Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur(Techstars)

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 Contents:
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 TechStars 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.

Review :
"There have been many thousands of pages dedicated to successful entrepreneurship, but rarely a word spoken about leading a successful entrepreneurial life until the release of “Startup Life.” In what I consider to be the first must-read book of the year, Amy Batchelor and Brad Feld artfully tackle the subject with an astonishing level of transparency and authenticity. No subject is off-limits, including emotional struggles, sexual intimacy, financial decision-making, and family planning." —Forbes, 1/23/2013 “One of the most appealing aspects of Startup Life is that Brad and Amy are not dogmatic. They offer various suggestions from their own lives, as well as vignettes provided by other startup couples, which Brad believes make the book more impactful and balanced…Although the book’s ideal audience is an entrepreneurial couple on the front-end of their relationship, even veteran entrepreneurs can learn something from Startup Life.”  —Forbes