3 DAYS AGO

Meet the VC Who Brings a Tank to a Knife Fight with Brad Svrluga

Seed-stage venture capital is often described as a people business, but very few firms are structurally built around that reality. In this episode, Brad Svrluga, co-founder of Primary, explains why his firm deliberately rebuilt the seed VC model to operate more like an execution platform than a traditional investment partnership. Instead of optimizing for GP economics, Primary reinvests management fees into a large, senior operating team that supports founders on talent, go-to-market execution, customer development, and capital strategy from day one. The conversation goes deep into seed-stage governance, including why boards often add friction too early, what productive board involvement actually looks like, and how focus and prioritization matter more than formal control at the earliest stages. Brad also shares lessons from 25 years in venture capital, why investing is fundamentally an apprenticeship business, and why learning to make money in venture first requires losing it. Inside the episode: * Why most seed-stage venture firms are structurally misaligned with founder success * How Primary built one of the largest operating teams in seed investing and why scale matters even before product–market fit * The real reason early hiring mistakes kill startups * Why the best founders actively seek operational leverage instead of “staying lean” or avoiding help * Why being a founder’s “first call” requires infrastructure, not just experience or good intentions * What a 25-deal fund with nine unicorns reveals about breadth vs. single-outlier portfolio construction * Why founder quality consistently outweighs product and market at the seed stage * What venture boards should never spend time on * How AI is compressing both success and failure timelines for startups * How portfolio scale becomes more important when failure rates rise but outliers get bigger Watch Full Episode on YouTube: About Brad Svrluga: Brad Svrluga is a co-founder and General Partner at Primary Venture Partners. He began his career in venture capital at the very end of the internet bubble and invested through the difficult market cycles of the early 2000s. His investment focus spans vertical SaaS, healthcare, and financial services, and he has partnered with multiple companies in each of these sectors that have gone on to exceed $1B in valuation. Together with co-founder Ben Sun, Brad helped scale Primary into what is now the world’s largest standalone seed-stage venture firm. He currently serves as Managing Partner and co-leads the firm’s investment team. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

46 min

3 FEB

The Toast, Shopify & Twilio Pattern Most VCs Still Miss | Kent Bennett

If you’re waiting for clean metrics before trusting product-market fit, you’re probably already behind. In this episode, Kent Bennett explains how early product-market fit actually shows up in the real world, why customer behavior matters more than spreadsheets, and how some of the most successful venture-backed companies were recognized before the data looked obvious. Kent draws on nearly two decades at Bessemer Venture Partners, sharing lessons from companies like Toast, Shopify, Twilio, and Wix. He breaks down why traditional venture metrics often lag reality, how AI is reshaping early signals, and why investors who start with teams or trends often miss what matters most. Inside the episode: * Why real product-market fit often shows up through customer behavior, not revenue charts * How Toast quietly proved demand when coffee shops and restaurants replaced “working” systems * Why most early-stage metrics are lagging indicators and misleading at seed and Series A * How Kent evaluates startups before ARR, payback periods, or clean dashboards exist * Why AI has increased both the strength of early signals and the number of false positives * How founders and investors should think about companies that won’t become venture-scale outcomes * Why stopping, selling, or changing course can be the most rational decision * Why the “death of SaaS” narrative is overblown * Final advice for founders: don’t build “AI for X” Watch full episode on YouTube: About Kent Bennett: Kent Bennett is a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, where he focuses on B2B application software and consumer “earthquakes”, categories where shifts in behavior create entirely new markets. His investing lens is shaped by a deep interest in how products earn real adoption before they earn headlines. Before venture capital, Kent followed an unconventional path. He worked as a creative executive at an entertainment production company, developing and selling original projects including a network television pilot and a feature film, before beginning his professional career at Bain & Company across sectors such as IT, retail, consumer products, healthcare, and biotech. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, and graduated summa cum laude in systems engineering from the University of Virginia as a Jefferson Scholar. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

