Nick Dazé and Julian Vergel de Dios launch Net Good by diving deep into the realities of startup fundraising. Drawing from their experience raising over $10 million in venture capital across two startups, they explore the counterintuitive lessons learned from both successful and failed funding attempts, culminating in an in-depth case study of their apartment hunting startup, PocketList.

Key Topics Covered

The Reality of VC Decision Making [00:02:30]

* The stark disconnect between venture capital marketing ("we back visionary entrepreneurs with napkin ideas") and actual investment criteria

* Why most VC decisions fall into just three buckets: hype, metrics, or rejection

* How this differs dramatically from the "intrepid explorer" narrative VCs promote

The Founder-Investor Prisoner's Dilemma [00:15:45]

* Why getting clear feedback from investors is nearly impossible

* How VCs preserve future optionality by avoiding direct rejections

* The cognitive load of selling to three different audiences: customers, employees, and investors

What Makes a Venture-Scale Business [00:35:20]

* Why your business needs potential for 1000x returns, not just steady growth

* The "one in ten people on the planet" addressability test

* Common mistakes founders make when evaluating VC fit

PocketList Deep Dive [00:28:00]

* The original concept: a "give-to-get" social network for apartment hunting

* Novel approach to leveraging departing tenant knowledge

* Customer acquisition vs. inventory acquisition costs

* Multiple business model pivots and why each failed

The Perfect Storm of Failure [00:52:15]

* COVID-19 eviction moratoriums

* iOS 14.5 privacy changes destroying user acquisition economics

* Market structure challenges in real estate

Key Insights

On Fundraising Strategy:

* "You're not courting 100 investors. You're looking for one lead."

* FOMO is the most powerful force in venture capital

* Never build for investors instead of customers once you've raised money

On Business Model Validation:

* The frequency problem: PocketList users only needed the service once per year vs. restaurants getting 70 customers per night

* Real estate market stratification made finding the right customer segment nearly impossible

* Unit economics must work at every tier of your target market

On Founder Psychology:

* Good entrepreneurs become "jittery" when they go more than a week without customer contact

* The dangerous trap of optimizing for investor signal instead of market signal

* Managing the complexity of simultaneous customer, employee, and investor relationships

Lessons for Aspiring Founders

Understand VC incentives: Most investment decisions are about hype or undeniable metrics, not founder grit or innovation

Test venture fit early: If your business can't plausibly serve millions of people, consider alternative funding paths

Preserve customer focus: The biggest risk after raising money is building for investors instead of users

Expect information asymmetry: You won't get honest feedback from investors due to structural incentives

About the Hosts

Nick Dazé and Julian Vergel de Dios are serial entrepreneurs who have collectively raised and managed over $10 million in venture capital across multiple startups. They share hard-won insights from both successful funding rounds and spectacular failures.

What's Next

The hosts hint at discussing their current ventures and exploring failure analysis across other companies. The podcast format and name are still evolving as they find their rhythm.

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