Brad Feld

Who Is Brad Feld?

Brad Feld was born on December 1, 1965. He was born in Arkansas and grew up in Dallas, Texas. He is an American entrepreneur, author, venture capitalist, and blogger based in Boulder, Colorado. He is a partner and co-founder of Foundry and has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur for over 35 years, since founding his first company, Feld Technologies, in college.

Feld was an early investor in Harmonix, Zynga, MakerBot, and Fitbit. He co-founded Techstars in 2006 and Foundry Group in 2007. He released his latest book, Give First: The Power of Mentorship, on June 24, 2025.

Early Life: Dallas, Dallas, and an MIT Dorm Room

Growing Up in Texas

Brad grew up in Dallas and discovered computers at a young age. In 1983, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to attend MIT, where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Management Science.

His undergraduate and graduate degrees let him combine computer science with business — the exact combination he would spend the next four decades applying to early-stage companies.

The First Company: Feld Technologies (1987)

In 1987, Feld co-founded Feld Technologies, a custom software development startup that catered mostly to small and medium-sized businesses, while he was a student at MIT.

Brad counts the real beginning of Feld Technologies as 1987, when a partner, Dave Jilk, joined him. They built the company into one of Boston’s leading software consulting firms before selling it to AmeriData Technologies. In 1993, the company was acquired by AmeriData for around $2 million. Feld took the role of chief technology officer at AmeriData following the acquisition.

Depression at 24: Going Public When Others Stayed Silent

Feld first suffered depression at age 24. During a business trip that involved a lengthy hotel stay, his depression came on strong, and Feld at last decided to go public — to write and speak about his mental health.

He gave a detailed explanation of the first of three major depressive episodes in his life and later blogged about a subsequent episode, hearing from many entrepreneurs going through similar struggles. His openness on this subject has made him one of the most trusted voices on mental health in the startup world.

Career: From Boston Software Shops to Boulder’s Startup Scene

Intensity Ventures and Mobius Venture Capital (1994–2006)

After AmeriData, Feld moved into institutional venture capital. Before co-founding Foundry Group in 2007, Feld co-founded VC firms Intensity Ventures and Mobius Venture Capital.

A couple of months before he turned 30, his wife Amy told him she was moving to Boulder, and he could come with her. They arrived knowing nobody. Boulder was random. Brad grew up in Dallas. Amy grew up in Alaska. Boston was very good to them, but they decided to move somewhere. Since 1995, he has lived in Boulder, Colorado, with his wife and co-author Amy Batchelor.

Co-Founding Techstars (2006)

Feld co-founded Techstars in 2006 alongside David Cohen, David Brown, and Jared Polis, launching the first program in Boulder in 2007.

Techstars, a global accelerator, has supported over 10,000 founders. The “Give First” philosophy — helping others without expecting immediate returns — was the principle Feld embedded into Techstars from day one and later codified in his 2025 book of the same name.

Co-Founding Foundry Group (2007)

Feld co-founded Foundry Group in 2007 with partners Seth Levine, Jason Mendelson, and Ryan McIntyre. The firm’s structure was deliberately flat and unusually small for its size: four equal partners, no associates, no principals, no EIRs.

Foundry’s investment thesis focused on software and internet companies at early stages, typically backing 30 companies per fund over three years. After its inaugural $225 million fund, Foundry Group raised four more early-stage funds of $225 million each — in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2016.

The Portfolio: Guitar Hero, Zynga, Fitbit, MakerBot

Brad Feld investments at Foundry include Harmonix, the developer of Guitar Hero and Rock Band; Zynga, the social gaming company that went public at a multi-billion-dollar valuation; and MakerBot, the desktop 3D printer company. Feld was an early investor in Fitbit.

Foundry’s Final Fund and Wind-Down (2023–Present)

By 2023, Foundry had raised its final fund at $500 million, bringing total assets under management across all funds to over $3 billion. In early 2024, Feld confirmed publicly that this would be the last fund and that Foundry would not raise again. The firm moved into a wind-down mode focused on supporting its roughly 80 active portfolio companies and 50 fund investments.

