Founder of DFJ (Draper Fisher Jurvetson)

Tim Draper (born 1958), a legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist, is the founder of Draper Associates, DFJ Fund, and the global venture capital network Draper Venture Network. He is world-renowned for his precise investment decisions and forward-looking industry insights. After earning his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1984, he founded DFJ in 1985, marking the start of a career that would reshape the venture capital industry.

Draper’s investment portfolio spans multiple sectors, including the internet, new energy, and cryptocurrency. His landmark investments—such as backing Baidu in 2000, making two rounds of investments in Tesla in 2006, and positioning early bets on Robinhood and Docusign in 2008—have all become classics in venture capital history. In 2014, he purchased nearly 30,000 Bitcoins for $19 million, demonstrating his unwavering optimism about the future of cryptocurrency. While his prediction that "fiat currencies will be laughed at in five years" remains controversial, it has nonetheless drawn widespread attention to the industry. He is also the inventor of the email viral marketing model, which once fueled exponential growth for products like Hotmail and continues to influence internet marketing strategies to this day. As of 2024, his net worth stands at $2 billion, ranking him 1,623rd on the Forbes World’s Billionaires List. He has received numerous honors, including titles like "World Entrepreneur" and "Most Influential Figure in the Cryptocurrency Space."​