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

Episodes

  1. VC Power Law Expained and Why a Founder Should Care with David Beisel

    8 HR AGO

    VC Power Law Expained 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 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

  2. 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 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
  3. Decacorns, Centicorns and AI Market Dynamics with Ullas Naik

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

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

    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
  6. Post Money Podcast Trailer

    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

Trailer

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    In-depth conversations with top founders and VCs on building, scaling, and raising capital across industries.
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © PostMoney Podcast
  • Show Website
    Post Money