau, Terbell and Clark)
5 mins; May 08, 2025
481. Co-Founding Meritech, Betting Early on Facebook and Salesforce, Avoiding Shiny Objects, and Thinking Like a Public Market Investor (Paul Madera)
50 mins; May 05, 2025
Investor Stories 399: Why I Passed (Whitmire, Garcia, Tusk)
6 mins; May 01, 2025
480. The OG Seed Investor, Mike Maples Jr., on Spotting Inflection Points, Living in the Future, and Why the Best Form of Competition Is No Competition (Mike Maples)
66 hours 10 mins; April 28, 2025
Investor Stories 398: Disruptive Forces (Ralston and Patil, Schilling, Stevens)
4 mins; April 24, 2025
479. Inside the LP Playbook with Venture Vanguard, Chris Rizik: What Metrics Actually Matter, How to Fix Venture's Liquidity Crisis, and Why Co-Invests Are a Trap (Chris Rizik)
