I’m 50% of the way through being out of hibernation and am very looking forward to turning back into a pumpkin at midnight on Halloween.
I’m not traveling in August and have settled into being in one place (Aspen) after running around the United States for the past few months. In hindsight, it was too much. When I was younger, the travel I just did was “moderate.” But, between my actual work, age, post-exertional malaise, and the normal energy dynamics associated with shifting between Brad-introvert and Brad-extrovert mode, it has been physically (and psychologically) challenging.
Fortunately, I’ve had fun and my mental health is excellent. It has also been useful to experience this as I approach 60, as it serves as sound reinforcement that the work-related travel dynamic is not something I want to reintroduce into my life.
As part of a shift, I’ve tried a few different things with friends. When I hibernated the last time, I was very elusive in person, except for when Amy and I were in Boulder. Over the past three months, I’ve had more extended meetings and meals with close friends, including several who’ve traveled to me to simply sit, catch up, and spend time together.
The photo above is from yesterday evening with Bala Kamallakharan. While we’ve had many shared experiences together, precious few have been in person. Our four hours together were delightful, memorable, and great reinforcement for me of how 1:1 time with someone I treasure or with a couple (dinner with Amy + two friends) fills me up regardless of what the topic is. This afternoon I’m doing this again with Manu Kumar.
While it’s also been enjoyable and interesting doing a bunch of podcasts around Give First: The Power of Mentorship, I’m pretty podcasted out. So, I’m now shifting the conversations for the remaining podcasts I have and am trying to incorporate something new, that has nothing to do with the book, into every podcast left before I hibernate again. I’ve got about 30 left and am following through on the ones I’ve committed to, but have shifted back to Default No for new inbound requests.
In September, I have a California trip and a bunch of stuff in Boulder (including Techstars Foundercon and Denver Startup Week). Then I have an East Coast trip in October (NYC and Washington, DC) and have been trying to sneak in an Austin trip (and failing). Other than that, I’m finished.
My “not public-facing” activity (and persona) is more than enough for me at this point in life. I enjoy the work a lot and am fortunate that I have deep, trusting relationships with almost all of the CEOs I work with, regardless of what is going on with the companies. While there are plenty of chaotic dynamics in the world right now, many of the companies I’m on the board of are doing well, and most of them are scaled businesses, which is a different kind of work than all the early-stage stuff I’d been doing for most of the prior 40 years. I’m also very much enjoying my deep time with other VCs we’ve supported as LPs whenever they reach out to me.
I anchored on turning 60 as the unambiguous shift for me into what Amy and I call “the third third of life.” While it is a continuation of the things I’m currently working on and committed to, including Foundry and Techstars, the most significant part of it is the cessation of work-related travel and most, if not all, of my public-facing activities.
My acceptance of the finiteness of life is a big part of this. The experience of the past three months has been powerful, both in terms of my energy level and in reinforcing what brings me joy. While life always has tragedy, hardship, disappointment, failure, and struggle, I embrace that as part of the experience, while orienting as much of my available energy toward things that bring me joy.
I recently had a 30-minute chat (the average length of the Give First podcast interviews that I do) with Bobby Franklin, the CEO of the National Venture Capital Association.
We’ve been supporters of the NVCA for many years. Two Foundry partners, Jaclyn Hester and Jason Mendelson, have served on the board at different periods. I was an early donor to Venture Forward, the NVCA’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
We unpack the disconnect between Washington, D.C., and the startup world. As part of this, we discuss why that gap poses a growing threat to innovation in the U.S.
Bobby tells some stories from the front lines of venture policy, illustrating how small regulatory changes can have significant consequences for emerging fund managers and founders. We cover the unintended impact of tax reform, upcoming anti-money laundering rules, and some hidden obstacles that could stall the next generation of startups.
We finish up with a discussion on mentorship, exploring how it can function within the venture community, both among VCs and startups.
I have enormous respect for Bobby and the work the NVCA does. Bobby, thank you for your leadership.
Foundercon is heading back to where it all began: Boulder, Colorado.
I’ll be there the whole time, along with over 1,000 of my Techstars friends.
The Techstars team is working hard to make this Foundercon extremely valuable to everyone who attends, regardless of whether you are a founder, mentor, partner, or community leader.
And, if you’ve never been to Boulder in September, it’s magical.
If you are interested, reach out or sign up.
I’m on my way to Kansas City for the day to spend time with the Kauffman Foundation at the 1 Million Cups annual meeting, talking about Give First: The Power of Mentorship. My drive to the airport started off with an intimate conversation with a close friend who recently got a cancer diagnosis that compounds another serious health issue he’s been battling. Consequently, I’m in a pensive and reflective mode right now.
