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entrepreneurship · · 3 min read

Give First, a New Book From Brad Feld

A review of Give First, a new book by author, investor and Techstars co-founder Brad Feld.

Give First, a New Book From Brad Feld

Last year I won the 2024 Give First Award through my work as a teacher and mentor at Techstars. One of the perks was a conversation with Brad Feld, which happened a few months ago. Great conversations lead to unexpected places and we spent most of our time talking about Nietzsche (see Brad's other book, The Entrepreneur’s Weekly Nietzsche: A Book for Disruptors).

We also discussed our mutual love of books and, of course, his upcoming book Give First.

So it was nice to be able to meet in person at his book launch event in Toronto and get my copy signed!

I've always wanted to write a blog post called “Advice for People Who Give Advice to Founders.” Now I don't have to. Just read Brad's book.

This book describes a philosophy and a discipline of mentorship that has the potential to make a big impact. Many people call themselves mentors without truly considering what it means, or committing to practicing to make themselves better at it. This is a missed opportunity for entrepreneurs, and the mentors themselves.

So what does Give First mean?

Give First means being willing to put energy into a relationship or a system without defining the transactional parameters. However, it's not altruism. You can, and should, expect to get something back. But you don't know when, from whom, in what form, or over what time frame. - Brad Feld

I like this definition because it isn't limited to charity (give back), returning the favor (pay-it-forward), or being transactional (give-and-take).

Over three decades working as a founder and investor I can say its rare to come across people who give first in this way. Unfortunately, I see many more examples of “evaluate first, then give based on perceived worthiness”. If you ever have a chance to meet Brad you'll understand that he embodies the opposite of this.

Whether we admit it or not, most people think of mentorship in hierarchical terms. There is status to being a mentor. The mentor is the older, more successful, more experienced person. It's a one-way relationship.

Give First upends those notions. A true mentor wants to learn just as much as they want to teach. The goal is a peer relationship.

As a mentor, it's easy to establish a one-up, one-down relationship with a founder. In most cases, you start that way, especially with first-time founders. However, your goal should be to create a peer relationship where the mentee learns from the mentor, and equally importantly, the mentor learns from the mentee.
Instead of coming up with or stating the answer, help the mentee figure out the answer or a set of new hypotheses they can test. Your goal shouldn't be only to solve the immediate problem. Instead, you are helping your mentee build a toolset to solve future issues independently. The process is collaborative, especially if you are trying to develop a peer relationship.

The way mentorship is described feels much more like building a relationship instead of imparting advice. I like the idea that the end goal is a more balanced relationship.

There are many things I learned from the book, and different people will take away different things whether they're founders, investors, active mentors, or perhaps new mentors with imposter syndrome.

What I like most about Give First is that Brad has developed a rigorous philosophy of mentorship, expanding on the 18 principles in the Techstars Mentor Manifesto. It's not only a practical guide but, like all good philosophy, starts the mentor on their own path of understanding and fulfillment. It should be required reading for anyone who's ever been tempted to give founders advice.

Here's where you can get the book: https://feld.com/book/give-first-the-power-of-mentorship/

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