Brad Feld has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for over 20 years.Brad currently serves on the board of directors of a number of private companies, including Gold Systems, Judy’s Book, NewsGator, Rally Software, and StillSecure. Brad Feld is the co-founder of TechStars and co-author of “Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup.”
Brad Feld shares his thoughts and insights on startups.
- “It’s cheaper to get started, you can get something out and make more demonstrative progress more quickly.
- If you’re a business person, find some nerds you want to work with. If you’re a nerd, find a business person to work with.
- Marketing is a key part of the success of companies. However, it’s wired into the DNA of the business, not an extra thing that is attached on, like it used to be in the 1980′s and 1990′s as “marketing”, “PR”, “marcomm”, etc. were a key part of every startup plan.
- It’s important to have a clear goal in mind, and you can’t start out too fast and keep up that momentum.
- Passion is the quality that indicates that an entrepreneur will be successful. Incredible passion for their product, regardless of what that product is combined with a bias toward action and getting things done.
- Make sure the thing you are working on is something you are intensely passionate about.
- I’ve committed to spending the next 15 years continuing to do what I’ve been doing for the past 15 years – investing in early stage startups and helping amazing entrepreneurs create important products and companies
- If you are an entrepreneur, you can build a significant, powerful, sustainable business taking advantage of market expansion during the up cycle and consolidating your position during the down cycle.
- Spend your energy creating amazing products, thrilling your customers, building an awesome organization, and living your life.
- When I think off all of the companies in our portfolio that are growing like crazy, they all spend money on marketing. However, it’s driven by an obsessive focus on the customer and the product, rather than a “marketing budget” or “marketing initiative.” And phrases like “social media marketing” and “marketing spend” rarely surface in discussions, and when they do I vomit a little in my mouth.
