October 15, 2025
Brad Feld, Partner at Foundry
Rebooting The Founders’ Journey, Brad Feld – Partner at Foundry
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Launching a startup is daunting—especially when you’re navigating the journey without guidance or mentorship. Even well-funded ventures struggle, and those that beat the odds are so rare they’re dubbed “Unicorns.” Our next guest on the Reboot Chronicles Show has helped countless start-ups become successful and redefined what we here at the Reboot Chronicles believe to be key components in rebooting organizations.
Brad Feld is a legendary figure in the startup world whose influence runs deep and wide. As co-founder of both the Foundry Group and Techstars, Brad has helped shape the very ecosystem that fuels innovation today. He was an early investor in breakout successes like Zynga and Fitbit, spotting potential long before they became household names. Beyond investing, he’s also a prolific author whose books have become essential reading for founders navigating the rocky-road highs and lows of entrepreneurship.
Through his success and headline investments, Brad has built a legacy through his philosophy of giving first, radical honesty about mental health, and a pursuit of personal and professional rebooting. Join us for a deep dive into Brad Feld’s remarkable journey, as we uncover the stories, insights, and hard-won lessons that can help you—and continue to shape the future of business.
Building Startup Communities That Give First
Brad’s belief in the power of collaboration was a driving force behind his 2012 book Startup Communities. Written in the wake of the financial crisis, the book draws a clear distinction between founder-led startup communities and institution-driven entrepreneurial ecosystems—those shaped by universities, corporations, and government entities. Brad notes that “A startup community has one goal and one goal only. Help founders succeed. That’s it.”
He reinforces this idea by noting that a city doesn’t need Silicon Valley-level infrastructure to foster entrepreneurship. Instead, his perspective champions places like Boulder and Chicago, where innovation flourishes through grassroots collaboration rather than top-down hierarchy.
The Cycle Of Burnout And The Power Of Reflection
While Brad’s career is marked by remarkable achievements, his journey has been far from linear—threaded with detours, hard-earned lessons, and the kind of growth that only adversity can inspire. He speaks candidly about his “chronic cycle” of burnout and overexertion, a pattern that, early on, led to depressive episodes and a sobering realization: outward success can conceal profound personal exhaustion. “If you looked at things from the outside,” he reflects, “everything was going great—Foundry was thriving, Techstars was growing, my marriage was strong—but I was deeply depressed.” In 2013, Brad embarked on a personal reboot—not by changing industries or roles, but through therapy, introspection, and a deliberate rebalancing of his priorities.
Hero Of Your Own Story
One of Brad’s most resonant insights can be viewed through the lens of the hero’s journey—a narrative arc familiar in storytelling, but equally relevant to life and entrepreneurship. For Brad, “the hero of the story is the founder,” a belief that extends beyond business into his personal philosophy. Recognizing that every hero faces highs and lows, he emphasizes that “understanding yourself becomes the key to navigating it.”
For Brad, rebooting isn’t just about recovering from burnout or failure—it’s about continuous rediscovery. His story reminds us that the real success of a founder lies not in the companies they build, but in the resilience, self-awareness, and generosity they carry forward.
