Podcast by Paige Soya
09 December 2025
In this episode of High Stakes, host Paige Soya, Managing Partner at K Street Capital, sits down with Julie Castro Abrams, GP and Founder of How Women Invest, for a candid look at one of the most important shifts happening in venture capital today: the surge of women stepping in as LPs, angel investors, and fund leaders.
Just over a decade ago, there were only 12 women-run funds. Today, there are more than 380. We are in a watershed moment—one filled with opportunity, friction, and long-overdue change. Julie breaks down not just why this moment is happening, but what’s still holding women back from fully participating in the ecosystem.
Together, Paige and Julie uncover the lived experiences, expertise, and decision-making strengths that women bring to venture—and the systemic obstacles that still stand in their way, from misaligned financial advisor incentives to outdated assumptions about risk, time, and wealth.
Whether you’re a GP, an operator thinking about becoming an LP, or simply curious about how capital flows and who gets to shape innovation, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.
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47:08
20 November 2025
In this episode of High Stakes, K Street Capital Managing Partner, Paige Soya, sits down with Gabriel Jarrosson, Managing Partner at Lobster Capital, to unpack how Y Combinator’s internal tool “Bookface” is reshaping investor-founder relationships in 2025.
YC’s Bookface allows founders to rate their experiences with investors — creating a private reputation system that influences who founders choose to work with in the future. The result? A new era where investor behavior, transparency, and credibility matter just as much as capital.
💡 In this episode:
Watch now to learn how your reputation has become your strategy in the evolving world of startup investing.
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47:47
06 November 2025
The High-Stakes Decisions Behind Early Fundraising: When to Raise, Who to Raise From, and How Much Equity to Give Up
In this episode of High Stakes, host Paige Soya sits down with Jennifer Neundorfer, Managing Partner at January Ventures, for a candid conversation about the early fundraising decisions that can make or break a startup’s future.
Together, they dig into the nuances of when to raise capital, who to take money from, and how much equity to give away and the ripple effects those choices have on company trajectory, investor fit, and founder control.
From bootstrapping to pre-seed, Jen and Paige share real examples of companies that got these calls right and others that didn’t - plus actionable guidance for founders navigating their first round.
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37:31
23 October 2025
Many investors still see backing diverse founders as a bigger risk.
In this episode of High Stakes, Paige Soya sits down with Melissa Bradley, General Partner at BAE Ventures, to challenge that misconception and explore why portfolio diversity can actually fuel stronger returns.
Melissa shares her experience investing across sectors, from tech to CPG, and how diversity isn’t just about representation, it's about building companies that understand different customers, markets, and opportunities.
Watch the full episode for a deeper dive into how diversity drives returns.
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38:55
09 October 2025
How do investors evaluate founders when there’s little or no traction? What really drives decisions in early-stage venture capital?
In this episode of High Stakes, host Paige Soya sits down with early-stage investor Matt Gittleman to unpack the art and science of diligence. From scorecards and rubrics to founder storytelling and grit, Paige and Matt explore why rigid frameworks can fall short and how experienced investors read between the lines.
You’ll learn:
Whether you’re a founder preparing to fundraise or an investor refining your own diligence process, this conversation offers a candid look into how early-stage deals really get done.
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47:06
25 September 2025
How do you know if you're actually a successful venture capitalist? It's harder to tell than you might think. In this episode, K Street Capital Managing Partner Paige Soya sits down with Henri Pierre-Jacques, Managing Partner of Harlem Capital, to dive deep into the metrics that really matter in venture capital - and why most of them have nothing to do with spreadsheets.
Henri shares the brutal realities of fund performance, including why only 16% of funds make it to Fund IV and how the 2021 vintage created one of the tightest performance bands in 20 years. But beyond the financial metrics like TVPI and DPI, we explore the operational indicators that successful VCs track daily: graduation rates, win ratios, cash efficiency, and the often-overlooked importance of deal access and founder relationships.
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42:27