Feld Thoughts

MAY 14, 2021

Each morning during the week, after morning coffee together, Amy says, “Ok, time to go eat my frogs.” She’s usually told me about the one or two or three frogs she has for the day, and her statement is a rhythmic part of our morning. Yesterday, I asked her where that phrase came from. She pointed me at Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time , a productivity book by Brian Tracey that she read a few years ago.

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Feld Thoughts

APRIL 12, 2021

My partner Chris Moody recently sent around a note on a concept he refers to as Leader Leverage. I encourage every CEO to read and consider it. His rant follows. Many of you are probably tired of hearing me rant about some form of what I often refer to as “leader leverage” If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid these rants, the quick summary is that your biggest lever as a board member is the CEO and your biggest lever as CEO is your direct reports.

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Feld Thoughts

APRIL 6, 2021

I sort of took a Q1 Vacation last week. 2021 didn’t really feel like it started for me until January 21st. Yeah, I took a company public on January 4th, but then January 6th happened. It was a cold, dark, and anxious stretch where January felt like it had about 51 days in it. Then I was deep in SPACland and lots of deals and financings. I definitely had some “I just need to get to March 26th, and then I get a break” in my head.

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Feld Thoughts

MARCH 5, 2021

The Techstars Foundation recently announced a new program called Accelerate Equity. We created the Techstars Foundation in 2015 to help make innovation and entrepreneurship more accessible and inclusive. Since then, the Techstars Foundation has been investing in and accelerating nonprofits that deliver scalable impact for underestimated entrepreneurs.

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Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 25, 2021

I’m working on a new book with Dave Jilk, my first business partner. It is titled The Entrepreneur’s Weekly Nietzsche: A Book for Disruptors. We are in the home stretch (it’ll be published sometime in the second quarter), and I’m adding a little connecting tissue to the major sections this morning. The third major section (of five) is called Free Spirits.

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Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 11, 2021

Gramercy Park in June 2015. After 89 years on this planet, Len Fassler passed away on Friday. Len was my Yoda. As a paternal figure, he was a close second to my father. I loved him deeply. And I will miss him every day. We were introduced in the spring of 1993 by Jim Galvin, CEO of Allcom, which had just been acquired by Len’s company Sage Alerting Systems.

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SEC Cofounder Boston New York 164

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 2, 2020

“Either this is madness or it is Hell.” “It is neither,” calmly replied the voice of the Sphere, “it is Knowledge; it is Three Dimensions: open your eye once again and try to look steadily.” -Edwin A. Abbott, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Anyone who has read this blog knows that I’m not a fan of prognostications. In a collision of complex systems like what we are all living through right now, predicting the future is especially pointless.

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Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 22, 2020

I find it fascinating when a large company enters a new arena. Some of you will remember this happening back in 1981 when IBM announced it was getting into the personal computer market. This was a field that up until that point had been completely dominated by smaller players like Apple. Steve Jobs’s response was the now-infamous full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal welcoming IBM to the game.

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Feld Thoughts

JULY 20, 2020

I recently was in an email thread where a Black founder had a powerful and clear response to the question from one of her corporate partners. The question was: How can our (the corporate partner’s) team better support diversity in our work, particularly in our sourcing, diligence, and onboarding efforts? The entrepreneur responded with a long explanation that was a brilliant and extremely helpful perspective for me.

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Feld Thoughts

JULY 1, 2020

My new book The Startup Community Way: Evolving and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem is coming out this month ( pre-order it here.). At the same time, the 2nd edition of my book Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City is also coming out ( pre-order it here.). Ever since I started thinking, writing, and talking about startup communities, I’ve always wished there was a global virtual community for anyone interested or involved in startup communities.

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Feld Thoughts

JUNE 12, 2020

My digital sabbaths are often running, reading, and napping days. That’s tomorrow for me as I’m feeling fried from another week. I’ve ordered (and received) most of the books from the NY Times Antiracist reading list along with a number of other recommendations. Most are physical books and will be my digital sabbath reading this summer.

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Feld Thoughts

MAY 31, 2020

Dave Mayer pointed me at this video today. After struggling with how I was feeling all morning, during my run, and while I read the Sunday New York Times, this finally helped me put a framework around my feelings. I’m angry. I’m sad. I’m confused. I’m appalled. I’m scared. I’m upset. And this is completely independent (and on top of) of all the challenges around the Covid crisis.

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Feld Thoughts

MAY 10, 2020

On May 14th at 5:30pm, a group of us are going to have a virtual birthday party for Colorado Governor Jared Polis. I’m co-chairing the party with my wife Amy Batchelor, my partner Seth Levine, his wife Greeley Sachs, and our friends Mo and Jennifer Siegel. Congressman Joe Neguse is joining as a special birthday guest as his birthday is the next day.

