Brad Feld, an extremely successful early stage investor and serial entrepreneur, opens up to James about the struggles he has faced, both physical and mental. He has struggled with depression and being an introvert in an extroverts' world. And he has...
Brad Feld, an extremely successful early stage investor and serial entrepreneur, opens up to James about the struggles he has faced, both physical and mental.
He has struggled with depression and being an introvert in an extroverts' world. And he has learned the best ways to deal with it.
"Understanding yourself is extremely important."
Today, physical interaction is not nearly as important as it used to be. Today, you can interact in a meaningful way without having to go to a prospect's location.
As a venture capitalist, a partner at Foundry Group, and as someone having to deal with numerous businesses at the same time, Brad realized that just physically being somewhere does not solve the problem.
He understands that he's not able to just fly in like a hero and solve a problem. That takes a team of people.
James asks Brad what he looks for in an ideal entrepreneur and Brad tells him that he and his partners at Foundry Group have gone back to their original methods from the mid-'90s.
They stay focused on the themes they know best and only invest in companies that answer all of these questions correctly.
1. Is the product interesting?
2. Are the entrepreneurs obsessed with their product?
3. Do these entrepreneurs want to be long-term partners with them and do they want to be long-term partners with the entrepreneurs.
They finish up today's conversation by talking about Foundry's new publishing company FG Press and why they decided to start it.