Don't just be mad for the sake of being mad because something's wrong. That's only step one. Step two is how do you solve that problem? And step three is how do you make a business solving that problem? Step four is how do you make money in the business that solves that problem? And step five is how do you distribute that product or service that solves that problem? Before you complain one iota through your parents, you've got to have that all lined up.
Tim Draper is a third-generation Silicon Valley investor who launched his own fund in his 20s and bet early on some of the tech companies that helped shape the modern internet and digital money. Today, he runs a worldwide network of funds and a Startup Hero School using his money and coaching to help bold young founders build the next wave of disruptive companies.
Welcome to How I Started, the podcast where we share the real stories behind remarkable entrepreneurs and the companies they've built. I'm Connor Boyack, your host and president of the Children's Entrepreneur Market, where we help kids ages 5 to 17 launch their very first business. In each episode, we'll explore how great ideas grow into lasting success, what lessons shape those journeys, and how mentorship builds the next generation of entrepreneurs. Whether you're just starting out, scaling up, or looking to inspire others, you're in the right place. Let's explore the stories that prove every great venture begins with a single step.
Tim, thanks so much for joining us on How I Started.
Great. Thanks for having me, Connor. I look forward to it.
You have a long track record when it comes to entrepreneurship. And so, I want to go back to the very beginning of it. And obviously, you grew up in a family, well, you know, maybe you can talk about growing up with your dad and your family immersed in entrepreneurship. Talk to me about what was the earliest exposure that you had to entrepreneurship when you were young?
Well, I picked apples and then sold them out on we had a driveway that was a quarter mile long and we had this apple tree and there were a whole bunch of apples in it and I think my mom suggested that I pick the apples and go out to the end of the driveway. And so I did that and I worked on it for about 3 weeks and every once in a while I'd have a friend come by and say hi and whatever. Then pretty much the last day of my work, a neighbor's mother came by and she said, 'You so you've been selling apples?' And I said, 'Yeah.' She said, 'How much have you made?' And I went with my eyes lit up, '$8.' And she says, 'Let me see the $8.' And she took the $8 and handed a dollar to each of about four of my friends and a dollar to me and walked away with the rest. And I thought, 'What? So that was my first exposure to socialism and I didn't like it one bit.' And so there was something very wrong with what that system meant and I do get that some people are very concerned about equal outcomes, but I am not an equal outcome guy. I feel like you put in the work, you should benefit from it. And so that was my first exposure. I had many other entrepreneurial endeavors. I had another one but that was when I was about 10 years old.
When I was about 20, I bought oysters from this bay up north and they were a dollar a dozen and I sold them door-to-door and by phone for $6 a dozen and that was a great experience to go door-to-door and even to do the phone dialing. And I figured out that it didn't make sense to go up there and they're about 2 hours north of and so it's a 4-hour trip. So I only made that once a week. So I call, get all the orders and then deliver them all on Friday. And I remember I got a restaurant involved and they were really a good customer because the guy put one in a microwave and it was delicious. We both thought, 'Oh my god, this is fantastic. Put an oyster in the microwave.' And so I told one of the women I had sold a couple of dozen oysters to, 'They're delicious if you put them in the microwave.' So I went into her house and we put one in the microwave and it blew up the microwave and it just exploded in the microwave and it apparently just smelled and everything was just a disaster. But she was kind enough to buy the two dozen oysters and even be a repeat customer. So I really appreciated her.
And then we had rented an apartment for the summer while I was doing this. I was away from school for the summer and I stored I always bought a few extra dozen oysters because they were only a dollar a dozen and I was selling them for six. So I kept thinking I could sell more. But I left them in the garage there and you know, we'd eat them and whatever. But apparently the woman who rented me the apartment said that the smell of oysters was so strong after that that she had to sell the apartment. I feel very badly about that. But entrepreneurs, you know, they have to put up with a lot of things and sometimes things work and sometimes they don't.
And then I created Anferred which was a board game based on the school I went to. And it was a board game and we went after resume stars and units and social points as you went around the board and we made it modeled after the Stanford community. I did it with my partner Heidi Roizen. We had a wonderful time doing it. She at one time, which actually depressed me a little. She at one time figured out that after we had sold the 5,000 games, we had made about a dollar 25 an hour. Well, we were written up in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. It was a big deal. Wow. Fun.
When you reflect on those early stories that you've shared, Tim, what lessons do you draw from that? You know, you're taking initiative, you're obviously the socialism lesson that you mentioned, but...
Socialism and antisocial Socialism really doesn't work. I actually think doing something and connecting with people over a business, you're both better off if you do a deal. And I think that every time I did a deal, I felt like I felt good about it. It was like, okay, you know, I got money, they got their apples or their oysters or their board game. And I felt like I had created value out of something that wasn't there before. So, I created value for my customer. And I think that that is something that I've taken with me wherever I've gone is like try to provide a really good service for customers and get a kick out of the first the connection with someone.
Whether you're buying or selling, it's the connection that matters. That's something that came down from my grandfather and my father to me. Doesn't matter if you're buying or selling.
So, as you mentioned, connection. And then just do something really great for your customer so that you get that rush of like, 'Hey, I have provided something where both of us benefited.'
A lot of people anti-capitalist types right now see the economy as a fixed pie. If I get some, that means it's being taken away from you. And so, exactly what you're describing when deals are done right and well, both sides are prospering and you're creating value for one another. I like that you framed it that way. You mentioned a moment ago your grandfather, your father, you know, you've grown up in a family of entrepreneurs and investors. So, these examples that you shared when you were a kid, was that your dad who kind of knew the importance of entrepreneurship? Was he kind of pushing you into that or did you just kind of have that kind of bone in your body that you did it on your own? What was that like growing up in a family like yours?
Actually, my mom really encouraged me to do things. Like, I remember she'd say, 'A penny a minute to go mow the lawn, you know, weed the garden, whatever, paint the trailer, whatever it was that I'd get a penny a minute.' And so, I'd have that in my head. And it turns out I, you know, hourly work is hard work and I learned that and appreciated it. My dad was working. I didn't really know what he did except all I knew was a venture capital and he invested in small businesses that he hoped would grow to be big businesses. That was all I knew about venture capital. You know, he worked hard, came back late often, but usually for dinner. And I got the feeling that he really liked what he did. So, it was in the back of my mind, I guess, to be a venture capitalist. But to be an entrepreneur, it was really I think my mom probably had as much to do with that. The Stanford game, that was just out of my own thinking. I loved games and I loved going to Stanford and I put those two things together and it was a college game based on the school I went to. We were going to franchise it, but then we realized it at a dollar 25 an hour from...
