Brad Feld

I'm a venture capitalist. I like to say my job is to help and support entrepreneurs. I can play a leadership role, but my organization can't be the leader. ”

I have trouble sleeping maybe one night a year. On that special night, I get up and read on the couch until I fall asleep. ”

If you don't have a VP Finance on your team reporting to you, do yourself, your team, and your investors a favor and go hire one right now. ”

I think one of the brilliant parts of our democracy is how resilient it is. We are each allowed to have our own beliefs and, as long as we follow the rule of law, we can express them however we'd like. This is a unique characteristic of the best democracies and one I value tremendously. ”

December used to be very difficult for me. For many years, I fought the transition to the new year, was generally exhausted at the end of the year, and just wanted to hide. I described myself as a 'cranky Jewish kid who felt left out by Christmas.' ”

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a strong advocate for diversity across all dimensions. ”

Repeat after me: 'There is a very limited amount of easy money.' ”

In 2013, when Google announced that Kansas City would be the first city in the country to have Google Fiber, I bought a house in the first neighborhood that was being wired up with Google's gigabit Internet. ”

While I'd like to be able to simply do all of my financings with a handshake or, possibly, on a napkin written in crayon, I also wish I had a herd of unicorns surrounded by rainbows, a balanced U.S. government budget, and agreement on how to address the debt ceiling issue. ”

It's much easier to get a reception from someone if there is an introduction versus randomly trying to get in front of people. ”