Brad Feld Quotes

But you don't get into a business because of personal tastes.

When you first meet an investor, you've got to be able to say in one compelling sentence - that you should practice like crazy - what your product does, so that the investor that you are talking to can immediately picture the product in their own mind.

I have seen entrepreneurs ask for hundreds of millions of dollars on a concept and try to sell because of 'their passion' for an idea. If the idea is that good, why wouldn't I cut you out and hire someone who is just as passionate for much, much less?

I don't want features, I want value. I don't want benefits, I want value.

Fans will come if you have a good product.

Our Fly Smart philosophy is about investing only on those points of differentiation that pay for themselves, that earn a revenue premium commensurate with what it costs us to provide that product or service.

What you can do is ask: 'What is the value to the customer? What are they willing to pay for?' Then, deliver great products and services.

We reviewed our process at Greylock and discovered that the best investments are non-obvious enough that they result in a mixed vote by our partnership.

Entrepreneurship is all about an idea that creates differentiated business value to one's customers. You must be able to convince your customers about the benefits that association with you or your products will give them. People are ready to pay if they are convinced about your services or products.

Creating value isn't enough - you also need to capture some of the value you create.

All great pitches have a few things in common: the founder/team is wicked smart, the idea is big and a breakthrough, and the market is potentially enormous.

What we need to do is run our business. We need to come up with a value prop that is so compelling that customers have to go for it.

A true entrepreneurial enterprise begins with a big idea - a unique way to solve a customer's problem. Your customer, after all, is the only justification for creating a company in the first place. Without a big, transformational idea, you can't produce a great result for your customer.

A great business at a fair price is superior to a fair business at a great price.

If the pitch starts with a sob story, I'm out. If the pitch talks about personal issues, I'm out. If the pitch starts off with how big the market opportunity is, I'm out. If the pitch tells me what is unique about the product, how it can make a profit, and it's an area where I have expertise, I will read on.

There's no reason to feel embarrassed about presenting your product or service if it solves a problem.

Advertising decisions are based on what's best for MyPillow, my employees and my customers.

The purpose of business is to make a reasonable return by making products and services that people want and value. If you are not, you are wasting resources.

You don't see a lot of great companies built on easy problems to solve.

If it's compelling and engaging enough, customers will consider paying for it. If we don't deliver something that has value, we won't expect value in return.

If you're looking for investment you've got to think about what the investor gets from being involved with your business. A lot of people think about what they're getting from their point of view but not about what the investor gets out of a deal.

The PC business is not about price, it's about value, or what you can give the customer for his or her money.

Not all startups are alike. One of the key ways they differ is in the relationship between a startup's new product and its market.

Sometimes an organization doesn’t need a solution; it just needs clarity.

In the same way that I tend to make up my mind about people within thirty seconds of meeting them, I also make up my mind about whether a business proposal excites me within about thirty seconds of looking at it. I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics.