Next Round Ready

Christopher Hines
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Next Round Ready is where founders learn to leverage content instead of waiting to raise capital. Host Chris Hines has recorded 100+ conversations with investors across the venture ecosystem, sharing what actually builds fundability — long before the pitch.

  1. Season 7 Trailer

    Season 7 Trailer

    We're excited to launch episode 7 of the Next Round Ready podcast! this season we're taking things up a notch. Founders get access to quality investors and investors can get quality deal flow before its live.

    Season 7 Trailer

  2. Sep 28

    5 Patterns of Fundable Founders

    In this episode, Chris breaks down the five patterns of fundable founders. This comes after reviewing well over 500 founders within the last two years. See if your startup is fundable: https://Raise.NextRoundReady.vc Get the Free course: https://nextroundready.vc/products/finding-fundable  Let's connect: https://LinkedIn.com/in/thecoachchris https://x.com/thecoachchris_ https://instagram.com/nextroundvc

    5 Patterns of Fundable Founders

  3. Sep 25

    From Volunteer to VC Connector_ Pam Kavalam

    I'm Chris Hines, and on this episode of Next Round Ready, I sit down with Pam Kavalam — a self-described "prolific commenter," super connector, and community builder who's been quietly becoming one of the most plugged-in people in the New York venture ecosystem. Pam's path into VC is anything but traditional: she started in international education at NYU, spent time in Japan on the JET program, transitioned into tech through a complaint email to ClassPass that turned into a job, worked her way through customer success, operations, and product roles, and eventually broke into venture by volunteering — a lot. She volunteered at check-in desks for hundreds of events, ran dinners for visiting founders, helped with AGMs, and showed up day after day until the community couldn't help but notice her. In our conversation, Pam walks me through how she made that transition, why volunteering at event check-in is the ultimate networking hack, and how asking good questions became her superpower when she had no financial or social capital to offer. We dig into why I think hosting a podcast is a cheat code for building relationships, the parallels between breaking into VC and fundraising as a founder, and why patience — not pitching — is the real key to building trust with investors. Pam also shares her thoughts on event curation, why she doesn't believe in charging founders to attend, and how being a "prolific commenter" on LinkedIn built her reputation as a super connector. She's about to start a new full-time role working with founders and early-stage VCs, and she shares two Notion resources — one for founders and VC-curious folks, and one for events — that you can connect with her on LinkedIn to access. Connect with Pam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pam-kavalam/ 00:00 Introduction 00:20 Career Journey 03:59 Volunteering & Networking 06:04 The Podcast Cheat Code 09:31 Value of Connecting People 10:46 Finding Founders Outside Traditional Hubs 12:20 Event Planning Experience 15:29 Patience in Relationship Building 17:18 Focused Events & Curation 19:19 Event Pricing & Value 22:13 Content Creation & LinkedIn 23:39 Outro & Resources

    From Volunteer to VC Connector_ Pam Kavalam

  4. Sep 21

    Move the Needle Content to Sell

    In this episode, we break down how founders can use content to drive sales — even if they've never sold anything before. The episode covers a 3-step framework for creating content that primes prospects, builds trust, and ultimately moves them to buy. Key Topics Why founders struggle with sales — Most technical founders have no sales experience and have never taken a sales course. The host shares his own background in door-to-door and multi-level sales that built his selling skills. The problem with surface-level content — With AI tools answering questions instantly, purely informational content is no longer enough. You need content that delivers transformation. Step 1: Solve a specific problem — Identify your audience's real problems (not just the obvious ones), going layers deeper. This requires genuine experience in your marketplace and a deep understanding of your ideal customer. Step 2: Research through ongoing conversations — Keep talking to your audience to understand how they describe their problems. Different founders on X, Instagram, or LinkedIn talk about their issues in completely different ways — your content's verbiage must match. Step 3: "Move the Needle" content — Content specifically designed to sell. Give people direct reasons to buy, identify with their problems, and show how your product changes their situation. This only works if you've built goodwill with consistent, valuable content first. The earning-the-right principle — You're not Beyoncé. You can't just show up and sell. You earn the right to sell by consistently delivering value — so when your "sales episode" drops, your audience is ready. Mentioned in this episode Startup Content Capital — An upcoming program launching soon. Reach out on Instagram, LinkedIn, or X for early access and discounted pricing. 00:00 Welcome Content Will Help You With Sales 00:15 Why Most Founders Hate Selling 01:22 The Problem With Surface-Level & AI-Generated Content 02:51 Step 1: Create Content That Solves a Specific Problem 04:18 Step 2: Research Your Audience's Problems Through Conversation 06:25 Step 3: Move the Needle Content (Selling Through Content) 10:42 Wrap-Up & Call to Action: Startup Content Capital Program

