Lessons from Brad Feld

Lessons from Brad Feld

Venture capitalist and Techstars co-founder Brad Feld is best known for his "Boulder Thesis," which argues that healthy startup communities must be led by founders with a long-term, inclusive approach. This collection gathers his practical advice on raising capital, handling boards, and surviving the mental grind of building a company.

Part 1: The Entrepreneurial Mindset

1. On Failure: "Failure is a key part of entrepreneurship, but, as with many things in life, attitude impacts outcome." — Source: [Goodreads]
2. On Perseverance: "They can't kill you and they can't eat you. Suit up." — Source: [Boardroom Governance]
3. On Commitment: "Do or Do Not; There Is No 'Try'. You must have the mind-set that you will succeed on your quest." — Source: [GeekWire]
4. On The Journey: "Failure is sometimes the best option if you view the process of entrepreneurship as a lifelong journey." — Source: [AZQuotes]
5. On Taking Up Space: "If you're not standing on the edge, you're taking up too much space." — Source: [Boardroom Governance]
6. On Centrality: "The entrepreneur is the center of the entrepreneurial universe. Without entrepreneurs there would be no term sheet and no startup ecosystem." — Source: [Scribd]
7. On Financial Reality: "Don’t get intoxicated by fundraising, don’t make the mistake of thinking investment is success, and remember that revenue is the goal of your business and it’s the best form of capital." — Source: [Medium]
8. On The Rollercoaster: "Building a company is an entrepreneurial rollercoaster; you have to learn how to ride the highs and the lows without losing your mind." — Source: [The Tim Ferriss Show]
9. On Unplugging: "You have to deliberately carve out time to disconnect from the machine, or the machine will completely consume you." — Source: [The Tim Ferriss Show]

Part 2: Venture Capital and Fundraising

1. On VC Priorities: "There are only a few key things most VCs look at to understand and get excited about a deal: the problem you are solving, the size of the opportunity, the strength of the team." — Source: [Goodreads]
2. On Financial Projections: "The only thing that we know about financial predictions of startups is that 100 percent of them are wrong." — Source: [Goodreads]
3. On Pitching: "I no longer really ever like to be pitched. Instead, I prefer to engage in a relationship as part of learning the other person." — Source: [QuoteFancy]
4. On Valuation: "I encourage entrepreneurs not to take valuation personally... It means they are negotiating a deal to their advantage, just as you would." — Source: [Medium]
5. On Finding the Right Partner: "Before you jump through hoops providing this information, make sure a partner-level person is involved and that you aren’t just the object of a fishing expedition." — Source: [Goodreads]
6. On Control: "Economics and control are the two main things you are negotiating in a term sheet. Understand both deeply." — Source: [Venture Deals]
7. On Market Cycles: "Venture capital is a long-term game played in a world obsessed with short-term market cycles. You have to look past the current noise." — Source: [Thirty Minute Mentors]
8. On Honesty with Investors: "Bad news travels fast, but hidden bad news travels faster and destroys trust forever." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]
9. On Capital as a Tool: "Capital is a tool, not a milestone. Too many founders celebrate raising money instead of celebrating what the money allows them to build." — Source: [Mixergy]
10. On Rejection: "Every 'no' gets you closer to a 'yes.' Don't burn bridges when an investor passes on your round." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]

Part 3: Startup Communities

1. On Zero-Sum Games: "Building a startup community is not a zero-sum game in which there are winners and losers: if everyone engages, they and the entire community can all be winners." — Source: [AZQuotes]
2. On Leadership: "Entrepreneurs must lead the startup community. Everyone else is a feeder." — Source: [Forbes]
3. On Time Horizons: "The leaders must have a long-term commitment. You are making a 20-year commitment to your city." — Source: [Knowledge at Wharton]
4. On Inclusion: "The startup community must be inclusive of anyone who wants to participate in it. There is no room for gatekeepers." — Source: [Forbes]
5. On Activities: "The startup community must have continual activities that engage the entire entrepreneurial stack." — Source: [Forbes]
6. On Ecosystem Interactions: "While the range of people, organizations, resources, and conditions involved in an entrepreneurial ecosystem are useful to understand... the interaction between each of the components is what matters." — Source: [Goodreads]
7. On Attitude: "It's not about having a Silicon Valley attitude—it's about having an entrepreneurial attitude." — Source: [AZQuotes]
8. On Geography: "It's the people that make a community an entrepreneurial one—not the location—and it's up to you to contribute." — Source: [AZQuotes]
9. On Measurement: "If you don't measure it, you won't manage it... but managing growth using only the easiest data to collect can be devastating to a startup community." — Source: [Computer History Museum]
10. On Organic Growth: "Startup communities are complex systems. You can't command and control them; you can only guide and nurture them." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]

Part 4: Negotiation and Legal Dynamics

1. On 'The Market' Argument: "Saying that 'it’s market' is like your parents telling you, 'Because I said so,' and you responding, 'But everyone’s doing it.'" — Source: [Goodreads]
2. On Weak Negotiators: "We love hearing the market argument because then we know that our negotiating partner is a weak negotiator." — Source: [Goodreads]
3. On Legal Delegation: "Entrepreneurs can’t and shouldn’t outsource their involvement in a financing to their lawyers." — Source: [Scribd]
4. On Business vs. Legal: "There are many issues in a financing negotiation that are business decisions, not legal ones." — Source: [Scribd]
5. On Reading the Documents: "Never sign a legal document you haven't read and fully understood, no matter how much you trust your lawyer." — Source: [Venture Deals]
6. On Leverage: "The best way to improve your negotiating position is to have multiple options. Competition drives terms." — Source: [Venture Deals]
7. On Simplicity: "Complexity in a term sheet usually favors the investor, not the founder. Strive for clean, simple terms." — Source: [Venture Deals]
8. On Bluffing: "Don't bluff unless you are completely prepared to have your bluff called and walk away." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]
9. On Alignment: "A good negotiation results in a deal where both parties feel aligned for the future, not where one party feels they extracted maximum blood." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]

