Podcast Appearances

Apr ’20 – Full Ratchet Part III

Semil catches up with Nick Moran to discuss pandemic adjustments for venture fund managers.

Apr ’20 – Panic with Friends

Semil catches up with old buddy Howard Lindzon to talk about the Coronavirus pandemic and what it means for the startup ecosystem.

Nov ’19 – Scaling Startups

Semil talks through breaking into Silicon Valley and characteristics of successful startups.

Oct ’19 – Predicting the Turn

Semil chats with Dave Knox about the nature of the venture capital industry.

Sep ’19 – 20MVC

Semil speaks with Harry Stebbings on the changing landscape for seed managers and early-stage pricing.

Sep ’19 – Sales Hacker

Semil talks about learning from observation in Silicon Valley and characteristics of great founders.

Aug ’19 – 100x Entrepreneur

Semil discusses the path into venture capital and where Haystack stands today.

Aug ’18 – Recode

In this episode, Semil speaks with Teddy Schleifer on breaking into the venture business.

April ‘18 – Reboot

On Semil’s second Reboot Podcast appearance, he and Jerry Colonna discuss how accessibility and dependability are central to Semil’s identity as an investor.

Jan ‘18 – Origins

In this episode, Semil recounts his experience raising Haystack IV, the first institutional fund under the Haystack brand.

Dec ‘17 – 33 Voices

Semil and host Jenna Abdou examine investment decision-making strategies and Semil’s blog posts on paranoia, resilience, and optimizing for learning.

Nov ‘17 – Full Ratchet

Semil and Nick Moran cover the evolution of Haystack through the years, highlighting shifts in LP expectations, surprises from raising an institutional fund, and fundraising lessons for emerging managers.

Oct ‘17 – 20MVC

Semil speaks about his transition from writing to investing, what it took to become an institutional VC, and the growing importance of secondaries.

Oct ‘17 – The Syndicate

In this episode, Semil tells the stories behind his early investments in pioneering grocery delivery companies and shares his perspective on how tech industry incumbents are affecting the IPO market.

Aug ‘16 – Reboot

Semil and Jerry Colonna chat about the future of Haystack and critical challenges of scaling a solo operation, covering everything from skill development to imposter syndrome.

Jul ‘16 – 20MVC

Harry asks Semil to describe his foray into the world of VC, touching on the biggest challenges, the stigma surrounding VC ‘branding’, and the dangers of being too ‘founder friendly.’

Nov ‘15 – Full Ratchet Part II

In Part II of “The Path to Series A”, Semil and Nick Moran discuss how investor expectations vary from Seed to A.

Nov ‘15 – Full Ratchet Part I

In Part I of “The Path to Series A”, Semil describes his path into venture investing and shares his perspective on the Series A capital markets.