Tim Draper a technology futurist , innovator and venture capitalist of note. An advocate of digital currency which is driving decentralisation!
Investments include Baidu, Hotmail, and Tesla. Founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), Draper University, Draper Venture Network, and Draper Associates and of course Bitcoin
What has been your worst investment decision
Not investing when I had an opportunity to do so … in the likes of Facebook, linked in , eBay and a whole heap more!
If as a VC , 20pc of your investments are good and a few are home runs - you are far ahead!
If you believe in the person - back him/her - they may fail a few times but they will pivot into something good
What is your investment philosophy - what are your triggers when investing?
- We look for uniqueness.
- We look for people who are uniquely qualified to do what they are doing.
- We look for unique uses of new technology to apply to markets that are getting lazy and bureaucratic
- We look for an x-factor, something where the startup can create an edge to wedge into an established market with a new look that turns the industry sideways.
What was your decision-making process when making an investment like Hotmail ?
The Hotmail founders, Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith came to us with a pitch to become website designers, and as we were showing them the door, they said they had a wild idea for free web-based email. We brought them back in and decided it was interesting enough to make a small investment.
At the first board meeting, Jack Smith proudly stated that the web-based email was up and running. I asked how they were going to market this amazing phenomenon, and they suggested TV, radio, billboards… expensive alternatives that we and the company didn’t have the budget for.
So I asked if they could just blast it out to all those people on the internet. They said that that would be spamming. Then I said, “You are giving this away for free, why not put a message at the bottom of each email that says, “P.S. I love you. Get your free email at Hotmail.” They thought I was crazy, but eventually, I convinced them to put the message at the bottom, just no ‘P.S. I love you.’”
The product was the fastest-growing consumer product in history. It grew to 11 million users in 18 months. We eventually sold it to Microsoft for a lot!
What qualities do you believe are essential for a successful entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs have to be resilient and believe that what they are doing is more important than anything else they could ever do, whether they become financially successful or not.
Our Student Oath at Draper University is for them to make good, effective long-term choices. They also need to feel free to innovate without government or other intervention.
An entrepreneur belongs to “club fear” and one of the credos of Draper University is,
“I will fail and fail again until I succeed.”
You have to be willing to take the heat or just say, “Hey, we screwed up. We’re gonna try to do it this way next time.” That will save you countless troubles, trials and tribulations. And then explain your thinking about how you got to where you made that decision.
You don’t fail - you learn
What initially drew you to cryptocurrency and bitcoin how do you see its future role?
I was playing around with blockchain add nfts when Bitcoin showed up. I thought there was something in this non fungible token! I bought 40,000 bitcoins for $250k from Peter Vincennes at CoinLab.
It had many teething problems - but eventually it became more than a token forvbuying pizzas, and illegal substances, Bitcoin was being used for some life-changing applications. It was used for remittance, for paying people overseas, and for allowing the unbanked to become a part of the world economy, and it was trusted without a bank or government as an intermediary. At that point, I knew it was going to be big.
How do you see decentralization and blockchain technology. shaping industries like finance and healthcare in the coming decade?
I believe that Bitcoin will decentralize finance in all forms. It is decentralized, open, global, transparent, keeps perfect records, and is accepted everywhere by anyone, which the banking/government system cannot say.
Eventually, great technologies eclipse existing antiquated oligopolies, but it takes time and constant pressure.
Healthcare decentralization is simple. While people do want every healthcare provider to have access to all their health data, people would like that data to be in their control.
You are a prolific investor in AI, blockchain, and genomics. How will they address global challenges in sectors like finance, healthcare, and government?
AI is already outperforming the average doctor in diagnosing diseases, and I expect that with more data, that difference will only become wider.
Eventually, I can imagine a time when AI runs the diagnostics, and develops the therapeutics in real-time for each individual.
Genomics will play a great role in finding specific cures for diseases for each individual and will play into the computational biochemistry that is advancing at an extraordinary rate.
Finance, of course, will operate more in Bitcoin than in banking, and government currencies, since with Bitcoin, people can operate all over the world, and the accounting, auditing, bookkeeping, and ownership transfers can all be done instantly on the blockchain without the need to pay professionals to keep track.
I think AI will enable governments to be far more efficient, fair, and effective - and of course decentralised . We are playing with the creation of Draper Nation
What is your advice to a budding venture capitalist?
Ask yourself why you want to do this ? It is a wonderful job with many ups and downs. You learn about people and the world and the future around us.
💎 Some of Tim’s gems 💎
💎 Always give that extra 10pc - Tharshan where the magic happens
💎 Arrive before a forum and stay after the end / that’s when you meet the relevant people and get the real gems
💎 I like people. I like the idea that we’re all interconnected. I like the idea that people can help each other. I also like being out there.
💎 I do enjoy what I do and I think that maybe that’s what people are feeling when they see me.
💎 As an entrepreneur, you can’t really worry about what people are thinking today because what you’re really trying to do is something that’s kind of gonna blossom five or 10 years from now.
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