Brad Feld

Brad has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, Brad co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and Intensity Ventures.

Brad is also a co-founder of the Techstars and a prominent thought leader, writer, and speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. His most prominent writing can be found in Feld Thoughts and Venture Deals.

Notably, Foundry Group holds investments in Forerunner Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Uncork Capital, Homebrew, Founder Collective, and Ludlow Ventures, among others.

On the first hour of his day.

I wake up without an alarm clock. I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and then find a quiet spot and do a 30-minute silent meditation.

I then make a cup of coffee (I have one cup of coffee a day), say hello to my wife Amy, and then roll into whatever is next after the first hour.

On information consumption.

This has evolved a lot over the years.

While I used to be in the flow of endless information via blogs, newsletters, Twitter, Facebook, and the web, I’ve now eliminated much of the short-term, real-time, information flow.

I’ve always been a huge reader (I read about over 75 books a year) so my Kindle — and the physical books that I still enjoy — are a primary part of my life at the end of the day and on weekends. 

And, while I periodically listen to a podcast that is interesting to me, I don’t regularly listen to any in particular.

So, today, it’s mostly reading books, skimming a small number of daily newsletters, and letting information come to me through various non-digital social channels.

On overcoming anxiety.

Working on yourself is just as important as working on your company. As Jerry Colonna at Reboot likes to say, “you need to combine radical self-inquiry with practical skills development.”

Many entrepreneurs ignore the “radical self-inquiry part” for a variety of reasons, often encapsulated by the statement “I don’t have enough time to do that.”

To be successful, you have to make the time, whatever that means for you. 

At the minimum, I encourage everyone going through Techstars to spend one hour every day on just them — not their company, not their partner, not their family — just them.

And recognize that you are not alone - almost every entrepreneur regularly experiences some version of overwhelm, anxiety, or stress.

On giving first.

I've had several extraordinary mentors who shaped my approach to mentorship. The most transcendent was Len Fassler, who was the co-chairman of the company that acquired my first company.

Len and I then went on to create several companies together, including one that was extremely successful for a while, went public, and then imploded in the collapse of the Internet bubble, subsequently going bankrupt. 

While the experience was extraordinary - both on the ride up and the devastating ride down, Len never lost his poise, focus, or intensity around trying to do the right thing while supporting all the people that worked for us.

His level of giving of himself, in the good and the bad, informed my business philosophy which I refer to now as #GiveFirst.

On pain management.

My running has played a very different role in my life than my entrepreneurial activity.

While there are some analogous components (pacing, fatigue, pain tolerance, discipline, persistence), I use my running as a way to have time and space for just me. 

Rather than just run to be in shape, I set a goal of running a marathon in each state as a way to explore the US with my wife Amy as part of a continuous, long-term adventure for us.

And, as she likes to say, characteristics of my running that are shared with my entrepreneurial activity are an iron will and an incredibly high pain threshold.

On his nightly routine.

I’m an early bird — usually in bed between 9 pm and 10 pm.

I have a lot of dinners out and try to leave by 8 pm regardless of where the dinner (or event) is at. Since I don’t drink, by 8 pm, it's usually getting uninteresting to me anyway since the lubrication of alcohol is making the substance of the evening less engaging. 

If I get home early enough (say, 7 pm), I’ll either watch a movie or a TV series with Amy or pick up a book and read and just let the day fall away. If it’s later — say 8:30 pm, I generally take a shower and get into bed with Amy and a book.

I don’t check my email regularly at night when I get home, although I’ll occasionally decide to spend 30 — 60 minutes on it if I haven’t had much email time during the day.

I put my phone on its charger in my office when I get in the house and don’t look at it until the morning.