Reviews

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Book Review: Give First By Brad Feld

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.

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Book Review: Startup Boards (Second Edition)

I recently finished reading the new second edition of Startup Boards: A Field Guide to Building and Leading an Effective Board of Directors by Brad Feld, Mahendra Ramsinghani, and Matt Blumberg. I loved it. It is a highly useful tome for startup operators and investors alike. I found it to be particularly helpful in preparation for a recent board meeting.

Many startup leaders can relate to the flurry of activity prior to a board meeting; the data collection, the slide preparation, the cross-functional alignment meetings, and the presentation prep itself. The new edition of Startup Boards is packed with useful insights, including board fundamentals (what is a board’s purpose, and what are the roles and responsibilities of members?), steps towards creating inclusive boards, and the overall background on how boards can have a role in important company milestones like fundraising, selling or buying a company, IPOs, or closing down the business.

Startup Boards has great advice for independent or aspiring board directors. As we work towards making boards more diverse and inclusive, this is something our entire industry can benefit from.

As an LGBTQ woman startup executive, this particularly resonates with me, as I am often still the “only” person or one of a handful from a minoritized group at board meetings. Thankfully, things are changing. We all need to work towards making boards more inclusive and effective.

In my book Lead Upwards, I included a chapter for startup leaders on how to prepare for and present at board meetings, including advice from investors, seasoned CEOs, and executives. I’ve previously referenced the first edition of Startup Boards as recommended reading. The new edition is even better and more helpful for aspiring and current startup execs to be successful in their board communication.

Startup Boards is a must-read to understand the “why” behind the board meetings, the board priorities, and the structures that are present at your startup. Highly recommended reading. Get your copy.

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Introducing my new book Power to the Startup People: How To Grow Your Startup Career When You’re Not The Founder

Power to the Startup People: How to Grow Your Startup Career When You're Not the Founder

I’m thrilled to share that my new book Power to the Startup People: How to Grow Your Startup Career When You’re Not The Founder launches today! This book has been two years in the making and would not have been possible without the incredible help and support of so many of my friends, family, and members of our startup community.

In today’s tech startup world, career paths are nonlinear. A startup career can be rewarding, but it often can be challenging and confusing. While a ton of ink has been spilled on how to “crush it” as a founder or startup leader, there’s very little in the way of guidance for how employees can hack our own careers. If we’re lucky, we find mentors who have had careers we admire. But we may never find these people. Or, if we do, it may be too late, or their expertise in the particular area with which we need help may be limited.

Entrepreneurs get the lion’s share of glory, but much of the work is done by us: the contributors, the team. This book was born out of my desire to find answers to my own questions about how to have the best startup career possible, while ideally avoiding some pitfalls that, unfortunately, are hard to foresee unless you have a direct mentor relationship with someone who has experienced a similar situation.

I wrote this book from the vantage point of being a startup employee who wants to navigate my career as successfully as possible, while enjoying the journey along the way. While this book is not by any means exhaustive, it will hopefully help readers make more sense of the world of tech startups and make better decisions about their careers along the way.

I have a greater purpose for sharing this information. I truly believe that we, the startup people, hold the power of the tech industry in our hands. By taking command of our own startup careers, we will make a greater impact at the companies that are shaping our future. As the world grapples with questions about the nature of technology in our lives, with concerns about privacy and data and our looming automated economy, we, the employees who make this ecosystem work, will have to decide which companies deserve our time, sweat, and tears. My goal for publishing this book is to give us more choices and more power to shape our own destiny, so that we can in turn enrich the tech ecosystem with our talents. Power to the startup people!

Order now on Amazon

Thank you for reading! I look forward to hearing what you think of the book. If you enjoy the book and find it to be helpful, please leave a review on Amazon–it truly helps. Thank you! Sarah