Brad Feld — The Art of Unplugging, Carving Your Own Path, and Riding the Entrepreneurial Rollercoaster (#448)
Illustration via 99designsBrad, they can’t kill you and they can’t eat you. Suit up.
— Len Fassler
Brad Feld (@bfeld) is the author of two new books: The Startup Community Way and the second edition of Startup Communities. He has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures. Brad is also a co-founder of Techstars. Brad is a writer and speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. He’s written a number of books as part of the Startup Revolution series and writes the blogs Feld Thoughts and Venture Deals.
Brad holds bachelor of science and master of science degrees in management science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Brad is also an art collector and long-distance runner. He has completed 25 marathons as part of his mission to finish a marathon in each of the 50 states.
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The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
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#448: Brad Feld — The Art of Unplugging, Carving Your Own Path, and Riding the Entrepreneurial Rollercoaster
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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear the episode I did with mutual friend Jerry Colonna (the coach with the spider tattoo)? Listen to our conversation in which we discuss being complicit in creating the conditions in life we don’t really want, nagging self-doubt, finding time for self-discovery, confronting the difficulty most of us have with saying “no,” acknowledging compassion from a distance, journaling, guilt versus remorse, and much more.
#373: Jerry Colonna — The Coach with the Spider Tattoohttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/643ace4c-54ab-4421-bb6d-a8e2c902a144.mp3Download
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Brad Feld:
Feld Thoughts | Brad at Twitter | Startup Community Way at Twitter | LinkedIn
Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City by Brad Feld
The Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem by Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway
Foundry Group
Techstars
Venture Deals Blog
Internet Bubble | Investopedia
From Mobius Venture Capital Ashes Arises Foundry Group with $160M-Plus Fund | VentureBeat
Interliant Archives | Feld Thoughts
Sweet Spot | The Newport Daily News
Why You Need a “Deloading” Phase in Life | tim.blog
BFeld v54 | Feld Thoughts
BFeld v53 | Feld Thoughts
The Nature Conservancy
Wellesley College
GE Capital to Acquire AmeriData Technologies for $490 Million | The New York Times
SaaS VS ASP — Understanding the Difference | DZone Cloud
Interliant | Crunchbase
Operating Expense (OPEX) | Investopedia
Rackspace Technology
Foundry Group Invests in Fitbit | Foundry Group
Techstars Entrepreneurship & Mental Health Series | LinkedIn
Hoarding Disorder DSM-5 300.3 (F42) | Therapedia
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Dallas, Texas
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) | Mayo Clinic
Crisis Communication: Lessons from 9/11 | Harvard Business Review
9/11 FAQs | National September 11 Memorial & Museum
I’m Finally Recovered From My 50-Mile Run | Feld Thoughts
Aaron Swartz’s Brilliant Life and Tragic Death | Rolling Stone
Jerry Colonna — The Coach with the Spider Tattoo | The Tim Ferriss Show #373
What Fred Wilson Learned from Flatiron Partners’ Failure | MIT Sloan
Entrepreneurs Take on Depression | Fortune
Entrepreneurial Life Shouldn’t Be This Way — Should It? | Inc.com
Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna
This Man Makes Founders Cry | Wired
Reboot: Authentic CEO Coaching and Leadership Development
Naropa University
Life Coach vs. Therapist: Learn the Difference | Tony Robbins
The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Stoic Philosophy as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy by Donald Robertson
Three Magic Numbers | Feld Thoughts
Life Dinner | Feld Thoughts
What is Agile Software Development? | Agile Alliance
WALL·E | Prime Video
The Socratic Method | University of Chicago Law School
Difference Between Eidetic Memory and Photographic Memory | BetterHelp
The Power Of A Digital Sabbath | Feld Thoughts
Colorado Governor Jared Polis
Being Bored Can Be Good for You — If You Do It Right. Here’s How | Time
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
Battlestar Galactica | Prime Video
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Startup Community Community | Mighty Networks
History of the Web | World Wide Web Foundation
The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
How Long ’til Black Future Month?: Stories by N. K. Jemisin
Veil by Eliot Peper
Kill Chain Series by William Hertling
Change Agent by Daniel Suarez
Dune by Frank Herbert
The End of October: A Novel by Lawrence Wright
Arrival
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
Automattic
2020 Compare Cities Overview: Boston, MA vs Boulder, CO | Best Places
Fairbanks, AK
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand’s Capitalist Paradise Is Now a Greedy Land-Grabbing Shitstorm | Gawker
Pearl Street Mall | Boulder, CO
Eldorado Canyon State Park
Longmont, CO
Longs Peak | Rocky Mountain National Park
Los Angeles Is 88 Cities, Many of Them Corrupt | The Atlantic
Homer, AK
Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes, and Values by Yi-Fu Tuan
How Seth Godin Manages His Life — Rules, Principles, and Obsessions | The Tim Ferriss Show #138
Secretary Madeleine Albright — Optimism, the Future of the US, and 450-Pound Leg Presses | The Tim Ferriss Show #437
What are Complex Systems? | Complex Systems Society
Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos by M. Mitchell Waldrop
Play John Conway’s Game of Life
Ottawa: We Built It Here | Shopify
The Origin Story of Silicon Valley — and Why We Shouldn’t Try to Recreate It | Interesting Engineering
Empirical Support for the Boulder Thesis | Feld Thoughts
How Duolingo Built a $700 Million Company in Pittsburgh by Getting 300 Million People Hooked on Learning New Languages | Inc.
