Not Tim Draper

@Forbes just named me one of America's greatest living optimists. #76! It was a huge honor.

After all, while pessimists might be “right” for the time being, optimists do everything that drives progress.

All the great successes I know are huge optimists.

Supporting optimism is my life.

Free email sounded crazy to pessimists. But Hotmail was built by optimists, Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith.

Free phone calls and video calls sounded even crazier to pessimists. But Skype was born by optimists, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Fries.

An electric car company and a private space company? Crazier still to a pessimist, but Tesla and SpaceX were built by the biggest optimist anywhere, Elon Musk.

Satoshi Nakamoto is an optimist, willing to transform the entire global economy with a trusted 3rd party in software around Bitcoin.

Every one of those started with an entrepreneur painting a picture of a world nobody had seen yet. My job was just to believe in the world they were creating, and to say yes to them and encourage them forward.

So the award really belongs to the founders. They supply the optimism. I just keep buying it.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2026/10/20/forbes-250-americas-greatest-living-optimists/

Founders ask me all the time: "What should I look for in an investor?"

One question: Does their management style match how you want to be managed?

You want an investor with great connections. Someone who'll give you insights when you need them.

But you DON'T want someone who tells you WHAT to do or HOW to do it.

If I thought I knew better than you how to run your company, I'd start my own company.

I'm writing a check because I believe YOU are the expert. Not me.

The best investor-founder relationships are partnerships. Not boss-employee dynamics.

Founders...

Investors are watching to see what you do right after they write the check.

Good founders get straight to work. They've got the rocket fuel, now they're launching.

Bad founders come back asking what to do next.

If you’re getting a check, it’s because an investor believes that you already know where you’re going.

They’re giving you fuel, not GPS directions.

Also... too much celebration is a red flag.

Pop some champagne, sure or in my case sparking apple juice. But then get back to building.

I voted for Steve Hilton. We need to break the one-party gunion monopoly in California. Try a republican this time.
I voted yes for Prop 39. I think it will stop most corruption in our ballots, but we really should be voting with our phones by now.
I voted no on Prop. 40. It will drive businesses and jobs out of state—also unconstitutional.
I voted yes on 41 and 42. Because capitalism.
I voted no on everything else. Most are just driven by special gunion interests.

@Immusoft just presented clinical data at ASGCT on ISP-001 (the world's first engineered B cell therapy ever tested in a human being).

They take a patient's own B cells, reprogram them, and put them back in the body.

Those cells become miniature factories that continuously produce the enzyme MPS I patients are missing.

This means that there’s no more need for twice-weekly infusions and no more spike-and-crash enzyme levels. Your own cells are doing the work indefinitely.

The disease they're targeting, Hurler Syndrome, kills most patients within 10 years of diagnosis.

There is no cure and the current standard of care is either frequent infusions (forever) or a stem cell transplant that carries its own mortality risk.

The clinical data showed:
→ Favorable safety and tolerability
→ Measurable biochemical activity
→ Patients were safely re-dosed

They're now planning to expand into pediatric populations with CIRM backing the trial with up to $23M. The FDA has granted Orphan Drug, Rare Pediatric Disease, and Fast Track designations.

The implications go way beyond MPS I with every disease that needs sustained protein delivery suddenly having a new option on the table.

Exciting times in bio.

My son brings out the best in me. We went deep on a variety of topics. Great fun.

https://vimeo.com/1229335995/3d03448832?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

We backed @mogul__club early. After hearing Alex Blackwood’s update at our summit in May, I knew we had to lead the Series A.

Alex Blackwood and Joey Gumataotao have a bold vision for real estate investing and the execution to back it up. A true “rhino” in the industry.

Congratulations to Alex, Joey, and the entire Mogul team. Proud to keep backing you!

@VikkrammC wrote this fascinating horoscope biography on me. Very thorough, comprehensive and very accurate. Special thanks to Vikkramm for all the extensive research on my history and my horoscope.

https://www.businessworld.in/article/tim-draper-the-man-who-bet-against-warren-buffett-and-made-a-fortune-623239

In the last decade, we’ve had the honor of partnering with outstanding founders who build great value from nothing. It’s been a privilege to see you all build and grow, for example:

→ @iceye_global to enable all-weather, day-and-night imaging anywhere on the planet.

→ @XanaduAI to revolutionize computing through photonic quantum technology.

→ @Polymarket to harness the power of free markets to demystify real-world events.

→ @colossal to develop advanced gene editing technology for de-extinction

→ @arkham to create a central hub for blockchain research, risk management, and market transparency.

→ @ConsensusNLP to equip users to receive evidence-based answers from over 200 million peer-reviewed papers.

→ @aureliuslasers to protect citizens from Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) drones at scale.

→ @FirehawkAero to advance hybrid rocket engines for the future of aerospace.

→ @rise_pay to enable businesses to easily hire, onboard, and pay global teams across 190+ countries

→ @VenusAerospace to revolutionize rocket engine propulsion.

And truly hundreds of others!

Entrepreneurs and founders are superheroes and we’re so lucky to be able to help them on the journey.

We started this firm 40 years ago, and every decade gets even more exciting. It’s already been an adventure and we’re truly just getting started! 🚀

A self-driving car I was testing once swerved into oncoming traffic.

That was the moment I decided to invest.

The full story is in my live conversation with the TBOY podcast in San Francisco, along with why I kept betting on SpaceX after three rockets blew up, the condition I put on Robinhood's founders before writing the first check, and my advice for building the next billion-dollar business.