    Move the Needle Content to Sell

  5. Sep 18

    Investing with Hearst ft. Damian Murray

    Hey everyone, Chris here. This week I sit down with Damian Murray from Hearst Level Up Ventures to break down what really makes a founder stand out — and what makes an investor pass. We get into the green flags I look for, like resourcefulness and relationship building, and the red flags that kill deals, from incessant name-dropping to lacking basic likability. Damian walks through Hearst's investment thesis across fintech, sustainability, and sports & media, and explains why their corporate VC process takes 4-8 weeks. We also talk about the power of content creation for founders, Kevin Durant's massive return on Hugging Face, and why venture capital needs to become more accessible to Middle America. If you're a founder looking to understand what investors are really thinking, this one's for you. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome & Introduction 1:45 Green Flags in Founders 6:59 Red Flags in Founders 11:40 Investment Thesis & Focus Areas 14:40 Investment Process & Timeline 17:02 Building Relationships & Content Strategy 19:09 Hugging Face & Athlete Investors 21:33 Democratizing Venture Capital 22:40 Closing & How to Reach Damian Mentions & References: Hearst Level Up Ventures — Damian's fund; Hearst has 300+ businesses, 50%+ revenue outside media Hugging Face — recently acquired by Nvidia; Kevin Durant invested $100K at seed + $150K at Series A Kevin Durant — athlete investor with estimated $60M+ return on Hugging Face Y Combinator (YC) — referenced regarding fast-closing founder rounds Kevin Moore / Surak Ventures — discussed Middle America founders Andreessen Horowitz — referenced as example of large VC firms LinkedIn — where Damian is most active; reach him as "Damien J. Murray" Guest: Damian Murray, Hearst Level Up Ventures | Find him on LinkedIn as Damien J. Murray

    Investing with Hearst ft. Damian Murray

  6. Sep 16

    West Coast Startup Roundup: The AI That Won't Stop Following Up

    Two Seattle-area startups are making the same quiet bet: the most valuable job for AI right now isn't creating something new, it's the follow-through humans hate doing. This episode covers Devplan, whose AI agents chase down project status before anyone has to ask, and KredosAI, whose AI chases overdue payments without ever sounding like a collections call. Real founders, real funding, real numbers — plus what to watch as both companies scale. In this episode: Why relentless follow-up might be the highest-leverage job for AI agents right now Devplan's $2.5M seed round, the origin story, and how Weaver turns Slack/Jira/GitHub into one knowledge graph The $161M-a-year coordination problem hiding inside product and engineering teams KredosAI's $7M Series A led by BMW i Ventures, and the behavioral-science bet behind how it collects on overdue bills Why roughly one in three customers pay their bills late — and why that's usually not about the customer being difficult What to watch next for both companies Companies featured: Devplan (devplan.com) · KredosAI (kredosai.com) Want to be featured? Start with submitting your startup to podcast@nextroundready.vc

    West Coast Startup Roundup: The AI That Won't Stop Following Up

  7. Sep 14

    Waitlist Playbook

    Building your own waitlist is a great way to ensure that the market likes your product. If you can get people to join a waitlist and give you their name, email, and even pay you, that means that you can build to product-market fit a lot faster. In this episode we're going to break down exactly how founders in different sectors can use waitlists to build product-market fit. 0:00 Why Waitlist Strategies Matter 0:56 My Personal Waitlist Success Story 2:35 The Power of Early Feedback 4:42 Why Investors Care About Waitlists 6:06 How to Build Your Own Waitlist Launch 9:13 Closing & Call to Action Be sure to complete your Fundability Assessment: https://Raise.NextRoundReady.vc

    Waitlist Playbook

  8. Sep 7

    Content That Compounds: Founders’ Playbook

    Chris breaks down how leading companies built massive brands through content strategy rather than ad spend. The episode covers three case studies and makes the case for why founders should prioritize content creation from day one. Complete the Fundability Assessment: https://raise.nextroundready.vc https://instagram.com/nextroundvc https://linkedin.com/in/thecoachchris  Introduction & Fundability Assessment - 0:00Zapier's Content Strategy - 1:27Notion's User-Driven Content - 2:56A16Z's Content Ecosystem - 4:10Content vs. Advertising - 6:05Why Founders Should Start with Content - 6:35Content as Infrastructure - 8:16The Compounding Advantage - 9:02Personal Experience & Outro - 10:44

    Content That Compounds: Founders’ Playbook
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About

Next Round Ready is where founders learn to leverage content instead of waiting to raise capital. Host Chris Hines has recorded 100+ conversations with investors across the venture ecosystem, sharing what actually builds fundability — long before the pitch.

Information

  • Creator
    Christopher Hines
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    103
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Christopher Hines
  • Show Website
    Next Round Ready