Tim Draper On Silicon Valley And Entrepreneurship

We check in on Silicon Valley and the way ahead with heavyweight venture capitalist and tech visionary Tim Draper.

It’s been a rough decade for venture capital.  In the 1990s, venture capitalists – “VCs” – were masters of the universe, racking up huge returns fueling and riding the Internet boom.  Since then, not so good.  In fact, overall, not good at all for the venture investors who come in early looking for a huge payout with the next Google or Facebook.

Silicon Valley has been the heartland of high-profile venture capital.  And venture capitalist Tim Draper has been at the heart of that high-flying world.  He’s with us.

This hour, On Point:  American venture capital and innovation, with Silicon Valley heavyweight Tim Draper.
- Tom Ashbrook

Timothy Draper, founder of the global venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Founder of Draper University of Heroes, a boarding school for young entrepreneurs. (@timdraper)

San Francisco Chronicle: Tim Draper’s boarding school for entrepreneurial heroes in San Mateo -- "Venture capitalist Tim Draper is turning the landmark Benjamin Franklin hotel in downtown San Mateo — which had sat mostly vacant since United Airlines stopped housing flight crews there around 2002 — into a short-term boarding school for wannabe entrepreneurs. Draper, co-founder of the prominent Menlo Park VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, says he got ideas for his Draper University of Heroes from Andover (the prep school he attended before Stanford and Harvard Business School), Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, Singularity University at Moffett Field and, most importantly, his own life."

CNNMoney: The quiet successes that drive Silicon Valley -- "Yes, Silicon Valley has its share of high profile 'tech celebrities,' and wealth and attention can be generated in Silicon Valley perhaps faster than anywhere other than New York (wealth) or LA (attention). But every day, great entrepreneurs are building amazing companies you don't hear about."

Wired: The Screams of Crushed Startups Echo Across Silicon Valley -- "A reckoning is sweeping through Silicon Valley, and the cries of pain have grown too loud to ignore. Many startups fattened by plum valuations and hefty bankrolls in their infancy are finding nowhere to turn when the money runs out, according to various Silicon Valley venture capital firms. These startups have no choice but to swallow their pride and reverse their sunny financial projections."