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Brad Feld

Brad Feld36 posts

Brad Feld is an American entrepreneur, author, blogger, and venture capitalist. He started a software consulting firm while still at MIT and sold it in 1997 to Ameridata. He then formed Foundry, a venture capital firm, which has made investments in leading software brands such as Zygna.

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1983

Attends MIT

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Feld gains Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Management Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology .  He chooses MIT in part because his eighth-grade girlfriend wanted to go there.

1985

Starts Feld Technologies

Founding0 Comments

While while a sophomore at MIT he works part-time as a developer for a Dallas company. His work includes writing a management system for a very large dental practice with over 30,000 customers an engagement means he has to commute frequently between Los Angeles and Boston during school.

They paid me a royalty on all the software I developed for them, so I learned the value of being in business for yourself at an early age.

Felds lack of experience is his biggest challenge. After losing money for a few months in a row he fires staff, cuts costs and resets the business to grow more slowly and profitably. He credits his father and other mentors who helped him stay out of trouble.

29 Apr, 1987

Feld, Jilk become partners

Dave JilkFounding0 Comments

Feld technologies becomes formalized when Feld and Jilk become partners. One month later they incorporate as an S-corporation. Together they build the company into one of Boston’s leading software consulting firms.

Feld: Brad, even though he could code, was out in the world trying to make rain. That’s oversimplifying what we did, but it was in large part our role in the business. There is no way I could make rain at all, and that is still not my strength. And, although Brad is capable of working on code, he was not motivated by it. He liked going out and finding clients, and having high level conversations.

21 Jun, 1993

Feld, Batchelor marry

Amy BatchelorMarriage0 Comments

Brad Feld - Amy BatchelorAfter buying their wedding rings at the Pay ‘n Save, Feld and Batchelor exchange vows at the top of top of Ester Dome in Fairbanks, Alaska. They are officially married in the Boulder County Courthouse on June 21, 1996.

Nov 1993

Sells Feld Technologies to AmeriData

Acquisition0 Comments

Feld Technologies, now at 20 people and just under $2m in revenues, is acquired by Sage Technologies (which becomes AmeriData Technologies). Feld becomes  Chief Technology Officer. Feld Technologies becomes AmeriData Consulting. By 1997 AmeriData Consulting is a 400 person, $40 million organization and is sold to GE Capital.

1995

Moves to Boulder, Colorado

Home purchase/sale0 Comments

I was investing in Boston, NYC, the Bay Area, and Seattle as an angel investor, and I was traveling across the country all the time. My wife is a writer. She grew up in Alaska. She told me she was moving to Boulder and that I could come with her if I wanted to. We were married at the time so I chose to come with her [laughs]. My view was, if I didn’t like Boulder, I’d keep going west, except I never really wanted to live in the Bay Area. But we got here, loved it, and decided to never look back.

Founds Intensity Ventures

Founding0 Comments

With the proceeds of the sale of his company Feld founds Intensity Ventures, a company that helps launch and operate software companies. Intensity Ventures was a venture affiliate of SOFTBANK.

19 Nov, 2007

Foundry Group raises $225M for early stage tech

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Foundry Group logoFoundry Group announces it has raised a $225 fund for investing in early-stage technology companies. Investors include Guardian Life Insurance Co., Morgan Stanley, Parish Capital Advisors, Procific and University of Texas Investment Management Co. The partners include Brad Feld, Seth Levine, Ryan McIntyre and Chris Wand. They launched Foundry after thier previous company, Mobius, didn’t perform well, and partners of that fund decided not to raise any more money.

1 Jan, 2008

Foundry, Union Square invest

Union Square VenturesZyngaFundraising0 Comments

Foundry Group, along with Union Square Ventures invests in Zygna’s Series A-1 investment of nearly $5 million. Zynga makes social games that run on mobile devices and desktops. Its most famous product is Farmville, a social game that allows Facebook users to create a virtual farm.

5 Dec, 2008

How to Get Funding

Interview0 Comments

In an interview, Feld talks about the challenges for early-stage investors when raising funds:

There’s a sense among entrepreneurs that there’s a set of things that you need to do in response to what you hear from from venture capitalists that increase your chances of getting funding. Particularly challenging for first time or early-stage entrepreneurs that are going through that cycle, where they get feedback that says, ‘if only you had this, or if you only had that…’ And usually what that means is that the person you are talking to is probably not going to fund you and you should look harder for somebody that’s actually interesting funding you at the stage that your at.

Brad Feld on how to get funding

Jan 2010

Techstars leads Global Accelerator Network

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Global Accelerator Netwrok Logo - CopyIn partnership with the White House Startup America initiative, Techstars leads the development of the Global Accelerator Network. The Network consists of only the highest quality independently owned and operated organizations from around the world that utilize a mentorship-based startup accelerator model.

19 Oct, 2010

Do More Faster book release

David CohenBook0 Comments

domorefaster-coverFeld and Cohen identify the key issues that first-time entrepreneurs encounter, and offer proven advice from successful entrepreneurs who have worked with the TechStars program. The authors organize the most critical issues into seven themes: Idea and Vision, People, Execution, Product, Fundraising, Legal and Structure, and Work and Life Balance. Many of the examples are personal experiences from the entrepreneurs themselves. Throughout the book, they debunk numerous myths about startups and reveal some surprising truths.

2 Aug, 2011

Venture Deals book release

Jason MendelsonBook0 Comments

Venture Deals First EditionFeld and Mendelson compile blog posts with new material to create a guide for entrepreneurs seeking Vventure capital financing. The book includes analysis of the Term Sheet, details the differnt stages of the fundraising process, explores the venture capital ecosystem and gives tactics for negotiations.

My favorite entrepreneurs to fund are those that have had at least one success and one failure. While it is a cliche, failure teaches the big lessons. Most importantly, entrepreneurs that have some failure under their belt have humility and perspective that I think is deeply useful in the creation of the company.

15 Dec, 2011

IPO

ZyngaIPO0 Comments

Zynga debuts on the NASDAQ Global Select Market at $10.00, and trades between $9.00 and $11.00 during the day. Foundry owns 6.1 percent of Zynga before the IPO, or 34,560,060 shares. Foundry invested less than $5 million in Zynga, but today it holds around $345 million worth of Zynga shares. This is on top of an earlier $22.58 million buyback and $25 million generated via the sale of shares in the IPO.

26 Dec, 2012

Venture Deals 2nd edition release

Jason MendelsonBook0 Comments

Venture Deals CoverThe Second Edition of Venture Deals is released. The book builds on the first edition by outlining the essential elements of the venture capital term sheet, introducing readers to the various participants in a funding situation, and includes strategies to getting to a fair deal
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14 Jan, 2013

Startup Life book release

Amy BatchelorBook0 Comments

Startup LifeIn Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur, Feld and Batchelor, share their personal experiences of living in an entrepreneurial relationship. The book offers strategies for balancing entrepreneurship with relationships, including waiting for a good time for real conversation, life dinners, quarterly vacations off the grid, no TV in the bedroom and always answering your phone when your beloved calls.