5 1/2 Questions from The Metapreneurs

“5-1/2 Questions” from CJ Cornell is a new series of mini-interviews with leaders in the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem around the world. In less than a half-dozen short questions, we’ll try to learn more about each leader, and what makes them successful and unique.

The questions are designed a little like a “Magic Eight Ball” (my GenX colleagues know what this is): A set of questions, posed at random. Plus, at least one question, or half-question, is designed to find out something about their personality that most people might never suspect (I mean expect).

Who are The Metapreneurs?

The Metapreneurs are the dedicated, accomplished, and talented people in the entrepreneurship ecosystem who make 21st century entrepreneurship possible.

In their careers they have:

developed and refined the business models that customers now embrace without resistance or question,
built companies or products that are now the platforms on which modern entrepreneurs now build their products and businesses,
created best practices and methods, so new founders can start high growth companies with a greater chance of success,
some pioneered new business models, new markets and new technologies,
some were leaders who became the gold standard for managing and mobilizing great people, and
others have opened doors that seemed to be bolted shut; they opened doors the hard way – so they are now open forever.

The Metapreneurs influence, encourage, and accelerate entrepreneurship on a broader level, enabling thousands – millions – of founders to get started and succeed.

They make it possible for 21st Century Entrepreneurs to more easily translate their dreams into products, their products into companies, and their companies into missions and movements – making the world a more productive, safer, healthier, and happier place – in The Age of Metapreneurship.

5 1/2 Questions for David Cohen

No Comments

David Cohen – Entrepreneur, Investor, and Founder and Chairman at Techstars.

David Cohen is the Founder and Chairman at Techstars, the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. David has been an entrepreneur and investor for his entire life. He has only had one job interview in his career, successfully got that job but then quit shortly thereafter to start his first company. Since then, he has founded several companies and has invested in hundreds of startups such as Uber, Twilio, SendGrid, DigitalOcean, Pillpack, Classpass, Zipline, Scopely, Outreach, Remitly, SalesLoft, and DataRobot. In total, these investments have gone on to create more than $210B in value.

5 1/2 Questions for Brad Feld

No Comments

Brad Feld – Venture Capitalist, Startup Advocate, Author

Brad Feld is a partner and co-founder of Foundry. He has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur for over 35 years, since founding his first company, Feld Technologies, in college. Brad is also a co-founder of Techstars and, with his wife Amy Batchelor, runs the Anchor Point Foundation. Brad has written several books on entrepreneurship and venture capital and started blogging in 2004 before VC Twitter existed. Brad holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Brad is also an art collector and long-distance runner who enjoys wandering around alone in the mountains for hours at a time.

5 1/2 Questions for Gary Lauder

No Comments

Gary Lauder is the Managing Director of Lauder Partners LLC, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm investing in various realms of the technology field. He has been a venture capitalist since 1985, investing in over 150 private companies, and is an observer or member of about 7 of their boards.

5 1/2 Questions for Lisa Stone

No Comments

Co-founder of BlogHer, The first social publishing platform for women creators. Co-Founder BrainTrust Founders Fund.
Lisa Stone is a Silicon Valley builder - with multiple exits - turned investor. Lisa has raised $100MM+ in venture investment for companies she founded or helped lead, and built five consumer movements (25–127MM unique visitors/month) using pricing, programs and platforms she designed (BlogHer, She/Penske, Ellevest, Law.com, Women.com/Hearst, Fortune 100 clients, and various startup advisory boards). As an investor, Lisa to date has helped raise $125MM+ from limited partners, including family offices, institutional investors and other angel investors.

5 1/2 Questions for Marianne Hudson

No Comments

Marianne Hudson leads the Angel Capital Association (ACA), the world’s leading professional and trade association focused on fueling the success of accredited angel investors and portfolio companies in high growth, early-stage ventures. ACA provides professional development, public policy advocacy and significant benefits and resources to its membership more than 13,000 individual accredited investors throughout North America.

5–1/2 Questions for Loretta McCarthy

No Comments

Loretta McCarthy is Co-CEO and Managing Partner of Golden Seeds, an investment organization that invests in early-stage, women-led companies in the United States. Golden Seeds is one of the largest and most active angel investment networks in the country. The organization is recognized as a leader in the movement to fund women entrepreneurs and for its advocacy of women entrepreneurs, gender diversity and a commitment to the education of angel investors.

Who are The Metapreneurs?

The Metapreneurs are the dedicated, accomplished, and talented people in the entrepreneurship ecosystem who make 21st century entrepreneurship possible.

The Metapreneurs influence, encourage, and accelerate entrepreneurship on a broader level, enabling thousands – millions – of founders to get started and succeed.

They make it possible for 21st Century Entrepreneurs to more easily translate their dreams into products, their products into companies, and their companies into missions and movements – making the world a more productive, safer, healthier, and happier place – in The Age of Metapreneurship.