EnTrends

Feld says that while SBVC is structured as a
classical venture capital firm, most of his
partners are either entrepreneurs or ex-
operators of companies. As a result, in
addition to having extremely deep Internet
experience, they also have a broad range of
operating experiences that they can apply
to help create companies.

Feld and his partners are growing their
business extremely fast. They have done
over 150 investments in the last three years
and have grown their capital management
to $2.5 billion in that time frame. In the
summer of 2000, they raised their largest
venture capital fund of $1.5 billion.

Feld says that the company plans to grow
by adding at least a $1 billion fund a year in
the future. However, in the last nine
months, Feld says that the venture capital
business has been very challenging. Every
time a company does not succeed, he and
his partners learn dramatically more from
the experience than from situations where
the companies win.

Feld says that he has been blessed by
several people that have acted as mentors
during critical points in his career. In
addition, he is surrounded by excellent
entrepreneurs and the founders of
companies he is involved in, as well as a
superb set of partners at SBVC.

As one of the partners of Softbank Venture
Capital that was begun in 1997, Feld says that
the first answer is where they got the idea for
SBVC. Feld says that SBVC was one of the
first Internet-focused venture capital firms
which came from the vision of Masayoshi
Son, the Chairman of Softbank Corporate. He
felt that the Internet would have a
revolutionary impact on the world.

Five years later, SBVC has participated in the
creation of numerous companies. The ideas
for these companies come from many places.
They include entrepreneurs that they work
with, customers and experiences they have,
and "visions that occur after late nights of
drinking."

A majority of the companies that SBVC is
involved with are aimed at business
customers. Some of these include Blue
Silicon, Digital Shares, Gold Systems, and
PeoplePc. Some of SBVC's funded companies
have been inducted into their hall of fame
when they have been acquired or gone
public. Examples of these are Yahoo, Service
Metrics, and Abuzz.

Feld says that a typical day for him
involves a mix of board meetings,
conference calls, endless e-mails, and
meetings with entrepreneurs of
companies that SBVC has funded or is
considering funding. SBVC has attractive
modern facilities to meet with prospective
entrepreneurs in.

Located in Eldorado Springs, CO, and
Mountain View, CA, SBVC is a venture
capital firm that specializes in Internet-related
companies. Softbank has one of the largest
portfolios in the world. Feld says that there
are two answers to where he and his partners
got the idea for SBVC and the companies
they fund.

Feld says that what he likes most about
being an entrepreneur is that he gets to
help create companies. He has started
two public companies from scratch
already. They are Interliant (NASDAQ:
INIT) and MessageMedia (NASADAQ:
MESG).

Feld describes himself as a t-shirt and
jeans type of guy. He says that his
lifestyle as an entrepreneur allows him
to be that way. In his free time, he
enjoys hanging out at home, reading,
hiking, and spending time with his wife,
his dog, and occasionally entertaining
friends. He and his wife have a home
on 120 acres in Boulder Colorado.

As for what advice he would give to
other entrepreneurs, Feld says, "Go For
it! Have fun everyday!"