The Founders

This week’s The Founders is awesome. It reminds us that there are real people and real families behind every startup. I’ve experienced this over and over again in my 17 years in Boulder and it’s reflected in both the Startup Communities book that is out and the Startup Life book that Amy and I are in the final copyedit phase of and will be out by January. Take a few minute break from your day to enjoy the lives of some great entrepreneurs in a dynamite startup community that are part of an extended family that I’m proud to be associated with.

Are you watching The Founders Season 3 on TechStars.TV? If not, why not? Episode 2 (and Go!) is below – it echoes the points made yesterday in my post If You Can’t Explain What You Do In A Paragraph, You’ve Got A Problem . There’s a cameo from my dad (Stan Feld) at 2:05. See – even dad’s care about TechStars. In addition to seeing Stan, you get to learn what a 10:10 meeting is. And you get to see the teams struggle with their shitty elevator pitches at the very beginning of the program. ...

The last two episodes of the Founders 2010 series are up. Episode 11 is called Hard at Play. Special guests include Howard Lindzon (StockTwits CEO), David Brown (one of the co-founders of TechStars), Rob La Gesse from RackSpace (and the sponsor of this video series), Lewis Gersh (Metamorphic Partners), Josh Fraser (Eventvue co-founder – TechStars Boulder 2007), and scenes from the annual ping pong tournament. “Hard at Play” The Founders | TechStars Boulder | Episode 11 from TechStars on Vimeo . ...

This week’s special guest are Jeff Clavie r from SoftTech VC and Rob Hayes from First Round Capital. Among other things, you get to hear Jeff define the Three Asses Rule and Rob explain what happens after you finish the TechStars program. As a special bonus, there’s a cute clip of me near the end watching the incredible record tennis match between Isner and Mahut . And some funny running footage. And a glider. And Ari Newman and how sandpaper and rubbing alcohol intersect with the fundraising process. ...

Eric Ries is this week’s guest star on The Founders. Eric is an incredible speaker and is traveling the world on a mission to help people stop wasting other people’s time. If you don’t follow Eric’s thoughts on Lean Startups on his blog Lessons Learned , you should. You get a little taste of the shift Omniar is making while they wander around the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art along with a surprise birthday party for David Cohen at The Lazy Dog on a beautiful Boulder evening. And a few special bonus visitors. And some great shots of Boulder in the summertime. I love Homer but I’m starting to miss Boulder. ...

This week’s episode of The Founders is all about “the team.” Ryan Sarve r from Twitter is the guest of honor so all my links will be twitter handles. David’s mom (gingerale ) makes a nice appearance (follow her and follow my dad sfeld while you are at it) along with Eric Norlin of Glue , Defrag , and now Blur . “The Team” The Founders | TechStars Boulder | Episode 8 from TechStars on Vimeo .

This week’s episode of The Founders appears to be “baby themed.” With cupcakes. Fun stuff. “The Element of Surprise” The Founders | TechStars Boulder | Episode 7 from TechStars on Vimeo .

After a long and awesome day in Seattle ending with a great dinner with the BigDoor board at Emmer & Rye , I came back to my room and watched Episode 6 of this year’s TechStars Founders video serious. It was about the TechStars reunion event and included scenes from the world’s largest Ignite event as well as some beautiful Boulder pictures. It made me smile a big smile. Whenever I see stuff like this and reflect on what I spent my life doing, I’m just a happy little kid. ...

Your friends Jason and Brad make guest appearance, as does the infamous Do Not Call list. “Let’s Be Honest” The Founders | TechStars Boulder | Episode 4 from TechStars on Vimeo .

One of my often quoted lines is that “fear is a useless emotion in business.” Sure – self doubt enters the picture on occasion and there are plenty of dark days, but why be fearful of anything? There’s just no value in it. Watch as some of the TechStars founders confront some new and exciting types of fear that includes some of Boulder’s majestic rocks. “Be Fearless. Today.” The Founders | TechStars Boulder | Episode 3 from TechStars on Vimeo .