Brad Feld & Amy Batchelor 
Startup Life 
Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur

Real life insights on what it takes to make it in a relationship
with an entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs are always on the go, looking for the next
‘startup’ challenge. And while they lead very intensely rewarding
lives, time is always short and relationships are often
long-distant and stressed because of extended periods apart. Coping
with these, and other obstacles, are critical if an entrepreneur
and their partner intend on staying together–and staying
happy.

In Startup Life, Brad Feld–a Boulder,
Colorado-based entrepreneur turned-venture capitalist–shares
his own personal experiences with his wife Amy, offering a series
of rich insights into successfully leading a balanced life as a
human being who wants to play as hard as he works and who wants to
be as fulfilled in life and in work. With this book, Feld distills
his twenty years of experience in this field to addresses how the
village of startup people can put aside their workaholic ways and
lead rewarding lives in all respects.

* Includes real-life examples of entrepreneurial couples who have
had successful relationships and what works for them

* Provides practical advice for adapting to change and overcoming
the inevitable ups and downs associated with the entrepreneurial
lifestyle

* Written by Brad Feld, a thought-leader in this field who has
been an early-stage investor and successful entrepreneur for more
than twenty years

While there’s no ‘secret formula’ to relationship success in the
world of the entrepreneur, there are ways to making navigation of
this territory easier. Startup Life is a well-rounded guide
that has the insights and advice you need to succeed in both your
personal and business life.

Table of Content

PREFACE xi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction 1

CHAPTER TWO Philosophy 7

CHAPTER THREE Communication 23

CHAPTER FOUR Startup Company Life 41

CHAPTER FIVE Personality 49

CHAPTER SIX Values 63

CHAPTER SEVEN Skills, Tactics, and Tools 73

CHAPTER EIGHT Common Issues and Conflicts 89

CHAPTER NINE Big Issues: Illness, Relationship Failure, and Divorce 109

CHAPTER TEN Money 123

CHAPTER ELEVEN Children 143

CHAPTER TWELVE Family 155

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Sex and Romance 171

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Enough 179

BIBLIOGRAPHY 185

ABOUT THE AUTHORS 189

INDEX 191

EXCERPT FROM STARTUP COMMUNITIES 195

About the author

BRAD FELD has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur for over twenty years. Prior to cofounding Foundry Group–a Boulder, Colorado-based early-stage venture capital fund that invests in information technology companies all over the United States–he cofounded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch and operate software companies. Feld is also a cofounder of Tech Stars and has been active with several nonprofit organizations. He is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship.

AMY BATCHELOR is a Managing Director of the Anchor Point Fund, which makes grants to nonprofit organizations in the arts, education, entrepreneurship, conservation and the environment, health and human services, women’s and human rights, international development, capacity building, and progressive public policy. She is a cofounder and partner of Social Venture Partners Boulder County and currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Wellesley College. She blogs at http://anchorpoint.blogs.com/ and can be found on Twitter (@abatchelor) and Facebook (amy.batchelor). She is working on two novels, The North Side of Trees and Epicenter, about the 1964 Alaska earthquake. Batchelor graduated from Wellesley College in 1988 with a BA in political philosophy. She lives in Boulder, Colorado, and has homes in Keystone, Colorado, and Homer, Alaska, where she was born. Batchelor travels extensively and has spent time on every continent except Antarctica.