41 min

26 JAN

How the U.S. Government Quietly Built Venture Capital and Is Doing it Again | Alexander Harstrick

The U.S. Department of Defense is one of the largest buyers of technology in the world and yet most founders and venture investors still don’t understand how defense spending actually fuels startup growth. In this episode, Alexander Harstrick explains how government capital quietly de-risks early-stage technology, why dual-use startups are gaining an advantage, and how shifts inside the Pentagon since 2014 have reshaped venture capital, defense tech, and early-stage investing. Alex shares his unconventional path from consulting and corporate investing to military service, Pentagon acquisitions, and ultimately founding J2 Ventures. He explains how shifts inside the DoD since 2014 have opened the door for startups to work with the government faster, earlier, and with far less friction than most founders and investors realize. Inside the episode: * Why the U.S. government has historically been the largest and most overlooked source of early technology risk capital * How dual-use companies can use government dollars to de-risk product–market fit without sacrificing commercial focus * Why most founders misunderstand how DoD procurement actually works and who really controls billion-dollar budgets * The barbell strategy for startups: using defense as early validation or as a scaled enterprise customer * Why many defense-focused funds are likely to fail and what investors consistently get wrong about this market * How companies like Aura, Palantir, and other dual-use businesses quietly unlocked massive government contracts * Why building products only for the Department of Defense is almost always a strategic mistake Watch full episode on YouTube: About Alexander Harstrick: Alexander Harstrick is a Managing Partner at J2 Ventures, investing in dual-use and deep-tech companies at the intersection of defense, government, and commercial markets. He brings an operator’s perspective shaped by experience in venture investing, military intelligence, and national security innovation. Before J2, Alexander worked in corporate venture investing at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, served as a U.S. Army Military Intelligence Officer with deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, and led early-stage technology investments inside the Department of Defense through the Defense Innovation Unit and National Security Innovation Capital. He has also worked with KKR and supported strategic finance initiatives for the U.S. Air Force via AFWERX. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

50 min

19 JAN

From Bankruptcy to Fund VI: Lessons from a Founder-Led VC | Nihal Mehta

Most venture capital stories start with wins, but this one starts with bankruptcy. In this PostMoney Podcast episode, Nihal Mehta, co-founder and managing partner at ENIAC Ventures, recounts how failing publicly in his early 20s, including filing for Chapter 7, shaped his view of founders, risk, and what actually matters in the zero-to-one stage. From meeting his partners as engineering students at the University of Pennsylvania to building ENIAC over 16 years into its sixth fund, Nihal explains why survival, not hype, is the real compounding advantage. Drawing from his experience as a serial founder before becoming an investor, Nihal breaks down why ENIAC was deliberately built as a founder-led, “anti-VC” firm, why resilience and grit are earned only through failure, and why staying lean and close to customers matters more than polished strategy decks. He shares how ENIAC helps founders through product-market fit, why shipping fast beats perfection whether you’re B2B or B2C, and what it really takes to earn the right to raise a Series A in today’s market. Inside the Episode * Bankruptcy, Chapter 7, and the founder scars that shaped ENIAC * How four founders met at UPenn and built a firm over 16 years * Why ENIAC was designed as a founder-led “anti-VC” * “Just stay alive”: why survival is the most underrated startup strategy * Product-market fit: shipping fast, staying lean, and listening to customers * Seed vs Series A today: check sizes, valuations, and rising expectations * Why many strong companies are overlooked in a growth-obsessed market * Human unicorns, repeat founders, and execution over ideas * How AI is changing who can build companies Watch Full Episode on YouTube: About Nihal Mehta Nihal Mehta is a co-founder and managing partner at ENIAC Ventures, a founder-led seed-stage firm he’s helped build over 16 years. Before venture capital, Nihal was a serial founder who experienced both exits and failure, including a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in his early 20s, followed by acquisitions of ipsh! by Omnicom and buzzd/LocalResponse by BlueCava. He began investing early, backing companies such as AdMob (acquired by Google), Alloy, Brightwheel, Tala, and Uber. Alongside his wife Reshma, he is an active angel investor and LP supporting underrepresented founders, and is deeply involved in philanthropy through initiatives like Project Ahimsa and Help Main Street. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