Books: Nine Titles That Shaped Venture Capital Education

Brad Feld has authored nine books. His bibliography includes Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup with David Cohen (2010); Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur with Amy Batchelor (2013); and Startup Boards: Getting the Most Out of Your Board of Directors with Mahendra Ramsinghani (2013).

Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist, co-authored with Jason Mendelson, was published by Wiley in 2011, with a fourth edition in 2019. It became a standard reference for anyone trying to understand venture term sheets.

Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City was published in 2012, with a second edition in 2020. The Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, co-authored with Ian Hathaway, followed in 2020. The Entrepreneur’s Weekly Nietzsche: A Book for Disruptors, co-authored with Dave Jilk, came out in 2021.

His most recent book, Give First: The Power of Mentorship, was released on June 24, 2025. Feld took the main stage at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Indianapolis on June 3, 2025, to offer the first public look at the book.

The Feld Thoughts Blog

Since 2005, Feld has been writing on Feld Thoughts, a technology venture blog. He started blogging in 2004 before VC Twitter existed. The blog covers venture capital, entrepreneurship, mental health, and startup communities, and remains one of the most widely read investor blogs in the United States.

Building Boulder: A City Transformed

When Feld arrived in Boulder in 1995, it had no meaningful startup scene. Today Boulder is one of the most recognized startup hubs outside Silicon Valley, and Feld’s fingerprints are on most of what made it that way.

His “Boulder Thesis” — four principles for building thriving startup communities anywhere — shaped how cities around the world approach ecosystem development. The thesis became the foundation of Startup Communities (2012) and its follow-up, The Startup Community Way (2020).

Personal Life: Amy, the Anchor Point Foundation, and Running

Amy Batchelor

Amy Batchelor is the managing director of the Anchor Point Foundation. She co-authored Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur with her husband, Brad Feld. She is a member of the Dean’s Leadership Council at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

The Anchor Point Foundation makes grants to nonprofit organizations in the arts, education, entrepreneurship, conservation, the environment, health and human services, women’s and human rights, international development, capacity building, and progressive public policy.

Interests

Feld and his wife collect contemporary painting and sculpture and read voraciously. Feld also runs as enthusiastically as he invests. He has completed multiple marathons and written about long-distance running as a counterweight to the intensity of venture investing.

MIT Philanthropy

Their philanthropic activities include supporting innovation at the MIT Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship, establishing the Feld-Batchelor Fellowship, sponsoring the MIT Sloan Women’s Conference, and donating to the MIT Sloan Annual Fund.

Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Full Name	Brad Feld
Date of Birth	December 1, 1965
Birthplace	Arkansas, USA (grew up in Dallas, Texas)
Nationality	American
Zodiac Sign	Sagittarius
Education	MIT — B.S. and M.S. in Management Science
Wife	Amy Batchelor
Current Base	Boulder, Colorado
Firms Founded	Feld Technologies (1987), Intensity Ventures, Mobius Venture Capital, Foundry Group (2007)
Co-Founded	Techstars (2006)
Total AUM	$3 billion+ (across all Foundry funds)
Books Written	9
Blog	Feld Thoughts (feld.com, since 2005)
Foundation	Anchor Point Foundation (with Amy Batchelor)
Social	@bfeld

Complete Bibliography

Year	Title	Co-Author(s)	Publisher
2010	Do More Faster	David Cohen	Wiley
2011	Venture Deals (4th ed. 2019)	Jason Mendelson	Wiley
2012	Startup Communities (2nd ed. 2020)	—	Wiley
2013	Startup Life	Amy Batchelor	Wiley
2013	Startup Boards	Mahendra Ramsinghani	Wiley
2020	The Startup Community Way	Ian Hathaway	Wiley
2021	The Entrepreneur’s Weekly Nietzsche	Dave Jilk	—
2025	Give First: The Power of Mentorship	David Cohen	Ideapress Publishing