 Due to rapid advances in technology over the last decade, there is a surge of entrepreneurs looking for financial backing. That's where Brad Feld, the Principal Managing Director of Softbank Venture Capital (SBVC) and his company come in. Located in Eldorado Springs, CO, and Mountain View, CA, SBVC is a venture capital firm that specializes in Internet-related companies. Softbank has one of the largest portfolios in the world. Feld says that there are two answers to where he and his partners got the idea for SBVC and the companies they fund.
As one of the partners of Softbank Venture Capital that was begun in 1997, Feld says that the first answer is where they got the idea for SBVC. Feld says that SBVC was one of the first Internet-focused venture capital firms which came from the vision of Masayoshi Son, the Chairman of Softbank Corporate. He felt that the Internet would have a revolutionary impact on the world.
Five years later, SBVC has participated in the creation of numerous companies. The ideas for these companies come from many places. They include entrepreneurs that they work with, customers and experiences they have, and "visions that occur after late nights of drinking."
 A majority of the companies that SBVC is involved with are aimed at business customers. Some of these include Blue Silicon, Digital Shares, Gold Systems, and PeoplePc. Some of SBVC's funded companies have been inducted into their hall of fame when they have been acquired or gone public. Examples of these are Yahoo, Service Metrics, and Abuzz.
Feld says that while SBVC is structured as a classical venture capital firm, most of his partners are either entrepreneurs or ex- operators of companies. As a result, in addition to having extremely deep Internet experience, they also have a broad range of operating experiences that they can apply to help create companies.
Feld and his partners are growing their business extremely fast. They have done over 150 investments in the last three years and have grown their capital management to $2.5 billion in that time frame. In the summer of 2000, they raised their largest venture capital fund of $1.5 billion.
Feld says that the company plans to grow by adding at least a $1 billion fund a year in the future. However, in the last nine months, Feld says that the venture capital business has been very challenging. Every time a company does not succeed, he and his partners learn dramatically more from the experience than from situations where the companies win.
 Feld says that he has been blessed by several people that have acted as mentors during critical points in his career. In addition, he is surrounded by excellent entrepreneurs and the founders of companies he is involved in, as well as a superb set of partners at SBVC.
Feld says that a typical day for him involves a mix of board meetings, conference calls, endless e-mails, and meetings with entrepreneurs of companies that SBVC has funded or is considering funding. SBVC has attractive modern facilities to meet with prospective entrepreneurs in.
Feld says that what he likes most about being an entrepreneur is that he gets to help create companies. He has started two public companies from scratch already. They are Interliant (NASDAQ: INIT) and MessageMedia (NASADAQ: MESG).
Feld describes himself as a t-shirt and jeans type of guy. He says that his lifestyle as an entrepreneur allows him to be that way. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out at home, reading, hiking, and spending time with his wife, his dog, and occasionally entertaining friends. He and his wife have a home on 120 acres in Boulder Colorado.
As for what advice he would give to other entrepreneurs, Feld says, "Go For it! Have fun everyday!" |
