Thinking Like a Visionary Entrepreneur and Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystems with Brad Feld

“Every city with at least 100,000 people is capable of building a healthy and vibrant startup community. I’ve evolved that belief to make the assertion that every city with at least 100,000 people needs a healthy startup community as part of the infrastructure of the city. It’s not the only thing that keeps a city healthy, but it’s an important part of the continual renewal, growth, development and evolution of the city.” - Brad Feld Regardless of where you live in the world, having a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem in your city is crucial, in so many ways. Today’s Brave By Design expert guest is an entrepreneur, investor and author who focuses on building strong and healthy entrepreneurial ecosystems in your city, and he has so many great insights about this subject to share in this episode. Brad Feld has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures. Brad is also a co-founder of Techstars.Brad is a writer and speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. He’s written a number of books as part of the Startup Revolution series and writes the blog Feld Thoughts.Brad holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Brad is also an art collector and long-distance runner. He has completed 25 marathons as part of his mission to finish a marathon in each of the 50 states.Connect with Brad: https://feld.com/Connect with Laura Khalil online:instagram.com/iambravebydesignlinkedIn.com/in/LauraKhalilLearn the five habits that help women rise:http://bravebydesign.net/fivehabits Invite Laura to speak at your live or virtual event http://bravebydesign.netWhat You’ll Hear In This Episode: The way that Brad got his start on the journey in entrepreneurship and investing  [4:50] What a healthy startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem will look like [9:37] The role that the city itself must play in order to foster a working ecosystem [13:44]How we can create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment when trying to build a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem [21:28]The steps that Brad himself has taken to inform himself, and take action on gender equity [24:42]Why cities, and individuals, need to be looking forward decades when planning for a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem [31:24]Additional Links & Resources:All of Brad’s Books  National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT)United Way’s 21-Day Equity Challenge Eric Ries (The Lean Startup) & Steve BlankSupport the show