Tim Draper on why he thinks entrepreneurs should travel the world

Tim Draper is perhaps one of the world’s foremost proponents of Bitcoin. “It’s an exciting time for us bitcoin-ers,” the Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Draper Associates founding partner recently told AWS Startups. “In five years, you’re going to try to pay in fiat currency at Starbucks and they’re going to laugh at you.”

In addition to talking up the digital currency, Draper also had plenty of advice for entrepreneurs looking to pitch him with ideas. First off: travel the world: “I never would have funded Baidu if I hadn’t traveled to China,” he said. “I wouldn’t have known the Chinese needs and that they were different from what Google was providing if I hadn’t gone there.” He also recommends challenging industries that have gotten bloated and lost perspective on their customer. “Are they challenging an oligopoly of some sort? That’s where I look for an entrepreneur,” he says. Then, he makes sure the company has a new technology that makes sense and can a drive a wedge in said industry. “If they can do that, I’m on board at least to meet them.” For more, listen to our interview with Draper. 

VC Tim Draper on why entrepreneurs should travel the world by AWS Startup Stories