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

Hosted by Nick Moran

Business TechnologyInterviews guestsExplicit

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Episodes

1024

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-US

About the show

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.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 20, 20265 min

Investor Stories 489: Missing Airbnb, Zocdoc, and Prediction Markets — Lessons from the Deals Investors Passed On (Demaree, Peter Davis, Solomon)

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Grant Demaree of Onebrief Mark Peter Davis of Interplay Glenn Solomon of Notable Capital Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp , the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached . 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 .

August 17, 20261 hr 1 min

515. 3 Multi-Billion-Dollar Exits in 1 Year, Lessons from Airbnb, HashiCorp, Slack, and Square, The VC Case for Staying Small, and the Battle Between Open-Weight vs. Closed Models (Glenn Solomon)

Glenn Solomon of Notable Capital joins Nick to discuss 3 Multi-Billion-Dollar Exits in 1 Year, Lessons from Airbnb, HashiCorp, Slack, and Square, The VC Case for Staying Small, and the Battle Between Open-Weight vs. Closed Models. In this episode we cover: Identifying Unique Investment Opportunities The Impact of Fund Size on Investment Strategy Challenges of Overfunding and Market Dynamics Growth and Real Success in the AI Era The Role of Hyperscalers and Frontier Labs Public Market Sentiment and IPO Considerations Future of Venture Capital and Notable's Strategy Investing in Anthropic and Market Dynamics Guest Links : Glenn's LinkedIn Glenn's X Notable's LinkedIn Notable's Website The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp , the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached . 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 .

August 13, 20266 min

Investor Stories 488: Losing Conviction, Overpaying for Discounts, and Selling Too Early — Lessons from Volition, Acadian, and Interplay (Cheng, Black, Peter Davis)

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Larry Cheng of Volition Capital Ben Black of Akkadian Ventures and Powerlaw Corp Mark Peter Davis of Interplay We asked guests to tell the most important lesson they've learned in their career. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp , the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached . 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 .

August 6, 20268 min

Investor Stories 487: Legal Battles, Founder Fraud, and High-Stakes Conflict — Lessons from Investors at Acadian Ventures, Interplay Ventures, and OneBrief (Demaree, Black, Peter Davis)

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Grant Demaree of Onebrief Ben Black of Akkadian Ventures Powerlaw Corp Mark Peter Davis of Interplay We discuss major conflicts that guests have faced and how they resolved them. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp , the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached . 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 .

August 3, 202648 min

514. AI's Effect on the Demand Curve, Investing in Durable Barriers, Large Cap vs. Small Cap Seed Deals, and Building an Internal AI Machine (Mark Peter Davis)

Mark Peter Davis of Interplay joins Nick to discuss AI's Effect on the Demand Curve, Investing in Durable Barriers, Large Cap vs. Small Cap Seed Deals, and Building an Internal AI Machine. In this episode we cover: AI's Role in Interplay's Operations Investment Strategy and Early Signals Impact of AI on Software and Venture Capital Job Displacement and New Opportunities Barriers and Durability in Software Companies Challenges for Traditional Growth Companies AI Native Services and Market Segmentation Guest Links : Mark Peter Davis's LinkedIn Mark Peter Davis's X Interplay's LinkedIn Interplay's Website The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp , the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached . 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

July 30, 20268 min

Investor Stories 486: The Traits of Visionary Founders: Ecosystem-Scale Thinking, Data-Driven Truth-Seeking, and Relentless Customer Experience Design (Blank, Demaree, Cheng)

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Steve Blank of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation Grant Demaree of Onebrief Larry Cheng of Volition Capital We asked guests to discuss the most visionary founder that they've worked with and what makes them so special. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp , the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached . 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 .

July 23, 20266 min

Investor Stories 485: Inside VC Anti-Portfolios: Missing Whatnot, Facebook & MongoDB (Dillon, Cheng, Black)

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Natalie Dillon of Maveron Larry Cheng of Volition Capital Ben Black of Akkadian Ventures and Powerlaw Corp Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp , the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached . 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 .

July 20, 202644 min

513. Opening Late-Stage Venture to Everyone, Beating 10-Year Lockups, Why Logos Don't Equal Alpha, and Building Power Law as a Public VC Fund (Ben Black)

Ben Black of Co-founder & MD of Akkadian Ventures and CIO of Powerlaw Corp joins Nick to discuss Opening Late-Stage Venture to Everyone, Beating 10-Year Lockups, Why Logos Don't Equal Alpha, and Building Power Law as a Public VC Fund. In this episode we cover: Details of Power Law's Portfolio and Investment Strategy Challenges and Benefits of Power Law Innovation and Evolution in Venture Capital Balancing Demand and Supply in Power Law Regulatory Compliance and Educational Efforts Future of Power Law and Market Positioning Guest Links : Ben's LinkedIn Ben's X Powerlaw Corp (PWRL)'s LinkedIn Powerlaw Corp (PWRL)'s Website Akkadian Ventures ' Website The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp , the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached . 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

July 16, 20266 min

Investor Stories 484: Why Selling Too Early Hurts Returns, The Leadership Power of Sleep, and The Costliest Investment Mistakes (Tananbaum, Ries, Demaree)

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Jim Tananbaum of Foresite Capital Eric Ries Author of The Lean Startup Grant Demaree of Onebrief We asked guests to tell the most important lesson they've learned in their career. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp , the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached . 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 .

July 9, 20266 min

Investor Stories 483: Best LP Questions from David Ulevich, Eric Ries, and Larry Cheng: Mission, Partnership Culture, and Enduring Institutions (Ulevitch, Ries, Cheng)

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: David Ulevitch of Andreessen Horowitz Eric Ries author of "The Lean Startup" Larry Cheng of Volition Capital We asked guests to share the best question they've ever been asked by an allocator. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures , a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp , the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached . 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 .