Carnegie Mellon University
50 Colorado Startups to Watch in 2019 | Built In Colorado
Mark Cuban Bought NBA Dallas Mavericks Because He’s a Basketball Fan | CNBC
SHOW NOTES
Brad shares details of his first off-grid vacation and the genesis of how it came to be. [06:08]
In what ways did Brad’s first time off the grid help him, and how does he use shorter increments now to similar effect? Is there a pattern to this practice? [20:05]
“They can’t kill you and they can’t eat you.” [26:31]
Brad relays his long relationship with depression and anxiety, and explains why he only began speaking publicly about it in 2013. [33:57]
How mutual friend (and former guest) Jerry Colonna helped Brad approach and cope with his depressive episodes. [44:50]
Revisiting a Jerry Colonna classic: “How are you complicit in creating the conditions you say you don’t want?” [55:35]
Brad’s observations of Jerry’s group therapy sessions. [58:59]
How did Brad choose his therapist when he got back on the horse and decided to get back in that game? [1:01:57]
How does Brad advise someone with an engineering-oriented mind to find a therapist? [1:07:11]
The role of a therapist versus that of a coach. [1:08:41]
Why does Brad have an obsession with the number three? [1:13:06]
Pattern interrupts and life dinners. [1:16:55]
As someone who’s managed to sustain a relationship for 30 years, what has Brad learned about communication — particularly when it comes to conflict resolution? [1:21:42]
While some couples swear by taking notes as a way to facilitate communication and planning, Brad explains why it doesn’t really work in the relationship he shares with his wife. [1:27:52]
How often does brad partake of a digital Sabbath — going without phones or email from Friday night to Sunday morning? [1:32:06]
Boredom can be such a glorious luxury. [1:36:15]
Favorite books, a rare TV show, and a startup community. [1:37:45]
What prompted Brad’s move to Colorado from Boston, and what’s kept him there for 25 years? Are there any downsides to living there? [1:50:40]
What is complexity theory, and how does Brad apply it to his own life? [2:04:36]
What happens when startup communities create something where nothing previously existed. [2:14:00]
Final thoughts and what Brad’s three billboards might say. [2:21:44]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Amy Batchelor
Warren Katz
Ilana Katz Katz
Marge Simpson
Len Fassler
Jerry Poch
Raj Bhargava
Graham Weston
Yoda
Brad’s Parents
Eric von Hippel
Aaron Swartz
Dave Jilk
Jerry Colonna
Fred Wilson
Warren Buffett
Dr. Louis Mogul
MacAndrew Jack
Socrates
Robert M. Pirsig
Ronald D. Moore
Neal Stephenson
William Gibson
Dan Simmons
N.K. Jemisin
Eliot Peper
William Hertling
Daniel Suarez
Frank Herbert
Lawrence Wright
Ted Chiang
Matt Mullenweg
Ayn Rand
Heidi Roizen
John Hickenlooper
Ian Hathaway
Seth Godin
Madeleine Albright
W. Brian Arthur
M. Mitchell Waldrop
John Horton Conway
Mark Cuban
Michael Dell
