
Brad, 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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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.
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
- Donald Robertson
- 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
- Ken Liu
- 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
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than 900 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
I’ve only just this spring started listening to podcasts regularly (Dhru Purohit was my gateway drug). The combo of exploring new info and insights as I do a daily early morning 4-mile walk has been a way to offset these exceedingly stressful and contentious times in which we find ourselves.
As a person who has volunteered on the frontlines of animal welfare and rescue, frankly I’ve been traumatized by what I’ve seen (the capacity for human neglect and cruelty), still as a rule I do not believe others are responsible for anticipating or avoiding any “triggers” I might have as a result. However I’ll admit that hearing your casual reference to “putting a cat in a pillowcase and smashing it against a tree” felt like a gut punch this morning. While I’ve not (yet) knowingly come across that particular act of sadism, once you voiced it, I realized it was something that likely is done.
With apologies to Brad Feld, I couldn’t listen to the rest of the podcast and switched to music instead.
As an influencer and thought leader, I’d ask you, Tim, to be more deliberate about what sort of imagery and energy you choose to generate and perpetuate via your platform.
Tim- I love your podcast and have listened for years. This episode is a very thoughtful and deep conversation but I cannot help but notice how much the new intra-episode ads take away from the moment.
Sabine,
Jesus, that’s a horrid image. As a fellow animal advocate and cat guardian, I was horrified to read this and I can understand your horror.
I would agree with you completely and that is why the last time I listened to this podcast I turned it off – since Tim Ferris and Mary Karr began speaking about hunting animals.
What? Outrageous and grotesque. But then I realized, this isn’t someone who’s claiming enlightenment or spiritual maturity or even kindness – so I’ve had to venture into other pastures, listening to those who embrace a peaceful planet and reverence for animals and the earth herself.
I loved the podcast.
My wife and I listened to this show together, and we loved it. Tim, you have grown so much as an interviewer, and it shines in this episode. Well done!
A plethora of wonderful resources in the show notes, I particularly enjoyed being directed to Topophilia.
That’s amazing & wonderful resources. I really loved the podcast
Your podcast has been such a great resource for direct steps and inspiration. Last year I was cleaning boats in MN and listening to your podcast and now I live in Breck and have started my own outdoor kettlebell/yoga flow class that I love so much and am in the process of starting a keto protein bar company with a friend I met teaching cross country skiing! I also wanted to share with you guys my friend’s Wim Hof breathing method [Moderator: promotional content removed.]. I appreciate you guys filling up my head with inspiring and useful conversations that make me feel like I’ve had free access to the best mentors around- you’re the best. ♥
There are a lot of book rec’s (especially in the sci-fi genre) made in this podcast. From those, and the fact that Rothfuss has been mentioned in the past, I think anyone that enjoys those worlds should give the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown a look. I can’t recommend his books highly enough.