{"podcast":{"title":"Tacos and Tech Podcast","slug":"tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768","podcast_index_feed_id":534768,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1995075.rss","website_url":"https://risingtidepartners.substack.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/1995075/64f2885d3a990179fa48dc2951daae6a.jpg","author":"Neal Bloom","episode_count":202,"summary":"Curating signal beyond the noise. Backing exceptional founders.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-10T06:19:03.251942+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768"},"episode":{"title":"Four Questions Before You Write the Check","slug":"four-questions-before-you-write-the-check","published_at":"2026-04-07T18:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768/four-questions-before-you-write-the-check","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768","url":"https://risingtidepartners.substack.com/p/four-questions-before-you-write-the","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/191895908/3adde0e71eb467304084a6c007a48792.mp3","summary":"Episode Summary Neal Bloom takes the stage at the 2026 San Diego Angel Conference Knowledge & Networking Event at SDSU to walk a room full of aspiring and active angel investors through the four questions he uses to evaluate early-stage companies. Using live audience exercises - pitching Uber, Airbnb, and Palantir in one sentence, debating whether Viori was a pass or a miss - he turns startup evaluation from an abstract skill into something visceral and personal. This isn’t theory. It’s how the sausage gets made when real capital is on the line. Key Topics * The four-question framework for evaluating startups * Why clarity is a test of the founder, not the investor * One-sentence pitching exercises with Uber, Airbnb, and Palantir * Venture scale outcomes vs. good small businesses * Salt Couture vs. Reef vs. Vuori - three paths from the same starting point * How EBITDA, CAC, and growth get valued differently across business types * Excitement as signal, not hype * The calendar test: would you spend one more hour on this company? Links & Resources * San Diego Angel Conference (SDAC) * SDSU Fowler College of Business * Evo Nexus * NuFund * Vuori * Rising Tide Partners Connect on LinkedIn * Neal Bloom This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe","meta_description":"Episode Summary Neal Bloom takes the stage at the 2026 San Diego Angel Conference Knowledge & Networking Event at SDSU to walk a room full of aspiring and…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1759,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768/episodes/four-questions-before-you-write-the-check/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768/four-questions-before-you-write-the-check.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}