Podcast by Paige Soya
17 September 2026
What actually determines what a startup is worth?
In this episode of High Stakes, K Street Capital’s Paige Soya and Nick Duafala are joined by investment team members Joseph and Jose for a Venture Capital 101 breakdown of how VCs assess startup valuations and why it’s rarely as simple as founders might assume.
The conversation begins with the core VC perspective: valuation isn’t based solely on what a company is worth today. Investors are also considering what it could be worth at exit, how long it may take to get there, and whether the potential return aligns with the fund’s strategy and portfolio construction.
The team walks through valuations at each stage, from pre-seed and seed to Series A and growth, and explains how the criteria evolve. At the earliest stages, the focus is heavily on the founder, vision, and technology. As a company matures, product-market fit, comparable financings, revenue quality, customer diversification, margins, and scalability become increasingly important.
Paige and Nick also unpack the terms beyond the headline valuation that can materially affect a deal, including warrants, liquidation preferences, board seats, and pro rata rights. They discuss what “founder-friendly” investing means in practice, how cap tables may be restructured during challenging markets, and what investors learned from the wave of recapitalizations that followed the 2022 market downturn.
The conversation then gets granular about revenue multiples: how growth, churn, customer concentration, market size, and revenue quality can move a multiple up or down. The team closes by exploring the “founder premium” earned by proven repeat entrepreneurs, followed by a lightning round on the best advice each person has received.
In this episode:
Topics: Venture Capital • Startup Valuations • Portfolio Construction • Pre-Seed Funding • Seed Funding • Series A • Growth-Stage Investing • Liquidation Preferences • Warrants • Board Seats • Pro Rata Rights • Revenue Multiples • Founder-Friendly Terms • Cap Table Recapitalizations • Customer Concentration • Founder Premium • Venture Capital 101
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39:03
11 September 2026
What makes a business venture-backable?
In this episode of High Stakes, K Street Capital’s Paige Soya and Nick Duafala sit down with Jonathan Sherry, founder and CEO of Alium and former co-founder of CB Insights, for a Venture Capital 101 discussion about the business models VCs evaluate and what makes them scalable, defensible, and fundable.
The conversation covers the fundamentals of SaaS and marketplaces, what constitutes a true platform, and why founders should understand the distinction between a business model and a pricing model. Jonathan also shares how CB Insights and Alium have used subscription models, seat- and capability-based pricing, and marketplace dynamics to monetize their businesses.
The group then explores one of the biggest shifts in technology: AI and the rise of usage-based and labor-replacement models. They discuss whether AI will fundamentally change SaaS, why customers increasingly want to experiment before committing to annual contracts, and what founders should understand about consumption, utilization, pricing, and ROI.
The episode also examines what VCs look for beyond ARR, including customer concentration, ACVs, renewals, paid POCs, and evidence that a company has built a repeatable business model.
Finally, the conversation turns to liquidity in venture capital. With companies remaining private longer and fewer pursuing IPOs, the group discusses M&A, secondary markets, alternative paths to liquidity, and why exits in the $100 million to $250 million range can be compelling outcomes for early-stage investors.
In this episode:
Topics: Venture Capital • VC-Backable Business Models • SaaS • AI Startups • Usage-Based Pricing • Marketplaces • Startup Fundraising • Revenue Quality • ARR • Go-to-Market • Venture Investing • Liquidity • Secondary Markets • Founder Advice
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49:09
20 August 2026
For years, founders and investors have used terms like “fintech,” “SaaS,” and “platform” without always having a shared definition. But as venture firms rely more heavily on data to track deals, returns, and portfolio performance, getting that language right matters more than ever.
In this episode of High Stakes, Paige Soya and Nick Duafala are joined by K Street Capital’s Joseph Whang and Jose Cifuentes for a Venture Capital 101 breakdown of how VCs classify the startups they evaluate.
Using real-world examples from Salesforce, Airbnb, Facebook, and Auth0, the team walks through the eight categories that make up K Street’s internal deal taxonomy, why consistent classification matters, and how founders can use the same framework to better understand, and communicate, their businesses.
