Post Money

In-depth conversations with top founders and VCs on building, scaling, and raising capital across industries.
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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. postmoneypodcast.substack.com

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    Is "Software Beyond the Screen" the Next 100x Returner? With Sunil Nagaraj

    When software leaves the screen and starts controlling the physical world, the venture playbook changes. For the last decade, venture capital has concentrated in asset-light SaaS businesses where growth is measured in dashboards and defensibility is defined by retention curves. Sunil Nagaraj has built his firm around a different premise: that the next wave of venture-scale outcomes will come from embedding software and AI into the physical world. From programmable dairy farms to modular satellites and digitized school transportation systems, Sunil’s thesis “software beyond the screen” focuses on companies that combine hardware substrates with software control loops to modernize large, historically underserved markets. In a world where AI compresses development cycles and traditional SaaS moats face pressure, he argues that disciplined, capital-efficient deep tech may offer stronger long-term defensibility than pure software alone. Inside the episode: * Why investing off the beaten path allows you to define the fundraising rubric * Why Sunil is not looking for “bold” founder, but careful, surgical operators * How Halter turned dairy cows into programmable systems and built a billion-dollar company * The biggest mistake technical founders make when selling into traditional industries * Why $2–3M should be enough to get a deep tech product into customers’ hands * How AI enables closed-loop control in physical systems * Why intuitive, no-manual interfaces will unlock the next wave of adoption * Why space investing became viable once it became modular and predictable * Why you must underwrite for IPO, not M&A, in overlooked markets * How Sunil runs a concentrated solo GP strategy with board seats and founder flywheels Watch full episode on YouTube: About Sunil Nagaraj: Sunil Nagaraj is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ubiquity Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm managing approximately $200 million across three funds and built around a “nerdy and early” investment philosophy. Ubiquity backs founders at the earliest stages, often pre-incorporation, who are embedding software, AI, and sensors into the physical world through what Sunil calls “software beyond the screen.” Over 15 years in venture, he has led seed and Series A investments in companies that have grown to a combined market capitalization of over $40 billion, including six unicorns, returning more than $2 billion to LPs. Prior to founding Ubiquity, Sunil spent nearly a decade at Bessemer Venture Partners, where he led early investments in Auth0 (acquired by Okta for $6.5B), Zapier, Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB), and Twitch (acquired by Amazon for $1B). Earlier in his career, he was founder and CEO of Triangulate, a venture-backed machine learning dating startup, and worked at Bain & Company, Cisco, and Microsoft. 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

  2. 17 FEB

    AI's Quiet Earthquake on VC Strategy | Anne Dwane

    If you’re trying to predict the next unicorn by pattern-matching the last one, you’re probably already behind. In this episode, Anne Dwane of Village Global explains why predicting startup outliers has never been more difficult, how AI is quietly reshaping venture capital strategy, and why diversified 100-company seed portfolios may outperform concentrated conviction bets. Drawing on her journey from founding Military.com through the dot-com crash to serving as Chief Business Officer at Chegg and now General Partner at Village Global, Anne breaks down the logic behind broad portfolio construction, scout-driven deal flow, disciplined entry valuations, and why capital efficiency often beats mega rounds. Inside the episode: * Why every startup journey is “like driving a Humvee across the desert” and what the dot-com crash taught about durable business models * Why the next trillion-dollar company probably won’t look like the last one * How Village Global builds a diversified seed portfolio of ~100 companies using 30+ operator scouts * What “narrative engineering” means and why storytelling now differentiates founders * Why private markets can “hide sins” but public markets expose weak fundamentals * How agentic tools, usage-based APIs, and collapsing transaction costs are reshaping the theory of the firm * Why leadership now matters more than management in an AI-driven world Watch full episode on YouTube: About Anne Dwane: Anne Dwane is a venture capitalist and former tech founder, venture-backed CEO, and public company executive with over 20 years of experience scaling companies from startup through IPO. She has managed full P&Ls, built high-performance teams, and developed products and services used by tens of millions of customers. Anne led two companies to successful acquisitions by Monster and Chegg, identified and integrated more than six acquisitions, and held P&L responsibility before and after Chegg’s IPO, when the company reached a valuation exceeding $1B. 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

    35 min

  3. 10 FEB

    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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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
  8. VC Power Law Explained and Why a Founder Should Care with David Beisel

    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
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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. postmoneypodcast.substack.com

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  • Creator
    In-depth conversations with top founders and VCs on building, scaling, and raising capital across industries.
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © PostMoney Podcast
  • Show Website
    Post Money