Building Startups and Lasting Relationships with Scott Dorsey

In this episode of the Give First podcast, Brad Feld talks with Scott Dorsey, co-founder of High Alpha and former CEO of ExactTarget, the email marketing pioneer acquired by Salesforce. Scott shares his journey from launching a startup with no technical background to building a company of 2,000 employees, going public, and running Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

The conversation dives into why relationships and core values matter as much as product and market, how emotional intelligence shapes leadership, and what it means to mentor by guiding rather than controlling. Scott also reflects on failure, empathy for founders, and the importance of playing multi-turn games in venture.

For founders wondering how to practice give first without being taken advantage of, Scott offers timeless advice: everyone can be both a mentor and a mentee, no matter where they are in their journey.

Scott Dorsey ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-dorsey-096b393/

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