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Feld Thoughts

MAY 4, 2020

At Foundry Group, we’ve decided to voluntarily extend our Work from Home policy until at least the end of May 2020. Until then, our office is closed. We will re-evaluate this on May 25th and decide whether to let our Work from Home policy expire, or extend it further. We encourage all Colorado-based software and professional services businesses to consider this policy.

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Feld Thoughts

MAY 3, 2020

I took a digital sabbath yesterday. I ended up doing three things. Read The End of October by Lawrence Wright Took a nap Watched three episodes of Breaking Bad. I feel so much better than I did at the end of the day Friday. After I finish this blog post, I’m going to participate in the Emerge Family Virtual 5k. The End of October was intense. It’s the story of a modern day pandemic.

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Colorado Distribution 119

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 28, 2020

Governor Jared Polis had an excellent and extremely data-driven press conference yesterday to provide quantitive support for his stay at home order (among other things.) The presentation is embedded and worth paging through. Colorado Governor Polis #DoingMyPartCO Presentation – 03-27-2020 from Brad Feld. The basic message is that unless it is absolutely necessary for you, please stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus.

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Feld Thoughts

MARCH 4, 2020

I was at a dinner event last night in Denver where, predictably, coronavirus (which I’ve been trying to call Covid-19, but everyone seems to default back to coronavirus) came up. I’ve tried to avoid being “that person” who has a strong opinion because so much is changing so quickly. Instead, I’ve tried to have a “clear opinion” based on what I currently know and how it’s impacting my world.

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Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

We are running the Venture Deals Online Course again. Registration is now open and it runs from March 8, 2020 – May 1, 2020. It’s produced by Techstars and Kauffman Fellows. We’ve run the course six times now and have had over 25,000 people take it. It’s free, although it’s recommended that you have a copy of our book Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist.

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Term Sheet Capitalization Table 174

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

While reading Kim Scott’s book Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity , I came across an anecdote from a discussion she had with Dick Costolo. One of my favorite stories about Dick and diversity was his effort to eliminate the phrase “you guys” from his vocabulary. I told him a story about my twins—one a boy and one a girl—who were in kindergarten.

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Texas 136

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 20, 2020

Amy and I didn’t feel like taking a Christmas or New Year’s vacation this year so we just hung around Boulder, worked, and did our thing. We then decamped to Mexico last week for warmth, sun, beach, and books. News flash: there are a lot fewer people at a fancy resort in Mexico in the third week of January. It was a good reading week. How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success : We don’t have kids, but a friend recommended this.

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Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 23, 2019

I received plenty of useful feedback on my rant Budgets – There Has To Be A Better Way. Two of the links that I found particularly helpful were: Turn Your Budgeting Process Upside Down by Robert Howell How to Ruin Your Company with One Bad Process by Ben Horowitz. Robert Howell points to a longer term view than one year with his suggestion around rolling plans.

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Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 28, 2019

Amy and I have been watching The Handmade’s Tale. Simultaneously, I’ve been listening to the book on Audible while running. Last night I said, “The Hulu adaptation of the book is really good.” And then we both grimaced, as we’ve each commented many times over the past week about how incredibly bleak the show is. A different dystopia is coming to our TVs soon.

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Software 104

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Earlier this year Amy and I, along with a number of other local friends, supported the rollout of a new organization in Longmont called Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll). EforAll is a nonprofit organization that partners with communities nationwide to help under-resourced individuals pursue their dream of starting a business. They believe everyone should have the opportunity, resources, and support they need to successfully start their business.

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Colorado Entrepreneur Hosting Community 91

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 18, 2019

One of the many great things about the Governor of Colorado is that he’s an entrepreneur, having started multiple successful technology companies, including BlueMountainArts.com (acquired by Excite for $800m) and Provide Commerce (IPO, then acquired by Liberty Media for $500m). He’s also a co-founder of Techstars with me, David Cohen, and David Brown.

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Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 7, 2019

In Neal Stephenson’s newest book, Fall; or, Dodge in Hell: A Novel , the protagonist Richard “Dodge” Forthrast uses the phrase “The Miasma ” to refer to the collection of technology that we commonly call “The Internet.” When I first came across the phrase, I said out loud, “Brilliant.” I was poking around on the Miasma this morning looking for a reference to this and found this Slashdot post about an interview with Stephenson from PC Magazine.

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Internet Algorithm Social Media Technology 28

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 1, 2019

Ryan Holiday’s new book Stillness Is The Key is out. I have a copy on the top of my infinite pile of books at home along with a copy on my Kindle. I’ll be reading it this weekend. For a moment of inspiration today, take a look at his launch video. I’ve read every one of Ryan’s books. I’ve loved them all, learned from them, and gotten ideas and inspiration about how to adapt and adjust my behavior.

