Give First: An Intimate Chat with Brad Feld and Matt Golden
Give First: A Fireside Conversation with Brad Feld & Matt Golden
A rare opportunity to connect closely with Brad Feld – one of tech’s most influential thought leaders in a candid conversation about the power of mentorship.
Join us for an intimate conversation with Brad Feld—renowned entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author of Give First—and Matt Golden, as they explore the transformative power of mentorship within startup communities.
What to expect:
This exclusive event begins at 4:00 PM with casual networking over light refreshments, offering a chance to connect with fellow founders, operators, and ecosystem builders. At 4:30 PM, we’ll settle in for a candid, off-the-record conversation with Brad as he shares decades of insight into what truly fuels lasting startup ecosystems: mentorship without strings attached.
In this conversation, Brad will delve into the Give First philosophy—why generosity, empathy, and community-building are more powerful than transactional relationships—and how you can adopt these principles to grow as a leader and empower those around you.
Who is this for?
If you’re at a stage where giving back matters as much as building, this is a rare opportunity to learn from one of tech’s most generous and respected voices. It's also an opportunity to sit in a room of fellow ecosystem builders and change makers.
Seats are limited to maintain the intimate feel of the event. Please apply to attend.
Come with questions, curiosity, and a mindset to give back.
Featured Speakers
Brad Feld is a Partner & 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.
Matt Golden is the Founder and Managing Partner at Golden Ventures, Matt has focused on startups his entire career. He has been engaged in all aspects of building and guiding disruptive companies from their very early stages.
In 2011 Matt started Golden Ventures, one of the earliest micro venture capital funds, with the goal of supporting early stage founders in their journey of realizing their vision and potential. Many funds later, Matt brings the same excitement when meeting founders building transformative technology companies. Matt previously led deals at BlackBerry Partners Fund and Brightspark Ventures. Matt cut his entrepreneurial teeth as a co-founder of Tira Wireless, a mobile games publisher and content deployment technology and services provider. Tira became a recognized industry leader in both mobile games publishing and content deployment. Matt is trained as a lawyer, specializing in business technology, financial services and M&A at Osler, one of Canada’s premier law firms. He has an LLB / MBA from the University of Ottawa, and a BA in Economics from York University.
We are officially part of Toronto Tech Week 2025, a weeklong citywide collection of events to connect and celebrate the builders. June 23 → June 27, 2025 | torontotechweek.com.