Part 5: Leadership and Management

1. On Motivation: "You can't motivate people, you can only create a context in which people are motivated." — Source: [QuoteFancy]
2. On Empathy: "Empathy in business is not a soft skill; it is a fundamental requirement for managing a team through uncertainty." — Source: [AppDirect]
3. On Culture: "Culture isn't what you write on the wall; it's how your team behaves when things go wrong." — Source: [SaaStr]
4. On 'Brutal Honesty': "‘I'm just being honest’ can also be a way of saying ‘I don't care about whether my words are hurtful or unkind’." — Source: [Goodreads]
5. On Firing: "When you know you have to let someone go, do it immediately. Delaying it is unfair to them and toxic to the company." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]
6. On Self-Care as Leadership: "If you do not pay attention to your important relationships and dedicate time to them, they—and your startup—will suffer." — Source: [Medium]
7. On Energy Management: "Monitor your mental and emotional state in real time. Use a green-yellow-red dashboard to prevent burnout before it happens." — Source: [Apple Podcasts]
8. On Delegating: "Hire people who are better than you at the things you suck at, and get out of their way." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]
9. On Windfalls: "Spend 10% of any financial windfall on something frivolous. If you build capital, you must also derive some pleasure from it." — Source: [Forbes]

Part 6: Board Dynamics

1. On Board Function: "I view the board as another team that I get, and why wouldn't I take advantage of being able to create a great team at that level?" — Source: [Apple Podcasts]
2. On Strategic Value: "If you get good board dynamic, you have created a secret weapon for your business – a strategic sounding board that you couldn't go out and buy." — Source: [On Boards Podcast]
3. On Meeting Focus: "Great board meetings focus 80% of their time on the future, rather than rehashing the past." — Source: [Burkland Associates]
4. On Independence: "The most effective boards have a balance of the founder, investors, and independent directors who can fill strategic gaps." — Source: [Burkland Associates]
5. On Peer Dynamics: "The CEO must interact with the board as a group of equals, not as a student reporting to teachers." — Source: [Apple Podcasts]
6. On Bad Boards: "A dysfunctional board will destroy a good company faster than a bad product will." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]
7. On Board Materials: "Send your board packet out at least three days in advance. Treat the meeting as a working session, not a read-aloud presentation." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]
8. On Transparency: "Never surprise your board. The board meeting is the worst possible place to drop a bombshell." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]
9. On Asking for Help: "A board's primary job is to help the CEO. But they can't help if the CEO doesn't ask the right questions." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]

Part 7: Mental Health and Vulnerability

1. On The Bootstrap Myth: "Admitting you struggle with depression is like admitting you can't reach your bootstraps. It's assumed that successful people can just 'shake it off.' But that's not how it works." — Source: [Medium]
2. On Destigmatization: "Stigma loses its power when leaders tell the truth." — Source: [Apple Podcasts]
3. On Speaking Up: "I realized if I didn't write openly about my experience, I would be deceitful about my own experience and effectively be full of shit." — Source: [My Wellbeing]
4. On 'Superpowers': "I periodically hear something like ‘I’m OCD and it’s my superpower’ and dismiss that idea as nonsense. OCD is an insidious thing that gets in the way." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]
5. On Vulnerability: "Being open about fears and flaws is a strength, not a weakness." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]
6. On The Startup Toll: "The entrepreneurial culture celebrates working yourself to death, which is a fundamentally broken way to live." — Source: [Inc.]
7. On Partnership: "Communication with a spouse is one of the most challenging aspects of being an entrepreneur. You must protect the partnership." — Source: [Substack]
8. On Tunnel Vision: "Recognize the entrepreneur's 'tunnel vision' and ensure it does not become destructive to the rest of your life." — Source: [Goodreads]
9. On Therapy: "Therapy is a tool for self-awareness, and self-awareness is the ultimate competitive advantage for any founder." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]

Part 8: Mentorship and Give First

1. On Give First: "Give First means being willing to put energy into a relationship or a system without defining the transactional parameters." — Source: [Feld Thoughts]
2. On Altruism: "Give First is not altruism. You can and should expect to get something back. But you don't know when, from whom, in what form, or over what time frame." — Source: [BetaKit]
3. On Philosophy: "It's not a religion with rules. It's a philosophy... over time, that energy comes back to you." — Source: [PNW]
4. On True Mentorship: "Good mentorship is rooted in listening. It's not about telling someone what to do. It's about helping them think more clearly." — Source: [PNW]
5. On Hierarchy: "The magic of a mentor-mentee relationship is that it's not hierarchical." — Source: [BetaKit]
6. On Becoming Peers: "The most powerful mentor/mentee relationships are those in which the mentor and the mentee ultimately become peers." — Source: [Goodreads]
7. On Manipulation: "Asking someone 'How can I help you?' when you have your own hidden agenda feels yucky, insincere, and manipulative." — Source: [Medium]
8. On Network Building: "Give First is a way of building a powerful, supportive network where value eventually returns to the giver, even if the path is indirect." — Source: [Techstars]
9. On Attention: "Your attention is your most valuable asset. When you mentor someone, giving them your undivided attention is the highest form of respect." — Source: [Remarkable People]
10. On Legacy: "You don't measure the impact of mentorship by the equity you get, you measure it by the success of the ecosystem you helped build." — Source: [Techstars]