I’ve got a long history with the Kauffman Foundation, dating back to the early 1990s, along with many enduring friendships, including Jana Matthews and Lesa Mitchell, from my early time there. It’s an organization I have enormous respect for that has had an extraordinary impact on entrepreneurship throughtout the United States, so it’s always a pleasure to spend time there.
Ben McDougal facilated this event. When I was in Boulder in May, he came to town and we recorded a two and a half hour conversation at Coupe Studios for Episode 100 of his podcast You Don’t Need This Podcast. It was one of my first recorded podcasts around Give First: The Power of Mentorship and you can tell that I’m still working out how to talk about the book and some of the ideas in it. Ben is a great and patient interviewer, but neither of us expected it to go so long. We left an easter egg in the last half to see if anyone actually listens all the way through, so send it to me by email if you do…
The team at Coupe Studio was fantastic and the studio was beautiful. I subsequently recorded the foreword for Sue Heilbronner’s upcoming book Never Ask for the Sale there. I highly recommend them if you need to record anything.
Last night Amy and I had dinner with Ian Hathaway. We had a nice talk in the afternoon, including discussing how much fun he’s had working on his new Outsider Inc. podcast. He’s off to an amazing start with long-form interviews with Scott Dorsey (High Alpha – Indianapolis), Mike Praeger (AvidXchange – Charlotte), Wade Foster (Zapier – Missouri), Linda Rottenberg (Endeavor – NYC and Everywhere), Jason Seats (Techstars – Austin and Everywhere), me, and Dug Song (Duo – Ann Arbor). I love the idea that Ian is focused on fascinating people all over the world having massive impact on their local startup communities. Ian is quickly learning how to pull magical stories out of them.
For a taste of the depth of this, listen to Ian’s latest interview with Sean O’Sullivan (another long time friend) titled Founder, Filmmaker, Humanitarian, & VC: Reinvention through Purpose w/ Sean O’Sullivan, Co-Founder of MapInfo & Managing GP, SOSV. In the “super interesting and amazing people you should know but might not”, Sean is at the top of the list.
The final podcast to add to your queue is today’s release on the Give First Podcast titled The Near Death (and Rebirth) of Simple Energy with Justin Segall & Yoav Lurie. If you have read Give First: The Power of Mentorship, you’ll recognize them from the example of the first item in the Techstars Mentor Manifesto: “Be Socratic.” In this episode, we go deeper on what actually happened. I’m still knocking the dust off my podcast boots, so while it’s a little rough, it was fun to do.
While I’m enjoying elements of being out and about, which I decided to do it around the launch of the book because there are some ideas I want to try to get out in the world in this moment, I sent my relentenlessly positive assistant Colleen Clair a note yesterday that began with “UNCLE!” At midnight on Halloween, I’m definitely turning into a pumpkin and going back into hibernation.
I have no idea how long that hibernation will last, or if it will be permanent. While I reflect on the past three months of being out of hibernation, a lot of things I’ve been doing are in the “like” category, but none of them make the “love” category, which now is only four things (spending time with Amy and close friends, reading, writing (non-fiction, fiction, and code), and running/hiking). My goal is to continue to shift more of my time to the love category, fulfill my work commitments, while embracing the third third of life as I wander into my 60s. That won’t include lots of podcasts, travel, or public-facing activity, which is what is filling in all the available gap of time right now.
While I’m having fun, knowing that it is time bounded has been important for me, especially around my energy and mental health. Amy and I have flipped the cliché and are saying this is experience is “a sprint, not a marathon.”
I’m on my way to Chicago for the day to give several talks on Give First: The Power of Mentorship and spend time with my long-time friend, Troy Henikoff. I enjoy Chicago and its startup community, which has produced some great companies over the last 20 years.
I think my first investment in Chicago was during the late 1990s in StartSampling (which I inherited from a Mobius partner.) It lived for a long time based on the tireless work of Larry Burns and his team, but ultimately didn’t make it. My next experience was with FeedBurner, which resulted in a positive outcome and fostered lasting friendships with the founders (Dick Costolo, Matt Shobe, Eric Lunt, and Steve Olechowski), as well as several executives, including Don Loeb, Rick Klau, and Brent Hill.
Plus, the Cubs with my dad and lots of chocolate ice cream together.
I recently spent 30 minutes with Adam Grant on the Techstars Give First Podcast, discussing the intersection between Adam’s excellent book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success.
I didn’t know Adam when I wrote the first edition of Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City, which came out in October 2012. When Adam’s book came out about six months later in April 2013, I grabbed it and read it immediately. I had an aha moment that related back to one short section in Startup Communties titled “Give Before You Get.” We cover this, and a bunch of other things in the podcast.
