Valleywag: tim draper

She's, like, the Valley Girl and VC Tim Draper is totally her daddy

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:20:00 PDT

Venture capitalist Tim Draper's daughter Jesse will soon launch a a new Web TV series called "Valley Girl." Watch the show's teaser, embedded here. It features awkward moments like Google CEO Eric Schmidt introducing himself as "I'm, like, Eric Schmidt" and angel investor Ron Conway doing the same. We're pleased as punch! Because with Julia Allison no longer driving traffic, we worried that the whole fameball phenomenon might be over. Turns out we just needed another pink-loving, camera-finding, ever-posing brunette with more ambition than sense to show us the way. Valleywag readers: Meet Jesse Draper. More videos and personal details, below.

Her favorite quotes:

Jesse: I feel bad for all the homeless people
Katharine: I know, they should all go to shelters
Jesse: But I think these are the homeless people who refuse to go to the shelters.
Katharine: Well then why don't we use them for genetic testing!

A longer trailer for her new show:

An interview about her show:

Her prior claim to fame, appearing on Nickelodeon's "The Naked Brothers Band" as Jesse Cook:

Jesse also does comedy. Sort of.

Sorry, but you have to hear Tim Draper sing

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:20:35 PST

Tim Draper is the VC backer of Hotmail, Skype and Glam Media backer. But when it comes to singing, he's backup at best. From this portion of a recent Hooman.tv interview, we learn that Draper "is the risk master. Lives fast and drives faster. Skates on the edge of disaster. He is the risk master." The singing, at least, lives up to the "edge of disaster" billing.

Why Tim Draper's latest virus isn't catching

Owen Thomas — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:42:29 PST

Glam Media is the "fastest growing company on the face of the earth," according to its backer, the always hyperbolic Tim Draper. In an interview with AlwaysOn's Tony Perkins, Draper compares Glam, an online ad network, to past investments like Hotmail and Skype. But aside from enjoying his backing, there's little resemblance. A better comparison? Enron, another company with metastasizing revenues.

What does an online-ad company have to do with an energy concern? Like Enron, Glam's true business isn't selling; it's arbitrage. Glam grows its revenues, rivals say, by acquiring ad inventory from websites and then attempting to sell it to media buyers at higher prices. Buy low, sell high is a time-honored business model. But it's not a recipe for exponential growth spurred by viral marketing, as Hotmail and Skype were.

Nothing in Glam's business encourages a Glam advertiser to sign up other advertisers; nor does it spread from publisher to publisher unbidden. All Glam has going for it is the size of its wallet, which is why it's so desperate to raise money. Only with fresh capital can Glam continue its ad-buying spree, providing the illusion of growth that will allow it to gather more money, preferably in an IPO. At some point, investors will be left holding the bag. Maybe that's where Draper sees a connection: He unloaded Hotmail to Microsoft and Skype to eBay long before their buyers figured out there was no money in them.

Draper Fisher Jurvetson continues its venture ...

Megan McCarthy — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:00:47 PDT

Draper Fisher Jurvetson continues its venture tourism, opening up an office in Russia. Are there actually interesting startups in Russia, or is this just an excuse to stick DFJ's investors with the bill for Tim Draper's round-the-world plane tickets? [DFJ.com]

Redfin gets cash, but no love, from star investors

Owen Thomas — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:01:00 PDT

Draper Fisher Jurvetson has led a $12 million investment round in Redfin, the Seattle-based online real-estate broker. But what does it say that Tim Draper and Steve Jurvetson, the venture capitalists behind such early Internet hits as Overture and Hotmail, have delegated new Web discoveries to junior partners in their firm? Emily Melton, a Stanford MBA with no big hits to her name, is joining Redfin's board, having "monitor[ed] Redfin's progress since early 2006," according to a company press release. Here's what that tells me about what investors really think.

DFJ's Melton is clearly no dummy; Stanford's not in the habit of issuing degrees to the like. But she joins an investing team filled with other back-benchers. Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen and Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz have also put money into Redfin, but Allen and Schultz tapped underlings to serve on Redfin's board. If Draper, Jurvetson, Allen, and Schultz really intend Redfin to upend the real-estate industry, why aren't they backing it personally? Clearly, Redfin isn't a star of their portfolios, or an idea that really captures these Internet dreamers' imaginations. They're aiming for a base hit at best — which is why they bunted when it came to picking their board representatives.

Bid on "prize" of hockey game with Guy Kawasaki

Chris Mohney — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 06:40:54 PST

One of the events taking place during Stanford University's "Entrepreneurship Week" — already in progress! — is the Innovation Challenge. Participants have a few days to maximize value from a pad of 100 3"x3" Post-it notes. Prizes include various meetings and activities with Silicon Valley bigwigs, including a hockey game with Guy Kawasaki and "deathball" with Tim Draper. On team of playas has decided to pre-emptively auction the prize on eBay as a way to actually win said prize; the auction lot is a set of ten Post-its, each of which will be a "ticket" to hockey with Kawasaki. No bids yet (auction closes Mar-02-07 01:47:14 PST), but that's potentially a good thing, as the prize may also be won by the team who demonstrates the "most dramatic failure." If only venture capital investing had such a fallback reward.