|
|
| About Brad Feld |
| Brad Feld is currently a Managing Director at Mobius Venture Capital and has been with the firm since 1996. Prior to Mobius, Brad founded Feld Technologies, which was sold to AmeriData Technologies in 1993, where he became Chief Technology Officer. Brad currently serves on the boards of a number of private companies, including Atreus, Comergent, ePartners, FeedBurner, Gold Systems, Judy's Book, Klocwork, NewsGator, Quova, Rally Software, and StillSecure. In addition, he is on the board of The National Center for Women & Information Technology, The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, and The Colorado Conservation Trust. Brad has previously been a member of the board of directors of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization and founded the Boston and Colorado chapters. He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
Recent Article:
Crazy Dad Stories
- For more on Brad Feld visit www.feld.com
Entrepreneurship requires serious determination. So does life. My friend Andy’s story of his dad’s fractured back reminded me of my favorite story about my dad’s dad.
My grandpa Jack was the first entrepreneur I knew. I met him when I was a few days old. While I loved him and played with him a lot as a kid, I really got to know him when I was a teenager. By the time I was running my first company, he referred to me (and my uncle Charlie – who was running his first company at the time also) as “the Typhoons.” Jack was awesome. Following is an example.
Jack ran a clothing business. He didn’t believe in technology (“Do you want a fax of the receipt? I’ll drive it right over to you.”) His factory was in the worst part of downtown Miami. Every morning during the week he got up at 4:30am, drove 45 minutes to his factory, was there by 6am, worked until 3pm, and then drove home. Every day. No matter how he felt. Remember – this factory was in a terrible part of town – imagine a 70 year old jewish guy unlocking the front door every day at 6am. Now - that’s a target. Jack never had any trouble. I’m sure the people hanging around the building waved at him and said good morning to him.
His morning routine included opening his safe, counting the cash and checks from the previous day, getting his deposit ready, and putting it back in the safe until the bank opened (at which point he hand carried the deposit to the bank.) He had a big safe. A really big, heavy safe. On one particular morning, he must have been tired and not really paying attention. As he put the money back in the safe and went to close it, somehow his hand got caught in the door and the safe closed on his thumb. And locked. And chopped off his thumb.
Now - at this point in the story – if it was me – I would have just laid down on the floor and screamed for a while. And then probably passed out. Hopefully someone would have found me before I bled to death. Jack – on the other hand, went and found something to wrap around his finger and stop the bleeding (remember – this is a clothing factory – I’m sure there was plenty of “clothing” lying around.) He then opened the safe and retrieved his thumb. Yup - he had the presence of mind to remember the combination. He wrapped his thumb in something, closed the safe, walked out of the building, locked up (he was the only person there at the time), got in his car, and drove all the way back to North Hollywood (where he lived) and checked himself into the hospital. When we asked him why he didn’t just go to a hospital in Miami, he mumbled something about “not trusting the doctors in the big city.”
Remarkably, they sewed his thumb back on and it more or less worked fine. He’d occassionally complain of it being stiff when the weather changed – but proudly wiggled it around whenever we asked him about it.
Now that’s determination. Jack - we loved ya.
Crazy Dad Stories - To learn more about this author, visit Brad Feld's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. |
|
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 | ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 Intentional Leadership Integrity Instant Business Letter Managing the Unimaginable Put Yourself Into the Top 3% Program Health Check |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2008
Top SEO Posts of the Year | |
|
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2007
Top SEO Posts of the Year | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