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Video 76

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

David Cohen and I will be at the Fort Collins Barnes and Noble from 6pm – 8pm on Tuesday 9/10/19 to sign copies of the 2nd Edition of Do More Faster: Techstars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup. Over the next few months, we’ll be doing a handful of public appearances around the book. It’s the first book I wrote and – with David – really learned how to write a book almost a decade ago.

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Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

I’m an enormous Jim Collins fan. It’s a special bonus that he lives in Boulder. He just came out with a short monograph called Turning the Flywheel. It’s only 40 pages but stunningly good. In it, he dissects the concept of the flywheel, which he first described in his seminal book Good to Great. Every CEO in our portfolio will be receiving a copy in the next month as part of our “book of the almost every month club.” If you are a CEO trying to build an enduring comp

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Portfolio 22

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 15, 2019

Techstars and Kauffman Fellows are once again running the Venture Deals online course that Jason Mendelson and I put together several years ago. If you’re an entrepreneur who wants to raise capital and grow your business, this online course teaches you the basics you need to know for working with VCs. And, if you are starting off as a VC or a lawyer for venture capital deals and you want a refresher on the core issues in a term sheet, this online course is for you.

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Term Sheet Capitalization Table Venture Capital Video 34

Feld Thoughts

JULY 10, 2019

Over the years, I’ve written about my belief in the importance of giving back to your communities and #givefirst. In this spirit, one of the key organizations my partners at Foundry Group have helped create and nurture is Pledge 1%. In 2007, we were a founding member in the predecessor organization to Pledge 1%, called Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (or EFCO).

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Colorado Cofounder Distribution Community 108

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 4, 2019

One of my guilty pleasures is reading biographies about financiers and their companies. On Saturday, I gobbled down King of Capital , which is the story of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone from inception through 2011. While I’ve never met Schwarzman, I’ve had a handful of experiences with Blackstone, mostly with the Blackstone Foundation and the head of it, Amy Stursberg.

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Private Equity Cofounder Equity Venture Capital 82

Feld Thoughts

MAY 23, 2019

Michael Natkin at Glowforge recently wrote a great post titled Strong Opinions Loosely Held Might be the Worst Idea in Tech. I have never liked this entrepreneurial cliche. While I have a large personality, I don’t have a temper and I’m not argumentative. I try hard to listen (although I’m not always great at it), try to express my thoughts as “data” rather than “opinions”, and try to evolve my thinking based on the inputs that I get.

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Differentiation Engineer 132

Feld Thoughts

MAY 17, 2019

If you are looking for a great book to read this weekend, I recommend Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me. I read it last weekend and am still thinking about it. McEwan is a magnificent writer. When the hardcover ended up on top of my infinite pile of books to read, Amy said, “Wow, you’ll love Ian McEwan’s writing.” Whenever Amy says something like that, I know I’m in for a treat.

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Product 79

Feld Thoughts

MAY 6, 2019

Last week, Return Path announced it was being acquired by Validity. My fellow board member Fred Wilson wrote a great history titled The Long Game and Matt Blumberg wrote a beautiful tribute titled OnlyOnce, Part XX. I’ve been involved in Return Path as an investor since 2001 when Return Path and Veripost merged as part of a funding done by Sutter Hill (Greg Sands), Flatiron Partners (Fred Wilson), and Mobius Venture Capital (me).

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Idaho New York Venture Capital Partner 91

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 26, 2019

Life often involves tough tradeoffs. I love running marathons but I’m less happy about the body soreness and longer recovery cycles as I age. I’m excited about every investment Foundry Group makes, but I know not all of them are going to pan out. Entrepreneurs talk about “changing the world”, but the companies that emerge often ring hollow against this backdrop.

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Feld Thoughts

MARCH 15, 2019

If you are looking for something powerful, creative, provocative, and beautifully done, go look at True Blue by Eliot Peper and team. In 2017, I wrote a post titled A Clever Short Story About Discrimination about the short story that Eliot had written. It was an idea that David Cohen had. He shared it with Eliot, who then wrote the short story. David then funded a project for Eliot to turn it into an “internet public art project.” Eliot describes how they made True Blue.

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Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Day 1 of Sphero’s RVR pre-order campaign is off to a great start (> 1000 backers, > $250,000 in the first 24 hours.) It’s Day 2, but for some people in the tech world it’s always Day 1, so if you missed RVR, go take a look and jump in on the pre-order fun. I was on vacation during valentines day so I’m a little late. But, robot valentines day transcends time, especially since I love robots.

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Campaign 83