Thanks to @NickOfNewYork and @Jackkramer for having me on.

Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-one-yet/id1386234384?i=1000791583395

For 250 years, America's story has been driven by people who took a risk on their own ideas. That's what entrepreneurship is: freedom and trust in action. As a member of the Investor Council for America's Startup (@America250) I want to see that same spirit from the next generation.

If you're an undergraduate student (or equivalent) at an accredited university, college, or trade school with an idea you're ready to build, this is your moment. Compete for a share of more than $1 million in cash and prizes, and get your idea in front of me and other leading names in tech and business.

1️⃣ Visit the America's Startup website at https://america250.org/americas-startup/
2️⃣ Review the contest rules and confirm your eligibility
3️⃣ Grab your co-founder and submit your application by October 8

Dad’s @nytimes obituary. He also scored a touchdown for dear old Yale, and created the Human Development Index for @UNDP which didn’t make it in. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/technology/william-draper-dead.html?smid=url-share

"How did you KNOW Tesla would succeed?"

I didn't.

But I did the math.

And the numbers said: If this works, it's going to work REALLY big.

That's the calculation most VCs refuse to make. They want certainty. They want "safe bets."

But the safe ones aren't as safe as you think. And the risky ones aren't as risky as you think.

The difference is that the “risky” ones have 100x potential. The safe ones have 3x potential.

When you actually do the math, the odds of success are about the same.

So I'll take the weird founder with the crazy idea over the polished founder with the "proven model" any day.

One of them might change the world. The other one is among other “start” copycats.

What if treating mental health didn’t mean taking a pill every day for the rest of your life? We invested in Eywa Biotech because they are building for a different future. Moving mental healthcare from chronic daily medication toward medicines that can create meaningful, lasting change with one or a few treatments.

Now they are taking orders for their first GMP psilocybin capsules in 25mg, 5mg and placebo.

They are being produced for clinical trials and research, and for regulated and emerging markets including Australia, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.

Researchers, clinics and pharmaceutical companies interested in working with Eywa can reach victoria@eywa.bio or pablo@eywa.bio.

And they’re not stopping there. Victoria Costa Paz and her team are using synthetic biology to make these medicines more accessible and scalable.

Wow! I am in good company!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2026/09/24/forbes-250-americas-most-successful-living-builders/

I listed my island in Tanzania for sale and the offers started rolling in. Gold mines, houses, cows. One gentleman offered $1 with a promise to pay the rest when he could.

I admire the creativity.

The @NewYorkPost wrote the whole thing up.

Lupita started as a wacky idea after a family safari in 2004. Building a resort on an uninhabited island accessible only by boat sounded like a terrible plan. It turned out to be one of the great joys of my life. We just do not use it enough anymore.

$7.9 million or best offer. The cows are still under consideration.

Being interviewed live on TBOY podcast tomorrow night 7:00 pm at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Tickets still available. @tboypod

AI will take everyone’s jobs.

... until they invent new ones.

AI alone probably won’t take your job.

But someone using AI might. So you should lean in to AI.

People react to new technologies in three ways:

1. The Resisters: "AI is ruining everything!"
2. The Ignorers: “I don’t understand AI.”
3. The Adopters: "How can I use this to get better?"

It's not AI vs. humans. It's humans with AI vs. humans without AI.

We’re not cutting our team because of AI.

We’re GROWING it.

Our team with AI can accomplish 10x more than our team without it.

Businesses without websites died in the 90s.

Same thing is happening now.

If you're not experimenting with AI in your industry, someone else is.

And they're going to serve your customers better.

Faster.

Cheaper.

The buggy whip makers of the 1800s became car mechanics.

They pivoted or perished.

Which camp are you in?

I sat down with Kyle Chassé for a wide-ranging conversation, and he asked the kind of questions that let me get into the ideas I care about.

A few of the things covered:

Bitcoin as life management, not just portfolio management

A family needs runway. A corporate treasurer needs to make payroll no matter what happens to the banking system. Six months of runway in Bitcoin is a hedge against chaos, and I watched that lesson play out when Silicon Valley Bank went down.

Stablecoins as a bridge

They get people comfortable with digital payments and on-chain life. A positive step, even though a coin tied to the dollar inherits the dollar's problems.

The frictionless business

Imagine raising a fund in Bitcoin, entrepreneurs paying employees, suppliers, and taxes in Bitcoin, everything on-chain in smart contracts. Money that moves faster makes society wealthier. Gold and shells slowed the economy down. Bitcoin speeds it up.

AI and your job

You do not have to quit to innovate. Improve your job with AI, get better at it, and let the leadership around you encourage it. The saddle makers became car mechanics. The mathematicians figured out the computer.

Thanks for having me on, Kyle.

Go listen to the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_X6x2UiQhg

At the Draper Summit, I got to share the stage with my son Adam Draper (Boost VC), former U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios, Co-Founder of Robinhood, Baiju Bhatt, Stanford President, Jonathan Levin, Education visionary, Sal Khan, Former Dallas Fed Chairman, Robert Kaplan, and Brit Harris, former CIO of UTIMCO.

The energy was incredible.

Entrepreneurs from over 50 countries, venture capitalists from over 50 firms, and over 50 corporate partners assembled for amazing speeches, pitches, and general networking.

Entrepreneurs come away with new relationships, new customers, new business models, and new investors.

The Draper Summit is extraordinary.