Brad Feld

Brad Feld (born December 1, 1965) is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, and blogger. He attended MIT beginning in 1983, earning a Bachelor of Science (SB) in Management Science in 1987 and a Master of Science (SM) in Management Science in 1988. While still a student at MIT, he co-founded Feld Technologies in 1987, a custom software development company serving small and medium-sized businesses. The company was acquired by AmeriData Technologies in 1993 for approximately $2 million, where Feld served as Chief Technology Officer.

Following the sale of Feld Technologies, Feld transitioned into venture capital. He began financing technology startups in the early 1990s, first as an angel investor and later as an institutional investor. Before co-founding Foundry Group in 2007, he co-founded two other VC firms: Intensity Ventures and Mobius Venture Capital. In 2006, Feld helped David Cohen co-found Techstars, one of the world's leading startup accelerators. With his wife Amy Batchelor, he runs the Anchor Point Foundation, a philanthropic organization they have built over roughly 25 years. He also serves on the boards of several nonprofits, including the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and Startup Colorado.

Feld is a prolific author, having written or co-authored nearly a dozen books on entrepreneurship and venture capital, including "Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist" (co-authored with Jason Mendelson), "Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City," "The Startup Community Way," "Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup," "Startup Life," "Startup Boards," "Startup Opportunities," and his 2025 release "Give First: The Power of Mentorship." He also maintains an influential blog at feld.com.

Feld and Foundry employ a thematic investment approach. Rather than chasing deals or market trends, they define investment themes -- areas they believe have a 30+ year horizon -- and invest exclusively within those domains where they can be meaningfully additive. Foundry's core themes revolve around four pillars: (1) Distribution, (2) Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), (3) Marketplace, and (4) Protocol. Of these, HCI is reportedly the theme that fascinates Feld the most.

Central to Feld's philosophy is the "Give First" principle -- the idea that investors and community members should give their time, resources, and expertise to others without expectation of immediate return. He emphasizes building non-transactional relationships, playing a long-term game, and fostering vibrant startup ecosystems rather than simply funding individual companies. He is deeply focused on early-stage technology companies, particularly in software, and believes strongly in the importance of startup communities and mentorship networks.