Session Description
What if the real key to building a lasting startup community isn’t capital or connections—but mentorship without strings attached?
Renowned entrepreneur and investor Brad Feld has helped shape startup communities around the world through decades of mentorship, investment and ecosystem building. At GEC 2025, he shared lessons from his newest book, Give First: The Power of Mentorship — a clear-eyed, practical guide to showing up for others and building lasting impact in business and life.
Attendees received exclusive early access to the book, ahead of its official release.
Bulk sales are available for organizations, delegations, and partners who would like to provide copies to their teams, program participants, or event guests. To inquire about special orders or to place a bulk order, please contact Megan Wheeler at: megan@ideapresspublishing.com.
Session Recap
In this captivating fireside chat, Brad Feld and Jonathan Ortmans explored the core tenets of "give first" and meaningful mentorship, philosophies championed by Feld and integral to the Global Entrepreneurship Network. The discussion, which also served as an early launch for Feld's new book, Give First: The Power of Mentorship, covered the evolution of these concepts from personal upbringing to structured community building, challenging traditional hierarchies, and emphasizing the global democratization of entrepreneurship. Attendees gained a deeper understanding of how genuine support and a non-transactional approach can fuel innovation and personal dignity worldwide.
Outline
- Introduction to Brad Feld and Jonathan Ortmans: Setting the stage for a conversation between two personal role models in entrepreneurship.
- The Origins of "Give First": Brad Feld shares how his approach to generosity was influenced by his parents and a continuous curiosity in problem-solving, evolving from early experiences with Global Startup Week and Techstars.
- Redefining Mentorship: A deep dive into mentorship beyond traditional corporate hierarchies, focusing on a network-based approach without gatekeepers.
- Attributes of Effective Mentorship: Highlighting the importance of listening, providing data and hypotheses, Socratic questioning, and sharing personal experiences, similar to the forum model used by organizations like EO and YPO.
- From "Give Before You Get" to "Give First": Tracing the conceptual journey of this core philosophy and its integration into Techstars' values.
- Challenging the "Leader-Feeder" Dichotomy: Addressing criticisms of the "founders are leaders, everyone else are feeders" concept and introducing the vital role of "instigators" in startup communities.
- Differentiating Startup Community and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Clarifying the distinct goals and structures of these two concepts, emphasizing that a startup community's sole purpose is to help founders succeed.
- Embracing Public Critique and Idea Evolution: Discussing the value of constructive feedback, even critical, in refining ideas and fostering continuous growth.
- Strategic Disruption of Thought: Exploring how intentionally provocative concepts can help shift conventional thinking and drive progress.
- Global Democratization of Entrepreneurship: Reflecting on the impact of the global financial crisis and the belief that vibrant startup communities can thrive anywhere, challenging the Silicon Valley monopoly.
- Culture "Add" vs. "Fit": Applying the concept of hiring for "culture add" (extending values with new perspectives) to building diverse and resilient global entrepreneurship networks.
- Shared Cultural Norms in a Diverse World: Highlighting the consistent cultural norms (values) that unite global startup communities despite varied local contexts and crises.
- The Personal Impact of Entrepreneurship: Sharing anecdotes about how the entrepreneurial experience provides dignity, self-worth, and human connection.
- Defining "Give First": A final, comprehensive definition of the philosophy as investing energy without knowing the specific return, trusting that benefits will compound over time.
Notable Quotes
- "Give first for me is a philosophy. It's not a religion. You don't have to follow all the tenants of it. There's not a whole bunch of rules. And if you follow all the rules, good things happen to you. It's a philosophy for the way to exist and a way to behave and a way to interact, frankly, not just in business, but in life."
- "A mentor is not saying you should do this, you should do that... Instead, we positioned it and we really started to understand that the mentor should simply be providing data... and responding to the context that that person who is the one running the company is asking for feedback but not but ultimately not saying you should do this, you should do that."
- "The idea of give first is that you're willing to enter into something. You're willing to put effort into something without knowing what you're going to get back. It's not altruistic. You expect to get something back. You just don't know from whom, when, over what time period, in what consideration, in what magnitude."
Key Takeaways
- Embrace the "Give First" Philosophy: Commit to providing value and support to others in the entrepreneurial ecosystem without immediate expectation of return, fostering a flywheel effect where benefits compound over time.
- Master the Art of Socratic Mentorship: Shift from telling founders what to do to listening, asking insightful questions, and offering data or hypotheses based on your experience, empowering them to find their own solutions.
- Recognize and Empower "Instigators": Understand that successful startup communities are led not only by founders but also by "instigators"—individuals working for organizations who actively lead and support the community, ensuring a robust, bottom-up structure.
- Champion Global Entrepreneurial Accessibility: Challenge the notion of exclusive innovation hubs and believe in the ability of anyone, anywhere, to start a company, actively working to democratize entrepreneurship worldwide.
- Cultivate "Culture Add" for Growth: When building teams or communities, prioritize bringing in diverse perspectives that extend and enrich existing values and norms, rather than simply seeking "culture fit" which can lead to stagnation.
Resources Mentioned
- Book: Give First: The Power of Mentorship by Brad Feld
- Book: Startup Communities by Brad Feld
- Organizations: Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), Techstars, EO (Entrepreneurs' Organization), YPO (Young Presidents' Organization), Kauffman Foundation, Startup Weekend.
- Website: bradfeld.com
Action Items
- Attendees were encouraged to visit the Gen Village immediately after the session, where the first 25 people in line received a free copy of Give First: The Power of Mentorship. Brad Feld was available to sign books and greet attendees.
- Reflect on your own approach to mentorship and giving: Consider how you can apply the "give first" philosophy and Socratic mentoring techniques in your own interactions, fostering stronger, more supportive entrepreneurial networks.
- Challenge existing norms: Be open to questioning established ideas in public and allow for the evolution of your own thinking based on new information and constructive feedback.
