An Introduction to Venture Capital: Meet your hosts | Paige Soya & Nick Duafala at K Street Capital: Season 4 of High Stakes

An Introduction to Venture Capital: Meet your hosts | Paige Soya & Nick Duafala at K Street Capital: Season 4 of High Stakes

Author: Paige Soya March 12, 2026 Duration: 35:36

Welcome to Season 4 of High Stakes and this season we’re starting with the fundamentals.

In Venture Capital 101, K Street Capital Managing Partner Paige Soya and Principal Nick Duafala break down how venture capital actually works for founders, investors, and anyone curious about the startup ecosystem.

In this opening episode, Paige and Nick share the origin story of K Street Capital and their own paths into venture, from Wall Street and investment banking to founding and exiting a fintech company.

They discuss:

  • How K Street Capital started as an angel syndicate and evolved into a venture platform
  • Why early-stage investing is different from traditional finance
  • What makes venture capital unique compared to other asset classes
  • How investors evaluate startups and work alongside founders

Along the way, they also talk about some of the companies K Street has backed, from digital health platforms to AI-powered robotics, and what makes those opportunities exciting.

This episode sets the stage for the rest of the season, where Paige and Nick will walk through the full venture capital playbook, including angel investing vs. VC, startup evaluation, deal terms, portfolio strategy, and more.

If you're a founder thinking about raising capital, an investor interested in venture, or just curious about how the startup funding world works, this season is designed to be your starting point.

Listen to the full episode and follow along as we break down Venture Capital 101.


Behind every major innovation, there's usually a risky bet and a tense conversation that made it happen. High Stakes pulls back the curtain on those pivotal moments by focusing squarely on the world of early-stage venture capital. Instead of abstract theory, each conversation pairs a founder who has lived the grind with an investor who has backed the vision, creating a dynamic and often revealing dialogue. They tackle the specific trends and tough questions shaping the venture space right now, from evaluating a team's potential to navigating a market downturn. You'll hear the nuanced strategies, the candid mistakes, and the real-world compromises that define building and funding a company from the ground up. This podcast is built for anyone curious about the mechanics and human drama of startup investing, offering a genuine sense of how capital flows to ideas and what it truly takes to succeed. Tune in for unscripted perspectives that clarify how high-risk decisions are made and what both sides learn when the stakes are at their absolute highest.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 64

High Stakes
Podcast Episodes