Brad Feld

“I regularly see leaders change what they say because they get bored of saying the same thing over and over again. It's not that they vary a few words or change examples, but they change the message.”

“Often, entrepreneurs don't build a board until they are forced to by their VCs when they raise their first financing round. This is dumb, as you are missing the opportunity to add at least one person to the team who - as a board member - can help you navigate the early process of building your company and raising that first round.”

“I have several close friends who are insomniacs. Over the years, I've heard their stories about being up in the middle of the night, completely awake. I see them yawn at 11 A.M. and know that, regardless of what they are doing, they'd probably rather be in bed sleeping. I've always had sympathy for them, but I've never really understood it.”

“I'm very comfortable in the U.S. and Europe, but I feel completely out of place in the rest of the world, mostly because I never spent time outside the U.S. and Europe until I was in my 30s.”

“If I have a golden touch, I'd also say that I have the opposite of whatever a golden touch is, because I've had a lot of things fail. I think part of the experience of being successful is that you have to have a lot of stuff not work.”

“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.”

“'Sunspring,' the first known screenplay written by an AI, was produced recently. It is awesome. Awesomely awful. But it's worth watching all ten minutes of it to get a taste of the gap between a great screenplay and something an AI can currently produce.”

“I'm usually an excruciatingly happy person.”

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

“While it's trendy to outsource your accounting to a third party, once you hit a certain size, it's dangerous.”

“Think about it for a brief moment. Suspend disbelief. Wind the clock forward 100 years. Do you think, as a species, we will still be struggling with the things that vex us today? Will we still be arguing about the same stuff? We will still be eating Cocoa Puffs? We are at the end of the beginning.”

“As an investor, I'm always looking for the next great American company. Who will create tomorrow's Twitter, Facebook, or Google?”

“I'm hugely intrinsically motivated and have always believed that I'm fueled and motivated by learning.”

“That's the problem with so many organizations around entrepreneurship. They're driven by metrics that don't matter.”

“It's time to focus on what I care about and not let the noise take over my brain.”

“Periodically, at the end of a conversation, someone will ask me, 'Is there something I can do for you?' I used to answer with 'Do something that is helpful to something or someone in my world.'”

“I hope more cities engage with immigrant entrepreneurs the way St. Louis has - it's a great model.”

“Both SOPA and PIPA are toxic. My view is that anyone who supports these bills either doesn't understand what they are supporting or is simply no friend of innovation. And, if you are no friend of innovation, I can't support you in any way, as innovation is the lifeblood of our economy, our country, and what I've dedicated my life to.”

“If you're in a city where there's no clear startup community, the goal is not raise a bunch of money to fund a nonprofit; the goal is not get your government involved. The goal is start finding the other entrepreneurial leaders who are committed to being in your city over the next 20 years.”

“Don't be afraid to have a big vision, but make sure it's a clear one.”