KORY JEFFREY: Welcome, everybody.
We are on site at Founder World in San Francisco.
Joining me in this video today is
Tim Draper, founder of Draper University, DFJ,
and Draper Associates.
Thank you for joining me.
TIM DRAPER: Terrific.
Thanks for having me.
KORY JEFFREY: So let's start with Draper University.
What was the impetus to start the university?
TIM DRAPER: So I started Draper University,
because in 2008, the financial world was collapsing.
And I was looking for heroes.
And I was thinking, wait, where are the heroes?
And I thought, the world needs more heroes.
And heroes can come in any form.
They can come as revolutionaries,
as entrepreneurs, as artists.
But the thinking was that I could actually help with that.
And so I started a school to train heroes.
And people go in for about six weeks.
And it's totally immersive.
And they come out.
And they have this incredible enthusiasm and gusto
for whatever it is they're doing.
And I think we've accomplished that goal in some ways.
I think the school is working.
KORY JEFFREY: And so could we talk a little bit about impact?
Because just earlier today, I had two of your alumni,
I suppose, in the chair.
So obviously, very prominent in the ecosystem.
Have you seen a lot of success stories come out?
TIM DRAPER: Yeah.
We've had about 500 students that have come.
They come from about 60 different countries.
KORY JEFFREY: Wow.
TIM DRAPER: And they've started about 220 companies.
And some of those companies now have built--
some have gone out of business.
Some have built kind of nice bases of support.
And I think what they learn at Draper University
a lot is persistence.
They keep at it, and they keep at it,
and they keep tweaking their business.
And eventually, great things are going to happen.
And I think that's been the case.
And there are probably 10 real standouts
that look like they have the potential to be unicorns
or whatever.
Yeah.
KORY JEFFREY: And so is this all tech focus?
Or is it just a process of entrepreneurship that kind of--
TIM DRAPER: It's a process of entrepreneurship.
But most of the students that come to Draper University
are focused on technology in some way
as it will transform an industry, something like that.
KORY JEFFREY: OK.
And so in the university space in the world,
do you see this as a disruptive model for a certain segment
of how to do entrepreneurship?
Are you going head to head with universities?
How do you see yourself in that space?
TIM DRAPER: Well, I think we're fitting in well
with universities.
We're only six to eight weeks.
So Stanford has given some students credit
to come to Draper University.
We have a whole program with San Luis Obispo Cal Poly.
They come.
A group of them come to Draper University
at one of our sessions.
And so I think we're playing nice.
And it ends up working out quite well for those universities.
We can be their entrepreneur program.
And we really do know how to train heroes.
So people are enjoying it.
As to the first part of your question,
yes, we are looking for new ways to transform, and accelerate
people, and get them to where they're going
in a faster and better way.
And the school also is a lead-in to people
who might want to go to the Boost
accelerator, boost.vc accelerator, or to Hero City,
or get funded by Draper Associates.
It's sort of a natural progression.
KORY JEFFREY: Right.
TIM DRAPER: And it may be a new way
of educating, at least for these extraordinary individuals.
KORY JEFFREY: Sure.
So bringing people in and then finding the ramp for them
to continue to be successful.
TIM DRAPER: Yeah.
KORY JEFFREY: Interesting.
So have you made investments from Draper Associates
into entrepreneurs in the school?
TIM DRAPER: Oh, yeah.
And quite a few Draper University students
have gotten Draper Associates money.
They pay tuition to go, but some of them
end up getting an awful lot more back.
KORY JEFFREY: [LAUGHS]
TIM DRAPER: --when they build their businesses.
KORY JEFFREY: Sure.
TIM DRAPER: And hopefully, I'll end up
getting even more back after that. [LAUGHS]
KORY JEFFREY: After that.
Right.
So when your investing, what's the investment thesis
of Draper Associates?
What are you looking for?
TIM DRAPER: So I'm looking for things that really
will transform industries.
