Give First Podcast

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. ...

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!) ...

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 . ...

David Cohen and I recently interviewed Maëlle Gavet, Techstars new CEO. It’s a great way to get to know a little more about her in under 30 minutes. I met Maëlle about a week before I talked to her for the first time by reading her book Trampled by Unicorns: Big Tech’s Empathy Problem and How to Fix It . I knew I’d like her before we talked, and after almost two months of working with her, I’m psyched she’s at the helm of Techstars.

In 2010, David Cohen and I wrote a book titled Do More Faster . It was filled with stories and advice from founders, investors, and mentors from around the first two years of Techstars. This was the first book I wrote. David and I learned the joy and pain of writing a book. We were lucky to get to work with Bill Falloon, who has been my long-time editor on all the books I’ve written. Bill guided us through the process and helped us understand what was required to put together a real book. ...