33 min

12 JAN

Lessons from a $100M+ Company, from Founder to VC | Rob Biederman

Building to $100M+ in revenue changes how you think about growth, capital, and control. In this episode, Rob Biederman breaks down the hard lessons from scaling Catalant and why those experiences led him to build Asymmetric as an early-stage investment firm that deliberately operates outside the traditional venture capital model. Rob shares the real story behind turning a business school project into a category-defining services marketplace, including early rejection from top venture firms, a pivotal cold email to Mark Cuban, and the long-term consequences of prioritizing revenue growth over product and data infrastructure. Inside the episode: * Why early customer pull matters more than pitch decks or stealth mode * How obsession with traction can quietly create technical and organizational debt * The trade-offs between revenue growth, capital efficiency, and founder ownership * Why some markets are better disrupted by owning the full P&L instead of selling software * How venture incentives shape founder behavior, often unintentionally Rob also unpacks Asymmetric’s investment strategy across pre-seed software, tech-enabled services, and SMB rollups, including why the firm prefers to stay “off-piste,” operate at smaller scale, and source most deals through founder-led networks. Watch full episode on YouTube: About Rob Biederman: Rob Biederman is a founder-turned-investor and the founder of Asymmetric, an early-stage investment firm focused on software, tech-enabled services, and SMB rollups. He previously co-founded Catalant, scaling it from a business school project into a $100M+ services marketplace backed by firms including Greylock and General Catalyst. Rob brings an operator’s lens to investing, with a strong emphasis on capital efficiency, incentives, and long-term outcomes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

37 min

5 JAN

VC Power Law Explained and Why a Founder Should Care with David Beisel

Only a handful of startups create all the returns in venture capital and most founders don’t realize what that means for them. In this PostMoney Podcast episode, David Beisel, co-founder and partner at NextView Ventures, explains how the VC power law actually plays out after investing in 200+ companies, why only 8–10 truly matter, and how that reality shapes investor behavior at the pre-seed and seed stage. Drawing from 15 years of experience, from raising a $21M first fund to managing ~$500M AUM, David breaks down why hard pivots create big wins, why incremental changes usually fail, and how founders should think about pricing, ownership, conviction, and patience when raising capital. The conversation closes with a candid take on AI’s second-order effects and a provocative idea most VCs won’t say out loud: AI may commoditize large parts of venture capital itself, forcing firms to reinvent where real value comes from. Inside the Episode * VC power law explained (and why founders should care) * Why only a few startups drive venture returns * Pre-seed vs seed: check sizes, ownership, and conviction * Why hard pivots outperform small optimizations * Product-market fit: how to know when you actually have it * Pricing discipline: why winning on price is dangerous * How AI could reshape and commoditize venture capital Wathc Full Episode on YouTube: About David Beisel David Beisel is a co-founder and Partner at NextView Ventures, a high-conviction, hands-on seed-stage venture firm investing in technology companies reshaping the Everyday Economy. His investment track record includes Attentive, TripleLift, Parsec (acquired by Unity for $320M), BookBub, thredUP (IPO), MealPal, Hatch, and TapCommerce (acquired by Twitter for $100M). Prior to NextView, David was a Vice President at Venrock and previously co-founded Sombasa Media, which grew to 5M users before being acquired by About.com. He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and an AB in Economics from Duke University (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

