Brad Feld
Wed Jul 23 2025
This Season 2 Finale features an extended conversation (2+ hours) between Brad Feld and Ben McDougal, recorded in the wild, LIVE from the mountains of Boulder, Colorado!
We begin with a rewind on Brad's own journey, then shift into entrepreneurship, leadership within startup communities, and venture capital in the first hour. Ben teleports to narrate a break with two writings inspired by Brad, then we dive back in for so much more. The origins of Techstars, technology, mentorship, and philosophy is how we land this milestone moment.
EP100 brews timeless insight for founders and the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Enjoy the full experience, but to make key takeaways easier to share, chapters for this extended experience are highlighted below. Cheers to another remarkable season of You Don’t Need This Podcast and let’s keep building… together.
Full Episode on YouTube
0:00 - Ben in Boulder
1:30 - Hello Brad Feld
2:30 - Early Experiences
5:15 - Writing First Book
7:00 - Incubator to Accelerator
12:40 - Random Days
29:30 - Startup Communities
36:15 - Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
37:30 - Too Many Referees, Not Enough Boxers
38:15 - Rural Startup Communities
43:30 - Astronomy
45:30 - Positive Sum Games
46:15 - Give First Intrapreneurs
50:45 - J-Curve
52:00 - Venture Capital Timelines
54:00 - Investor Metrics
56:30 - The Measurement Trap
1:01:15 - 5 Why's
1:03:50 - Cliffhangers
1:04:50 - Break ☕ #GiveFirst
1:08:18 - Break ☕ Intrinsic
1:11:50 - Welcome Back
1:12:25 - Founders of Techstars
1:23:00 - Startup Community Partnerships
1:33:20 - Guitar Hero in Times Square
1:38:15 - Bigger Isn’t Better
1:41:00 - Sclerotic Thoughts
1:42:00 - Contentment
1:42:50 - BEN BOT
1:44:05 - Digitized Consciousness
1:45:12 - Vibe Coding
1:46:45 - Dinostroids
1:49:40 - Quantified Self
1:54:16 - Biohacking
1:56:30 - AI Notetaking
1:59:55 - Founder's Interest in Philosophy
2:00:50 - The Entrepreneur's Weekly Niche
2:07:10 - Obsession over Passion
2:10:20 - Affinity as an Investor
2:11:35 - Fight to the End
2:11:50 - The Dip -Seth Godin
2:12:20 - Successful Companies Experiment
2:13:15 - Evolution of Work
2:14:30 - Quickfire: Spell Check, Ant Hills, Signal to Raise Capital, Long Run Epiphany, Being Alone, Pinball Wizard, Music, Concerts, and Fine Art
2:24:30 - You Don't Need This Book
2:26:00 - “They can’t kill you, and they can’t eat you." -Len Fassler
Give First. People like us. Do things like this.
BONUS MATERIALS
https://feld.com
https://foundry.vc
https://techstars.com
Break: #GiveFirst + Intrinsic
http://BradFeld.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com
EP14 – Drams of History 🎙️ Tej Dhawan
EP18 – Fourteeners 🎙️🎞️ Jeff Reed
EP29 – Borderless 🎙️ Kerty Levy
EP56 – Caffeinated Manifesto 2 🎙️🎞️
EP99 – Traveled 🎙️🎞️ Trevor Carlson
https://BenMcDougal.com/tag/Brad-Feld
https://BenMcDougal.com/tag/Techstars
http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com
More
This Season 2 Finale features an extended conversation (2+ hours) between Brad Feld and Ben McDougal, recorded in the wild, LIVE from the mountains of Boulder, Colorado! We begin with a rewind on Brad's own journey, then shift into entrepreneurship, leadership within startup communities, and venture capital in the first hour. Ben teleports to narrate a break with two writings inspired by Brad, then we dive back in for so much more. The origins of Techstars, technology, mentorship, and philosophy is how we land this milestone moment. EP100 brews timeless insight for founders and the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Enjoy the full experience, but to make key takeaways easier to share, chapters for this extended experience are highlighted below. Cheers to another remarkable season of You Don’t Need This Podcast and let’s keep building… together. Full Episode on YouTube 0:00 - Ben in Boulder 1:30 - Hello Brad Feld 2:30 - Early Experiences 5:15 - Writing First Book 7:00 - Incubator to Accelerator 12:40 - Random Days 29:30 - Startup Communities 36:15 - Entrepreneurial Ecosystems 37:30 - Too Many Referees, Not Enough Boxers 38:15 - Rural Startup Communities 43:30 - Astronomy 45:30 - Positive Sum Games 46:15 - Give First Intrapreneurs 50:45 - J-Curve 52:00 - Venture Capital Timelines 54:00 - Investor Metrics 56:30 - The Measurement Trap 1:01:15 - 5 Why's 1:03:50 - Cliffhangers 1:04:50 - Break ☕ #GiveFirst 1:08:18 - Break ☕ Intrinsic 1:11:50 - Welcome Back 1:12:25 - Founders of Techstars 1:23:00 - Startup Community Partnerships 1:33:20 - Guitar Hero in Times Square 1:38:15 - Bigger Isn’t Better 1:41:00 - Sclerotic Thoughts 1:42:00 - Contentment 1:42:50 - BEN BOT 1:44:05 - Digitized Consciousness 1:45:12 - Vibe Coding 1:46:45 - Dinostroids 1:49:40 - Quantified Self 1:54:16 - Biohacking 1:56:30 - AI Notetaking 1:59:55 - Founder's Interest in Philosophy 2:00:50 - The Entrepreneur's Weekly Niche 2:07:10 - Obsession over Passion 2:10:20 - Affinity as an Investor 2:11:35 - Fight to the End 2:11:50 - The Dip -Seth Godin 2:12:20 - Successful Companies Experiment 2:13:15 - Evolution of Work 2:14:30 - Quickfire: Spell Check, Ant Hills, Signal to Raise Capital, Long Run Epiphany, Being Alone, Pinball Wizard, Music, Concerts, and Fine Art 2:24:30 - You Don't Need This Book 2:26:00 - “They can’t kill you, and they can’t eat you." -Len Fassler Give First. People like us. Do things like this. BONUS MATERIALS https://feld.com https://foundry.vc https://techstars.com Break: #GiveFirst + Intrinsic http://BradFeld.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com EP14 – Drams of History 🎙️ Tej Dhawan EP18 – Fourteeners 🎙️🎞️ Jeff Reed EP29 – Borderless 🎙️ Kerty Levy EP56 – Caffeinated Manifesto 2 🎙️🎞️ EP99 – Traveled 🎙️🎞️ Trevor Carlson https://BenMcDougal.com/tag/Brad-Feld https://BenMcDougal.com/tag/Techstars http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com