I’ve since met and gotten to know Adam, including a long luxurious lunch together one day in Aspen. I have enormous respect for his research and writing and learn something from him every time we interact.
I hope you enjoy the podcast which is available the following links.
Foundry is partnering with High Alpha to drive survey responses for the 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report.
Take the survey now at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YBJXXDQ to contribute to the data and get early access to the 2025 SaaS Benchmarks.
Over the years, the SaaS Benchmarks Report has become a trusted resource for early and growth-stage SaaS operators. To make this year’s report as impactful as possible, we need strong participation from the SaaS community — that’s where your support by taking this year’s survey would make a big difference.
By contributing your anonymized data, you enrich the report and can benchmark your performance against that of your industry peers.
I’ve been enjoying doing podcasts again on the Techstars Give First Podcast. When I went into hibernation two years ago, David carried the weight of the podcast and kept it going. But, … I’m back (for what it’s worth), at least for a little while until I turn into a pumpkin.
I had a delightful conversation with Seth Godin. We’ve been friends for 30 years through an initial connection from Charley Lax as part of a diligence project that introduced me to Jerry Colonna and Fred Wilson around an investment that Jerry, Fred, and SoftBank subsequently made in Seth’s company, Yoyodyne (which was acquired a few years later by Yahoo!)
While we start with some history, we delve into deeper topics, which is the delicious part of being friends with Seth.
I picked up a new phrase from this discussion: “Immediate Yes.” Historically, I’ve used the concepts of “Default Yes” and “Default No” to define modalities I’m in. For example, today I’m in Default Yes; when I was in hibernation, I was Default No.
Seth introduced the concept of “Immediate Yes,” which overrides the Default Yes/No setting and applies to a small number of people within one’s relationship hierarchy. I’m one of those people for Seth (and he’s one for me). When I think of my list, it’s less than 20 people. But these are people I know will be careful when they ask me for something, so when they do, it’s an immediate yes. I’ve got more thinking to do on what that means and how I apply it, but it was a fun new idea to consider.
More fun stuff is coming – Adam Grant is up next on the Give First Podcast, which you can subscribe to at the following links:
I am an enormous Andy Weir fan – I think a long dinner 1:1 with him would be epicly fun.
While I usually run naked (I don’t listen to anything), I’ll occasionally add an audiobook during a marathon training period. During the summer training for the StVrain75Hygiene36 Berlin Proxy Marathon 2021 (a marathon I ran locally at the same time that my partners Seth and Ryan ran the Berlin marathon), I listened to Project Hail Mary.
Ryland Grace is a magnificent protagonist, but I love love love Rocky. And yes, plenty of stuff on the web about Eridianese and Eridian to English Translators.
F1 was fun, but this is going to be a fantastic movie. Bonus points: Ryan Gosling.
As I wander around Seattle for a few days, including a fun event with JP Morgan in the morning and PSL at the end of the day, I’ve been pondering the evolution of startup communities. I first started coming to Seattle in 1990 and wrote a post seven years ago about it – Hanging Out In Pioneer Square. Last night, while sitting with Greg and Shannon Gottesman, overlooking Lake Washington, I relaxed into a wonderful feeling of topophilia.
I’ve always loved Seattle. At life dinners, Amy and I periodically play a somewhat morbid, but interesting game of “Where would you move to if I died?” as we both think it would be too difficult to stay in one of the places we’ve shared so much time. Seattle is regularly at the top of my list.
Seattle has grown and evolved in the 35 years since I’ve been coming here. It’s incredible to see (and have experienced) the evolution of the startup community here. I received a few questions about it at the public events yesterday, and was reflecting on a common theme that has been discussed on a few podcasts, which, if you’re interested in this topic, are worth listening to.
As a bonus, Ian Hathaway is now hosting a must-listen podcast called Outsider Inc. Ian recently featured me on an episode, and his most recent one is with Dug Song.
I spent some time with Dug and his extended Detroit community members when I was in Indianapolis a few weeks ago with High Alpha and Scott Dorsey’s team. Here’s the bonus bonus video about their Detroit to Indy Roadtrip GEC2025!
The second principle of the Boulder Thesis is that one must take a long-term view, at least 20 years, to build a startup community. I evolved that to “a 20-year view from today” – basically, always look forward 20 years. In the podcast with Lesa Mitchell, I realized that I’ve been working on building startup communities and conceptualizing and understanding the ideas behind them for around 35 years, which I found rhymes nicely with the 35 years I’ve been coming to Seattle.
On day three of a beautiful stretch of weather in Seattle, I’m delighted to be here.