42 min

22/12/2025

How Top VCs Are Building AI Portfolios in 2026 with Apoorva Pandhi

In this episode of Post Money Podcast, Nilanjana Bhowmik sits down with Apoorva Pandhi, early-stage investor at Zetta Ventures, to unpack how the AI stack is really evolving and where founders and VCs should be placing their bets heading into 2026. Inside the Episode * How the modern AI stack is structuredand why most founders are betting on the wrong layer * Why foundation models are becoming commodities and defensibility is moving elsewhere * The difference between copilots, agents, and AI agencies and why workflow ownership matters * When AI startups must go full-stack and build their own domain-specific models * Why data infrastructure and unified runtimes remain critical in an AI-first world * How feedback loops and data flywheels create long-term moats * The future of SaaS in an agentic era and why it’s being reshaped, not killed * How early-stage VCs evaluate AI startups heading into 2026 * Portfolio construction strategies for AI funds in a power-law market Watch Full Episode on YouTube: About Apoorva Pandhi Apoorva Pandhi is an early-stage investor at Zetta Ventures, a fund focused on AI, data infrastructure, and AI-native applications. Prior to Zetta, Apoorva invested at Lightspeed and Foundation Capital and previously worked as an operator in NLP-driven companies, leading go-to-market efforts for AI products. His work spans data infrastructure, AI tooling, and full-stack AI applications across biotech, enterprise software, and developer platforms. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

43 min

16/12/2025

Decacorns, Centicorns and AI Market Dynamics with Ullas Naik

In this episode of Post Money, Nilanjana Bhowmik sits down with Ullas Naik, Founder of Streamlined Ventures, one of the most consistently successful seed-stage venture capital investors operating as a solo GP. Over the past 14 years, Ullas has seeded more than 180 companies, producing 22 unicorns, multiple decacorns, and two centicorns ($100B+ outcomes). In this conversation, he shares how conviction-driven investing, speed of decision-making, and pattern recognition enabled him to back breakout founders early, often when large venture partnerships passed. Ullas explains why venture partnerships often regress to the mean, how internal politics cause funds to miss asymmetric opportunities, and why the solo GP model can outperform in seed investing. The conversation dives deep into AppLovin, one of the most iconic seed investments of the last decade, and why nearly every major firm passed before AppLovin went on to become a ~$200B company with minimal dilution. Looking forward, Ullas offers a sober assessment of AI, incumbents, and startup risk. He explains why the current market is more dangerous for founders than the early internet era, how OpenAI and large platforms compress time-to-competition, and why vertical applications and infrastructure still offer defensibility, but only if chosen carefully. Inside the Episode - How a solo GP built 22 unicorns and 2 centicorns - Why venture partnerships miss winners, as consensus decision-making dilutes bold bets. - AppLovin case study: why top firms passed and analytics became the moat - Contrarian bets in quantum computing, including early investment in Rigetti. - Why AI makes startups riskier, with incumbents copying and bundling faster. - Seed portfolio strategy in a power-law market, where only a few outcomes matter. About Ullas Naik Ullas Naik is the Founder of Streamlined Ventures, a seed-focused venture capital firm investing in exceptional founders early. He has invested in more than 600 companies across his career, including category-defining businesses in software, infrastructure, AI, advertising, and emerging technologies. Before Streamlined Ventures, Ullas was a leading internet equity analyst in the 1990s and a partner at Globespan Capital (formerly JAFCO/Globespan), where he helped build the firm to over $1B in assets under management. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

41 min

09/12/2025

Capital Efficiency in 2026: Why Raising Less Money Creates Better Outcomes for Founders with Ashmeet Sidana

