Today, I'm joined by Jason Mendelson, retired partner of world renowned venture capital firm, Foundry Group, and current Executive-in-Residence with the Colorado Attorney General's Office. In addition to his many successes as a VC over 20 years, Jason is a startup founder, attorney, professor, author, and musician. He's also a lifelong learner, teacher, and incredible human being who spends so much time giving back to society. Jason is also known by his musical alter ego Jace Allen on Spotify - be sure to check him out via the links below!

In this episode, we discuss Jason's journey from a tough childhood growing up in Detroit with music as his outlet to becoming an attorney, entrepreneur, venture capitalist and all around creator. He shares his experiences from personal and professional challenging moments, the lessons learned, and the wisdom acquired. We talked about how it is to deal with the constant reminder of frustration and the role of education in the investment business. He spoke openly about his victories and defeats, the epiphany that would change his life at age 40, and his first love, music. 

To learn more about Jason's journey of discoveries, awakenings, and relentlessly seeking fulfillment, tune in to Episode 22 of  What Didn't Kill You.

Some Questions I Ask:

• Over 300 companies funded many billions of dollars raised by Foundry Group. You are recently retired, but I would love to understand the backstory on how you guys got started? (1:14 )
• Do you recall any notable failures or missteps? And how that shaped the foundry group mentality or investing ethos? (11:17 )
• When you think about betting on people, I imagine it's a complex mental model to develop. What do you think about that? How do you evaluate initially? (15:40 )
• How would you encourage your students to appreciate the difference between learning something in a textbook versus going out in the world and starting to apply it? (27:04 )
• What does music do for you that your previous professional pursuits have not? (36:10 )

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• From an investor perspective, if you believe in the CEO, there are still things to do even if a company is not working (11:59 )
• When time passes, we learn to trust all of our senses when it comes to choosing the right people to invest in (16:14 )
• There is more data available about how to run a company than on how to be a good investor (27:17 )
• The only way to deal with egos in the VC business (30:56 )
• The benefits of taking more risks in life (54:37 )

Resources:

• Jace Allen Music
• Pissed off At You (Official Video) by Jace Allen
• Book: Jason Mendelson, Brad Feld - Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
• Book: David Epstein - Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
• Spotify - Jace Allen

Connect with Jason:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Spotify

Let's connect:

• What Didn't Kill You - Instagram
• What Didn't Kill You - LinkedIn
• What Didn't Kill You - Website
• What Didn't Kill You - E-mail

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