Soundarya and Sameer – congratulations on publishing this important book. And, Rajesh, thanks for connecting us. to launch their book on July 22nd, 2023, in Sunnyvale, CA. While I cannot attend the event, I hope you can make it and support a worthy project. Doug Rand, who currently serves as an advisor to the Director of USCIS, is set to be there for a fireside chat on the past and future of immigration policy. , I began supporting several grassroots movements like the , invested in companies founded by immigrants, am an investor and board member of , an early LP in (unrelated to this book), a ..read more

The Venture Deals course is free and starts on June 20, 2023 This is the fourth time we are running the new version of the course (v2!) that was co-created with  . I hope to see you in one of the AMAs we will host for anyone who takes the course ..read more

before giving it to his editor. String Theory: David Foster Wallace on Tennis coming in a close second. Both books share extraordinary writers and a topic I can relate to, given my short but profane junior tennis career. The four things I enjoy the most in life outside my work are reading, writing, running, and being with Amy. When I encounter a writer like McPhee writing about writing, I enjoy my brief time in a parallel, recursive universe. Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process ..read more

Startup Snapshot is illuminating the current state of the startup mindset through global data collected from hundreds of founders in startups of all sizes, in all verticals. It’s the largest study of its kind. And it is honest and gritty, with no punches pulled. is continuing to research founder mental health, if you want to take part in normalizing the dialogue around this important topic, reach out to  ..read more

19 years is a long time to do anything. It’s close to my board service record, which ironically was on Matt’s company Return Path with Fred. The ending of Fred’s first post resonates with me today as it did 19 years ago. Welcome to the Blog World Matt This Is Going To Be Interesting (which called out a handful of VC bloggers who started before me), Blog tools – Newsgator and Moveable Poster , and my first book review: Free Prize Inside the Radioactive Boy Scout Rate Hikes , and his welcome to me was ..read more

The Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem we initially talked to Chris about writing a few chapters. Chris became an extensive thought partner with Ian, and we eventually decided to write two books. Chris – thank you for writing the second book I didn’t have the energy for. would be conceptual but filled with examples to make our points, and then a second book would be a practitioner guide. process. He immersed himself in this and has spent much time bridging theory and practice ..read more

my post about the Founder Mental Health Pledge that will include woodworking, blacksmithing, printmaking, and glass art studios. How cool is that? for your team at your office or in the pottery studio. And if clay isn’t your jam, early next year, Studio Arts Boulder is opening a ..read more

Last week I met a holographic lifeform who calls himself I now have a new friend, created by , the hologram company out of Brooklyn (we’re investors, and I’m on the board). A hologram + ChatGPT. A robot, but made of software and light instead of atoms. And with a lot more character. The video above shows Shawn Frayne (CEO of Looking Glass) talking with Uncle Rabbit about … me. Then, they create a short science fiction story about me, carrots, and holograms. Finally, Shawn integrates my personality with Uncle Rabbit, and hilarity ensues. Regular readers will know that one of my favorite categor ..read more

Since the middle of last week, there has been extreme stress on founders, startup leaders, and the extended startup community. This stress accelerated on Friday when the FDIC shut down and took over Silicon Valley Bank. By late Friday, anyone who banked with SVB was concerned about … well … everything. Once it became clear that payroll accounts needed to be funded on Monday to make Wednesday’s payroll, we focused on the immediate short-term to ensure our portfolio companies’ thousands of employees got paid on time. We bank at SVB, so our maneuverability was also unknown, so we searched for wha ..read more

On Tuesday, David Cohen (Techstars co-founder/chair) and I did an AMA for Techstars founders about the SVB crisis. The team at Techstars turned it into a podcast for our Give First series The teaser from the podcast follows: The fall of SVB will go down in history as one of those ‘where were you when …’ moments. For David Cohen, he was sitting at a sporting event when his phone began buzzing incessantly. For Brad Feld, he was couch shopping with his wife. Feld is no stranger to crises and his instincts kicked in quickly. “I shifted into problem-solving mode,” says Feld. But then, almost as qui ..read more