What Tim Draper taught me?
I had the privilege to participate in a Draper University program called Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship in May 2021. It was a two-week, very intense program that introduced me to the very broad term of Entrepreneurship. Here is what I learned.
When I applied to that program I didn’t really know what to expect. Many of my friends who are experienced in the business world constantly repeat to me that Entrepreneurship is a long-lasting game with loads of uncertainties — generally it is learned throughout executing it. Therefore, the initial assumption of Draper University to teach me Entrepreneurship within two weeks span was a crazy idea. But the only thing that I have known for sure until now is that the democratization of any kind of innovation is achieved through entrepreneurship. So, I gave it a try…
We gathered in the Zoom from all of the parts of the world, waiting for Tim Draper’s initial speech. The Philippines at 2 am, Californians at 7 am, and me at 5 pm in Warsaw, Poland. Throughout his whole, he was exclaiming that there are exciting times ahead of us due to Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence but also because for sure some corporates will feel too comfortable. It’s a sign for us that we should accelerate our businesses and drive innovative ideas. I immediately became pumped to by learned by Silicon Valley leaders during this program, such as Tim Draper, Justin Kan, John Zimmer or Naeem Zafar!
I was introduced to the concept of Ideas that Change the World and how to acquire the Hero Mindset by the irreplaceable Philip Harding. Later on, the very beautiful Olivia Wong surprised me with Prototype Thinking. She persuaded me that the business idea can be tested as quickly as before any kind of the product/service! So much money and most importantly TIME can be saved here!
The next day, David J Bland taught me a very valuable lesson that during weekends during Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship was even more valuable. Business Model Canvas. David led me through an interactive session in which we created our own business model canvas and investigated it from many perspectives.
The next week Naeem Zafar, whom one company went IPO and also held three CEO positions, introduced to me Term Sheets. Personally, it was my favourite lecture. I felt this vibe out of Naeem because he was so natural and charismatic at the same time when he explained how shares change their value through pre-seed round until the IPO itself. Such a priceless lesson!
After that Asra Nadeem, President at Draper VC, taught me about money and investing from the perspective of investors. It included tips about creating a perfect pitch deck and negotiations with investors. I have never thought that the rejection rate is so high if it comes to rasing money. There are so many characteristics that can influence negatively the ongoing process of building the relationships with investors. Investors are not only about money but also know-how. Then, it is useful to find the perfect investors. But to accomplish that loads of hours should be spent on RESEARCH and… Zoom calls :)
The last lecture gave me a very positive energy about Leadership that I would never forget…
As always human intuition if it comes to feeling the time passing during enjoyable activities were going to end “too quickly”. Tim Draper ended Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship with the The Startup Hero’s Pledge and the exclamation: I will fail and fail again until I succeed!!!
I was sure that this event profoundly transformed my identity.
