Brad Feld (born December 1, 1965) is an American entrepreneur, author, blogger, and venture capitalist at Foundry Group in Boulder, Colorado, a firm he started with partners Seth Levine, Ryan McIntyre, and Jason Mendelson.
Brad Feld | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Education | MIT |
| Occupation(s) | Venture capitalist, author |
| Spouse | Amy Batchelor |
Feld began financing technology startups in the early 1990s, first as an angel and later an institutional investor. Feld was an early investor in Harmonix, Zynga, MakerBot, and Fitbit.[1]
Career
editIn 1987, Feld co-founded Feld Technologies, a custom software development startup which catered mostly to small and medium-sized businesses,[2] while he was a student at MIT.[3] In 1993, the company was acquired by AmeriData for around $2 million,[2] where Feld took the role of chief technology officer.[3][4] Prior to the acquisition, Feld Technologies had grown to a headcount of 20 employees and was doing just under $2 million in annual revenue.[5]
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Feld helped operate Interliant, an application service and hosting provider.[6] Interliant failed in 2002, following the collapse of the dot-com bubble.[7] Feld openly talks about his experience at Interliant, using it as an example of entrepreneurial failure.[1]
In 2006, Feld helped David Cohen co-found Techstars, an early-stage venture fund and startup accelerator.[8]
Before co-founding Foundry Group in 2007, Feld co-founded VC firms Intensity Ventures and Mobius Venture Capital.[citation needed] After its inaugural $225 million fund, Foundry Group has raised four more early-stage funds of $225 million each – in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2016.
Foundry Group also raised a $225 million Select Fund in 2013 that invests in later-stage opportunities of their earlier stage funds. In 2016, they raised Foundry Next which is a $500 million fund investing in later-stage opportunities as well as investing in other venture firms.[9]
Feld serves on the boards of nonprofits National Center for Women & Information Technology, Startup Colorado, Global EIR Program,[10] and UP Global.
As of 2022, Feld was the primary funder of the Banana Lounge at MIT which gives away hundreds of thousands of bananas to the MIT community.[11]
Writing
editSince 2005 Feld has been writing on Feld Thoughts, a technology venture blog.[1]
Feld is the author and co-author of a series of books focused on entrepreneurship, technology venture capital, and startups in general.[12] He is also a member of the Xconomists, an ad hoc team of editorial advisors for the tech news and media company Xconomy.[13]
Personal life
editFeld was born in Arkansas and grew up in Dallas, Texas. In 1983, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend MIT where he earned a bachelor's and master's degree in Management Science. Since 1995, he has lived in Boulder, Colorado with wife and co-author Amy Batchelor.
Bibliography
edit- Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup with David Cohen (2010)
- Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist with Jason Mendelson (2011)
- Burning Entrepreneur: How to Launch, Fund, and Set Your Startup On Fire (2012)
- Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City (2012)
- Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist (Second Edition) with Jason Mendelson (2012)
- Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur with Amy Batchelor (2013)
- Startup Boards: Getting the Most Out of Your board of directors with Mahendra Ramsinghani (2013)
- Startup Metrics: Making Sense of the Numbers in Your Startup with Seth Levine (2014)
- Startup Opportunities: Know When to Quit Your Day Job with Sean Wise (2015)
- Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist (Third Edition) with Jason Mendelson (2016)
- #GiveFirst: A New Philosophy for Business in The Era of Entrepreneurship (2018)
- The Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem with Ian Hathaway (2020)
- The Entrepreneur's Weekly Nietzsche: A Book for Disruptors with Dave Jilk (2021)
References
edit- ^ a b c "This Week in Venture Capital – Brad Feld, Managing Director at Foundry Group – YouTube", YouTube, Retrieved on December 1, 2013
- ^ a b "Brad Feld: Great Entrepreneurs Go Out and Do" Feld, Brad. [Stanford eCorner] Stanford University, October 20, 2011. Retrieved on March 5, 2018.
- ^ a b "Brad Feld: Building A Company Is Like Running A Marathon", Business Insider, Retrieved on December 1, 2013
- ^ "Brad Feld", Huffington Post, Retrieved on December 1, 2013.
- ^ "MIT Entrepreneurship Competition: Success Stories".
- ^ "Talking About Failure – Feld Thoughts" Archived December 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on December 1, 2013.
- ^ "Interliant Files Chapter 11; CEO, COO Resign", [CRN Magazine], Retrieved on December 1, 2013.
- ^ Sweeney, Megan. "Celebrating Seven Years – Techstars" Archived November 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, November 14, 2013, Retrieved on December 1, 2013
- ^ "About Foundry Group". November 29, 2011.
- ^ "Advisors – Global EIR". Global EIR. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
- ^ https://twitter.com/iaincheeseman/status/1513467785636200448/photo/1. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Amazon.com: Brad Feld: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle", [Amazon.com], Retrieved on December 1, 2013
- ^ "About Our Mission, Team, and Editorial Ethics". Xconomy. Retrieved January 2, 2018.