Nilanjana Bhowmik sits down with Ashmeet Sidana, Founder & Chief Engineer at Engineering Capital, for a masterclass on what founders get wrong about fundraising, capital efficiency, and building enduring companies in the age of AI. Ashmeet shares why venture capital is an overfunded asset class, why too many people are becoming entrepreneurs for the wrong reasons, and the uncomfortable truth that raising more money often makes founders poorer. He reveals what it really takes to start a fund, why he chose to remain a solo GP, how to build a hyper-focused investment strategy, and the framework he uses to evaluate technical founders in the first meeting. The conversation goes deep into the math of dilution, the role of two-pizza teams, the impact of AI and agentic automation on product development, and what defensibility looks like when code can be generated instantly. Ashmeet breaks down his expectations for the next 12–18 months of execution, how founders can raise with discipline, and why founder-CEOs remain the strongest predictor of breakout outcomes. This is a rare, unfiltered look into how one of the most respected early-stage technical investors actually thinks about founders, capital, and competitive advantage, and what it now takes to win. In this episode we cover: * Why venture is overfunded and why most new entrepreneurs shouldn’t be entrepreneurs * How loneliness, work style, and decision-making define solo GPs * Building Engineering Capital around technical insight, capital efficiency, and focus * What Ashmeet looks for in founders * The “two-pizza team” model and why AI makes small teams even more powerful * The hidden cost of raising capital: dilution, misaligned incentives, and broken IPO markets * Why raising less capital often leads to higher founder wealth * How upstream capital affects early-stage strategy and founder alignmentThe new meaning of defensibility in the LLM era: execution, insight, and technical advantage * Books and papers every founder should read to understand the future of AI Watch this episode on YouTube: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

45 min

02/12/2025

AI in the Physical World, Human-Centered Founders, and the New Role of Venture Capital with Bilal Zuberi

Nilanjana Bhowmik and Bilal Zuberi decode the next trillion-dollar shift: AI transforming the physical world. With 16+ years in early-stage deep tech investing, and a career spanning MIT, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, and now Red Glass Ventures, Bilal Zuberi explains why physical AI, robotics, intelligent machines, and industrial automation represent the next trillion-dollar wave. He dives deep into how AI reduces the cost of intelligence, how it will touch every physical industry (automotive, manufacturing, construction, energy, semiconductors, healthcare, defense), and what kind of founders will define the next decade. This episode is a masterclass for founders, operators, and investors building at the intersection of AI, software, and the real world. Inside the Episode: - Why physical AI is the next big shift - AI’s impact on automotive, aviation, semiconductors, manufacturing, construction, healthcare, and defense - How AI can fill critical shortages in scientists, engineers, healthcare specialists, and manufacturing talent - Why most industrial incumbents lack internal AI capability - Types of founders that succeed - Founder–market fit: what Bilal looks for in the first 10 minutes - Why mega-funds cannot support early founders the way they used to - The gap between small seed funds and massive multibillion-dollar firms - How Bilal supports founders across hiring, GTM, product insertion points, and capital strategy - Capital Strategy in the Physical World - How to think about $5M, $10M, and $50M raises - The human side of venture This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

55 min

21/11/2025

Post Money Podcast Trailer

Post Money Podcast features conversations with the world’s leading founders and venture capitalists across industries. Hosted by Nilanjana Bhowmik, Founder & General Partner at Converge, Post Money dives into the art of raising capital, building high-growth companies, founder psychology, early-stage strategy, and the human decisions behind iconic outcomes. New episodes weekly with the builders and backers shaping the next decade of innovation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

1 min

Post Money

Episodes

Meet the VC Who Brings a Tank to a Knife Fight with Brad Svrluga

The Toast, Shopify & Twilio Pattern Most VCs Still Miss | Kent Bennett

How the U.S. Government Quietly Built Venture Capital and Is Doing it Again | Alexander Harstrick

From Bankruptcy to Fund VI: Lessons from a Founder-Led VC | Nihal Mehta

Lessons from a $100M+ Company, from Founder to VC | Rob Biederman

VC Power Law Explained and Why a Founder Should Care with David Beisel

How Top VCs Are Building AI Portfolios in 2026 with Apoorva Pandhi

Decacorns, Centicorns and AI Market Dynamics with Ullas Naik

Capital Efficiency in 2026: Why Raising Less Money Creates Better Outcomes for Founders with Ashmeet Sidana

AI in the Physical World, Human-Centered Founders, and the New Role of Venture Capital with Bilal Zuberi

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