On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured:
- Gregory Ho
- Oren Yunger
- Bradley Tusk
We asked guests for the most important piece of advice that they’d share with folks early in their venture 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.
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You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.
Transcribed with AI:
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Welcome back to TFR on today’s special segment, we ask guests for the most important piece of advice that they’d share with folks early in their venture career. Here’s the segment called key advice.
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On today’s special segment, we have Gregory ho of Spring Mountain Capital, Greg, if you could share one piece of advice with a young, new investor, what would you tell them? You
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got to make a decision on whether you’re really good at one thing and want to go deep. And if you don’t want to go deep so you don’t have an impact, you got to go wide. When I say you got to go wide, you have to go read across a variety of materials, and then you’ll discover what I think is is going to really enable us to move in when, which is how everything interlocks together. And as the interlock, there are synergies to be explored that empower the whole right? And so when somebody says, so what you read, you read like everything. And I say, I actually spend probably about 678, hours a day reading. Now that starts from my childhood. My childhood, I wanted to be a I joined the speech team, and I wanted to be entered extemporaneous speaking. And so the growing up in Hawaii didn’t know that much about the world, and you got these topics handed down by the National Forensic League. And so I went to the library. We had 40 magazines, and every week I read all 40 magazines. And one year later, I became state champion in extemporaneous speaking. Now you had to have perspective deeper in the construction of West Harlem Innovation Network and the value of innovation perspective. So the second piece is read extensively, but bring and realize the value of your perspective in any situation, the uniqueness of your perspective, whether it’s caused by what is classified as a learning disability or humble beginnings, etc, rather than be defensive and try to hide it, take it for the addition to the team. All right. So those two things widen your perspective, and then that will actually help you do that part. That’s what I tell everybody that comes in here as I mentor them along.
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On today’s special segment, we have Oren, younger of notable capital. Oren, if you could share one piece of advice with a young new investor, what would you tell them to
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break through as a new investor? Focus on three key principles, find your edge, know your why, and embrace a hustle mindset. Identify what sets you apart from the competition is whether it’s unique, skills, insights, perspective, be clear about your purpose and motivation that it will keep you focused on and driven. And finally, approach every opportunity with relentless energy and determination, always push yourself to go the extra mile. These principles will not only help you navigate the investing world, but also differentiate you from the rest.
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On today’s special segment, we have Bradley tusk of Tusk ventures. Bradley, if you could share one piece of advice with a young, new investor, what would you tell them? You
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know, what’s so funny I was I had one of my weekly one on ones with our with the I do with each member of our investment team. I had one a couple of hours ago, and the thing that I said to him is, Vc is a business where you can’t have any pride. We were talking about his sourcing and the way he does outreach to other funds and to founders. And, you know, talking about people who get back to people don’t get back to people who are dick. This that I said, you know, it’s a little, you have to be almost. I remember my kids were really little. Little kids are brilliant negotiators. And the reason they’re brilliant negotiators is, one, they’re relentless. Two, they will keep negotiating a tiny increment. So if they can’t have eight ace of what they want, they’re How about seven days? How about six days? So they wear you down. And three, they have no pride, right? It doesn’t matter. Like, how often you say no, wherever else, they’ll just keep coming back. And like, they’re never insulted, they just keep going. And you know what happens? You usually give in. They usually my kids generally want and I was saying to this guy on our team, like, listen, we kind of have to be like that, which is, like, yeah, they might not respond to six emails in a row. And like, let’s say that they think, Oh, this guy’s so annoying. I fucking hate him. Who cares? Either they’re gonna work with us, in which case, great. And if. They’re not. I don’t really care if they like you or not, so let’s fucking push as hard as we can. Be polite, be respectful, don’t be an asshole, but don’t be timid either. And just understand that this is a business of failure and rejection constantly, and you have to and by the way, I was actually talking to someone else yesterday who wanted to become a VC, you know, say to him, Listen, there are better ways to make money. Like, yes, we can do really well. Sometimes we do do really well. But, you know, you go to a hedge fund or something like that, like, your odds are probably better of making a lot of money. But to me, being an early stage investor, especially, you know, we’re building stuff right? And sometimes stuff that we’re building a society transformational. Sometimes they’re just good companies that employ people and they can then feed their families and create tax revenue, whatever else. But like, You got to get a lot of if that doesn’t give you a feeling of fulfillment and pride and purpose, then you’re in the wrong business, because there’s easier ways to make a living. But if you said, Hey, I could potentially make some really good money. And on top of that, look at all these companies that I know that, if not for my investment in my work, wouldn’t have made it, and you can be proud of that. That’s amazing, right? And that’s the reason to become a visa,
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that’s right? And you get a good story at the cocktail party, yeah? Absolutely.
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That will conclude this installment of investor stories. If you’re enjoying the program and would like to see it continue, take a moment and leave a five star review in iTunes. Okay, that will wrap things up for today until next time over. Prepare, choose carefully and invest confidently. Thanks for joining me.
