I recently had the privilege of reading an advance copy of Brad Feld’s excellent new book Give First: The Power of Mentorship and loved it.

Why a book on mentorship?

Give First is foremost a guide on how to be an effective mentor. As a co-founder of Techstars, Feld shares origin stories (including a fun anecdote about how a random 15-minute meeting with David Cohen in 2006 led to the founding of Techstars).

As a former (and maybe future?) resident of Boulder, CO, I love how intimate the stories are, many of which are from Boulder. I also appreciate how Feld shares deeply moving stories about mentors in his life who have become peers, like his mentor Len Fassler, who taught him invaluable business and life lessons. “Suit up. They can’t kill you, and they can’t eat you. We’ll get through it,” is one of my favorite lines in the book. Something for us all to remember when the startup world feels challenging.

The book explores the Techstars Mentor Manifesto which David Cohen created in 2011 after running multiple Techstars accelerator programs and working with hundreds of mentors. (Note: Techstars now supports thousands of founders worldwide with thousands of mentors. I am honored to be one of them! Apparently, according to the book, more than 20,000 people list “Techstars Mentor” on their LinkedIn profiles.)

The book explains how the “Give First” philosophy—giving without expectation of specific returns—is essential to building a thriving startup ecosystem. Moving away from transactional interactions toward relationship-building has benefited me personally, and I’ve seen it change lives. Feld has invested deeply in the Boulder community and supported me personally (my book Lead Upwards was published by Wiley thanks to Feld; we share an editor and he made the intro). He has also supported my first book and the tech inclusion meetup I founded in Boulder, Flatirons Tech, back in 2013. My story is also the story of thousands of others who have been touched by Feld’s “Give First” philosophy.

The Give First philosophy encourages us to contribute time, resources, and expertise without expecting immediate returns. Something Feld shares in the book is that this goes beyond the “Pay it Forward” mentality, showing you how to adopt a continuous, optimistic, and empathetic mindset in your professional life. As Feld defines it in the book, “Give First means being willing to put energy into a relationship or a system without defining the transactional parameters.”

The book also addresses navigating the challenges of Give First, including avoiding burnout and setting appropriate boundaries. It concludes with a section on “Entrepreneurial Tzedakah,” connecting the Give First philosophy to philanthropic giving through initiatives like Pledge 1% and the Techstars Foundation.

Give First feels empowering, necessary, and right. Regardless of whether you consider yourself or plan to become a “mentor,” the philosophy is pretty life-changing and can be beneficial for anyone (even beyond the startup ecosystem). Pre-order your copy.

Note: I’ve been honored to mentor multiple companies as a Lead Mentor in the Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator, including two in the current cohort. Catch Brad Feld’s Give First book launch at the accelerator Demo Day on June 5th. RSVP details here.