Industries occasionally get to the point
where they're oligopolies and they're dominated
by just 2 or 3 or 10 companies.
And when you know you've got an oligopoly or a monopoly
is when you know the service isn't as good as it used to be
and the price keeps going up.
And so I'm always looking for opportunities
where that price-to-service ratio has expanded
and there's an opportunity for a startup
to serve that population better than they're being served now.
KORY JEFFREY: Excellent.
That's interesting.
So I guess my next question would be, obviously, you
get quite a large breadth of-- looks
at different types of technologies, people pitching
you all the time.
Is there a certain technology space
that's really interesting for you right now,
something that gets you excited?
TIM DRAPER: Yeah.
I'm really interested in these industries that haven't yet
been transformed, where over the last 15, 20 years,
you've seen information, communications, entertainment,
music, taxis all transformed.
In the future, I can see finance, banking transform.
Education, I think, is on its way
to getting some sort of transformation.
Medical technologies are coming along that are more data-based
than doctor-to-patient-based.
And that could end up being a real transformation
in health care.
And then I think governments are going through a transformation
now.
We had the prime minister of Estonia come
to Draper University and speak.
And he said, just by instituting digital signatures,
I saved 2% of the GDP.
And so it made me think that, hey, maybe these governments
are looking for entrepreneurs to kind of help
them better serve their citizens.
And he also said that just by instituting digital voting,
all the young people started to vote.
And digital identity has improved their business
climate, but it's also lowered their crime rate.
So interesting things are happening
in government technology.
And I'm looking for those companies, too.
KORY JEFFREY: Oh, that's really fascinating.
TIM DRAPER: Yeah.
KORY JEFFREY: So you clearly get pitched a lot.
Obviously, even just coming here,
there was a lineup of people walking
behind you trying to pitch you.
What are the things that you look
for in somebody that makes you receptive to hearing a pitch?
What are the things that you don't like?
What's the best way to get in touch with you?
TIM DRAPER: I think the best way to connect with me
is through your initial idea.
Is it transformative?
Does it pass my 15-year test.
My 15-year test is in 15 years, is this a possibility or is it
sort of going to come and go in the next six months
by something that improves on it?
And so if you're really thinking 15 years out, I mean,
we're going to have self-driving,
flying cars in 15 years.
So does your plan relate to that?
Or are we going to have drone delivery on anticipated needs?
Where before you even know your blood glucose level is low,
a drone shows up with a taco.
So in that world, does your business make sense?
And that's kind of what we're really looking for.
And then I would want to know how well versed are you
on that industry?
And how do you know your competition?
And do you have a rational approach at your business?
And is the business model one where the customers
become the sales force?
So that'll help.
KORY JEFFREY: That'll help.
So a lot of what you just painted-- self-driving cars,
glucose levels, drone deliveries, this
is the Google channel-- a lot of that
is stuff that we're publicly working on.
Is there anything at Google that makes you excited?
Is there any favorite Google technology or anything
that you think is interesting?
TIM DRAPER: You know, I like all those interesting ideas that
come out of the Google's 20% rule, where
they-- engineers have 20% to go do the thing that they like,
they want to do themselves.
Because those are the things that are on the edge.
And engineers are kind of looking for things that
are more exciting to work on.
And those edge products are really
what the engineers are really into.
And I think when an engineer's really into something,
it's usually novel enough for me to want
to be interested in it, too.
So if you're a part of the Google Developers community,
you're probably developing something pretty interesting
that you love that's not just the 20%, but your whole 100%
is focused on something you love.
And in that case, I think if you've
got any kind of a futuristic approach at all,
I think I'd be interested in hearing
what it is you're working on.
KORY JEFFREY: Very cool.
Well, thank you very much for joining us, Tim.
TIM DRAPER: Good.
My pleasure.
KORY JEFFREY: Thank you guys for joining us at home.
We are on site at Founder World in San Francisco.
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