It was a delight to interview Rajat Bhargava for the Give First Podcast. Weâve been working together since 1994 when I made my first angel investment in Rajâs first company (NetGenesis). Weâve worked on a number of companies since then, some successful, and some not, but our friendship â even with our own personal ups and downs â has been a constant.
Raj covers a lot of ground in this podcast, including some origin stories, his relationship with Will Herman (who co-invested in NetGenesis with me at the very beginning, which is how he met Raj), a moment where I treated Raj poorly and our relationship could have easily gone off the rails if we hadnât both put energy into acknowledging what had happened and getting back to a healthy place, and how he thinks about Give First, both in the Boulder startup community and at his current company JumpCloud.
Raj â 25 years later, I still learn something from you every time we talk. You are a gem. Iâm so glad you came up to me after that MIT guest lecture oh so many years ago.