His Background
Deep Roots in Silicon Valley
Although Tim Draper has traveled through more than 70 countries tracking down that next great idea, his roots, his home, and his business remain in Silicon Valley. “My grandfather started the first venture capital company here when Silicon Valley was pretty much all apricot orchards and prune trees.” William Draper Jr. came to what was to become Silicon Valley in 1958 after he had helped lead the Marshall Plan for redevelopment in Germany and Japan after World War II, rising to the rank of Brigadier General and Undersecretary of the Army. He brought one of his deputy generals with him to found what he quaintly called a “finance firm” in northern California. His son, William Draper III, worked in the family business, then branched out to found the industry-changing private equity firm, Sutter Hill Ventures in Palo Alto 1965.
Tim Draper says that following in his father’s and his grandfather’s footsteps in venture capital “was the last thing I wanted to do.” But after graduating from business school, and spending a year in investment banking, Tim decided that he had to pursue his passion for new business ideas back to Silicon Valley, and start a venture capital firm of his own.
As Tim’s business grew, so did his family. His “very understanding wife” helped him raise four kids in the same area where Tim witnessed the birth of Silicon Valley. And the family tradition continues: one of Tim’s daughters, Jesse, currently hosts an online business talk show called “Valley Girl,” interviewing famous CEOS, while one of his sons, Adam, is co-founder and VP of Business development for Xpert Financial, a Silicon Valley company that is pursuing a very similar private stock market idea Tim had back in his Harvard days, as the proud father sits on the company board.
So as a fourth generation of Drapers pursues the Silicon Valley dream, I asked Tim if the area is keeping its competitive edge, given the technology innovations taking place in highly educated, more inexpensive locations in India and China. “Silicon Valley is still an engine for jobs growth for California and for the U.S.,” he answered, adding that while the physical business supply chain is no longer quite as focused in the area, the supply chain of ideas, innovators, and change agents remain. But so do some challenges, with education, government budget problems, and over-regulation topping his list. “One of the great things about having fifty states is that governments need to compete to attract and support business,” Tim says, “Hopefully it will force them to innovate as well,” adding with a smile, “Maybe we should have more than fifty states.”
