Note to CEO’s: Decisions come from you, not the board

(Editor’s note: Brad Feld is an early stage investor and co-founder of Foundry Group. This story originally appeared on his blog.)

I had two similar experiences recently where I heard from employees of two different companies that I’m on the board of. In each case, a senior exec said something like “I heard the board wants us to do blah.”

I was in each board meeting and the board most definitely did not say “we … Continue Reading

Title inflation returns with a vengence

(Editor’s note: Brad Feld is an early stage investor and co-founder of Foundry Group. This story originally appeared on his blog.)

Suddenly, title inflation is everywhere. I’ve seen more business cards or email sigs lately with adjectives like “executive” or “senior” or “senior executive” or “special” or “chief” in front of more traditional titles (e.g. “vice president”). The “chief” one is especially bizarre since it’s not always obvious whether the CSO is a “Chief Sales … Continue Reading

Entrepreneurs: Ignore all the talk of bubbles

(Editor’s note: Brad Feld is an early stage investor and co-founder of Foundry Group. This story originally appeared on his blog.)

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.” – Macbeth

Every time I hear the word “bubble” I think of that quote from Macbeth. I also think of Tulip Mania and the South Sea Company which purportedly was the source of the concept of an economic bubble. And then I … Continue Reading

Hiring? Try the crowd navigation method

(Editor’s note: Brad Feld is an early stage investor and co-founder of Foundry Group. This story originally appeared on his blog.)

There are no simple ways to determine if you’re hiring the right person for a job and, in my experience, complex approaches to hiring fail almost as frequently as winging it.

Well, that’s a little extreme, but you get my point. Those who have used regimented hiring methodologies created by behavioral scientists and organizational … Continue Reading

Beware the hockey stick in your budget

(Editor’s note: Brad Feld is an early stage investor and co-founder of Foundry Group. This story originally appeared on his blog.)

Odds are, by now, you have your company’s 2010 Budget set – or at least the “2010 Draft Budget” or “2010 Budget – Draft”. (This is also known as “the joy of cramming a spreadsheet into a PowerPoint presentation.”)

And, if your budget is at all like the ones I generally see, it fits … Continue Reading

What boards of directors can learn from the Supreme Court

(Editor’s note: Brad Feld is an early stage investor and co-founder of Foundry Group. This post originally appeared on his blog.)

I had an incredible experience this week.  My friend Phil Weiser, who is now the Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the US Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (I prefer to call him America’s Top Cop on Agriculture) invited me, my partner Jason Mendelson, and my wife Amy Batchelor to attend the Supreme Court … Continue Reading

Hey VCs, it’s not your company!

(Editor’s note: Brad Feld is an early stage investor and co-founder of Foundry Group. This post originally appeared on his blog.)

VCs say a lot of stupid things.  I’m guilty of it plenty and whenever someone calls me on it I try to acknowledge and change.  One that I try really hard not to do is say “my company” when referring to companies I’ve invested in – I think it’s one of the most … Continue Reading