Invisible Ink

About Invisible Ink

Tired of startup fluff? Invisible Ink cuts through the hype, bringing you power-packed conversations with investors and founders who've built the companies you admire. Forget theory and buzzwords. This podcast is your all-access pass to the real strategies, the tough decisions, and the often unseen struggles that shape successful startups. Each episode zooms in on the specifics of what it takes to get funded, demystifying the process and giving you actionable insights you can apply today. Join us as we unpack the gritty details the hype machine misses, revealing the truth about what investors look for, the mistakes to avoid, and the actionable steps you can take to make your startup unstoppable. Invisible Ink is more than just a podcast – it's your personal mentor in the world of funding. Tune in, level up, and turn your startup dream into a funded reality. Subscribe now! Find show notes and more at https://achiiv.co/category/podcast/

Publisher

Shubha K. Chakravarthy

Category

business · business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

26 May 2022

Latest episode

1 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

21 of 92 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   1 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Ep 90: Why Strong Ideas Fail: Invisible Risks That Kill Startups, With John Harbison

   Angel investor John Harbison shares with host Shubha K. Chakravarthy how startups can identify and mitigate invisible risks to achieve funding success.

2. 

   15 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Ep 89 - Fundraising Mistakes That Kill Great Startups: Terms, Dilution, and What Founders Miss, With Benjamin David Novak

   In this episode, Benjamin David Novak, Partner at Morgan Lewis and veteran angel investor with Delaware Crossing Investor Group pulls back the curtain on how startup financing actually works behind closed doors. Wearing both hats as a venture attorney and an active investor, Ben delivers a candid masterclass on deal structure, term sheets, SAFEs, cap table traps, and the strategic thinking founders must adopt long before they ever sign their first check. Check out his engaging views on: Why the default early fundraising path founders copy can accidentally shut them out of whole investor groups The one SAFE detail founders almost never model, then discover the hard way at the first priced round Why “simple” fundraising paperwork can create the most painful misunderstandings later The difference between raising what you can get vs raising what actually gets you to the next value jump The most common term sheet mistake founders make because they are relieved to finally have one Two questions that tell you if your round is a real bridge or just buying time What angels mean when they say “we don’t do SAFEs” and why founders misread it Why trying to get “creative” on terms usually backfires even when you think you are being smart The reputation mistakes founders make during a raise without realizing it The cap table problem that looks fine on paper until a Series A lead starts doing the math What it actually means to “run a process” as a founder without acting like an investment banker The investor diligence step founders skip, then regret once the board dynamic kicks in and much more!

3. 

   1 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Ep 88 - What 60,000 Startups Reveal About Founder Equity, Control, and Survival, With Peter Walker

   Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta, reveals data-driven insights about founder equity, control, and survival across 60,000 startups in an interview with Shubha Chakravarthy, highlighting key cap table decisions and equity tradeoffs.

Inside a recent episode

Ep 90: Why Strong Ideas Fail: Invisible Risks That Kill Startups, With John Harbison

Published 1 Mar 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] But the biggest kind of de -risking is, it cuts across all the other risk factors that if there are customers out there that are showing a willingness to buy some version, maybe an MVP or some commitment that if you do something such and such, I will buy it. If ultimately, if you get customers that are willing to do it and they're willing to set what kind of price you're talking about, then the rest of it is pretty much you could work out. You can say, okay, well then, how many more customers are there like that out there and how can I multiply that out? But you're not fake, this is $5 a month thing or a $50 a month thing, what are they willing to pay and getting it out of the abstract and saying, well, they should be willing to pay XYZ. […]

Who has been a guest on Invisible Ink

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• John Harbison
• Peter Walker
• Joanne Smith
• Dr Maria Blekher
• Sharon Tal

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

8,922

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 67 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

94

Social presence

0

YouTube

68

Engagement

32

Contact Invisible Ink

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Invisible Ink