In this episode:
Whether you’re a founder refining your fundraising narrative or a new investor learning the language of venture capital, this episode is a practical guide to how VCs actually think about and categorize the companies they evaluate.
Topics: Venture Capital • Startup Fundraising • Startup Taxonomy • Business Models • Go-to-Market Strategy • SaaS • Marketplaces • Venture Investing • Founder Advice • Startup Strategy
Timestamps
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41:40
06 August 2026
What actually creates a competitive moat?
For years, founders believed the answer was simple: build a better product.
Today, venture investors increasingly believe the answer is distribution.
In this episode of High Stakes, Paige Soya and Nick Duafala are joined by Mark Schacknies, CEO & Co-Founder of NFTYDoor—a company K Street backed in its earliest stages after recognizing the strength of its distribution strategy. NFTYDoor went on to become one of the country's leading white-label HELOC platforms, serving 500+ lenders, 36,000+ mortgage loan officers, and approaching $7B in annual run-rate volume before its successful exit.
Using NFTYDoor's journey as a case study, they explore why venture investors increasingly evaluate go-to-market execution alongside technical differentiation, how AI is reshaping startup defensibility, and what founders should focus on to build businesses competitors can't easily replicate.
In this episode:
Whether you're building a startup, evaluating investment opportunities, or interested in how venture capitalists think about competitive advantage, this episode provides actionable insights into building durable businesses in the AI era.
Topics: Venture Capital • Startup Fundraising • Competitive Moats • Startup Strategy • Product-Market Fit • Distribution Strategy • Network Effects • Switching Costs • Founder Advice • Go-to-Market Strategy • Startup Growth • Venture Investing
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45:35
23 July 2026
Not all venture deals are created equal, and understanding the fine print can make a significant difference for founders.
In this episode of High Stakes, K Street Capital's Paige Soya and Nick Duafala are joined by Scott Stern, Partner at Origin Ventures, to break down how venture capital deals are actually structured. From SAFEs and convertible notes to priced equity rounds, founder vesting, liquidation preferences, pro rata rights, and anti-dilution provisions, they explain the terms that shape startup financings—and why they matter for both founders and investors.
Along the way, the conversation explores common fundraising mistakes, why complicated cap tables can derail future financing rounds, and how founders can approach term sheet negotiations with greater confidence. Rather than simply defining venture terminology, this episode explains the reasoning behind the structures investors use and how those decisions can influence a company's long-term success.
Whether you're raising your first round, investing in startups, or simply looking to better understand venture capital, this episode offers practical insights into one of the most important—and most misunderstood—aspects of startup fundraising.
In this episode:
Guest:
Scott Stern, Partner at Origin Ventures
Hosts:
Paige Soya, Managing Partner, K Street Capital
Nick Duafala, Senior Principal, K Street Capital
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52:07
09 July 2026
What makes a pre-revenue startup worth investing in?
Before there's revenue, traction, or a long list of customers, venture investors have to make decisions with limited data. So what signals matter most? How do VCs build conviction around a founder and an idea when so much is still uncertain?
In this episode of High Stakes, Paige Soya and Nick Duafala sit down with Charles Hudson, Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, to explore how investors evaluate startups at the earliest stages of venture.
Charles shares his framework for pre-seed investing, including how he assesses founder insight, market timing, perseverance, resourcefulness, and a founder's ability to turn an early hypothesis into a scalable company.
The conversation explores what separates exceptional founders from the rest—and why, at the pre-seed stage, investing is often as much about the founder as it is about the business.
Great founders don't always have the most experience—they have the strongest insight.
At the pre-seed stage, investors look for evidence that founders understand a problem deeply and have uncovered insights that others have missed.
Resourcefulness is a leading indicator of startup success: Before founders have capital, customers, or large teams, investors can learn a great deal by observing how they create opportunities and solve problems with limited resources.
Timing can be just as important as the idea itself: Even great companies can struggle if the market isn't ready. Successful founders often launch when customer behavior, technology, and market conditions align.
At the earliest stages, investing is ultimately a bet on people: With limited financial or customer data, investors are evaluating a founder's ability to adapt, persevere, and execute through uncertainty.
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34:42