Feb 24, 2016 · 27m · 20vc
20VC: Investing In The Next Frontiers Of Tech & Harry Potter with Adam Draper, Founder & CEO @ Boost VC
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In episode 120 of The 20 Minute VC, host Harry Stebbings interviews Adam Draper, founder and CEO of Boost VC, discussing his family's venture capital legacy, Boost VC's accelerator model, and their focus on funding frontier technologies like blockchain, Bitcoin, and virtual reality.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Harry holds 24.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Harry as informed peer 1.7 Guest teaching 2.2 Guest disagreement 0.5 Harry pushing back 0.5
speaking balance: gold is Harry, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 18:03 Reframing the premise of investing mistakes
Adam gently rejects Harry's proposition that investing in early ambitious concepts might be a mistake, asserting that at seed stage supporting an entrepreneur's dream is always valid.
Hardest push from Harry ▶ 25:01 Challenging guest reluctance to pick a favorite dealWhen Adam hesitates to pick a favorite investment comparing it to choosing children, Harry presses him by pointing out that his father Tim Draper answered the question during his own interview.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:48 Explaining blockchain architecture beyond currencyAdam systematically outlines how blockchain functions as a general transactional ledger for smart contracts and digital assets, clarifying the technical distinction beyond Bitcoin currency.
Harry holds his own ▶ 10:37 Demonstrating technical understanding of Bitcoin infrastructureHarry accurately articulates the foundational distinction between Bitcoin and blockchain algorithms to test his own understanding, earning validation from Adam.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Harry as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Harry pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Draper's Entrepreneurial Background and the Legacy of Boost VC | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Harry introduces Adam and asks friendly introductory questions about his path to founding Boost VC and his family background. Adam shares his early startup mistakes and explains the multi-generational VC history of the Draper family without any friction. | |
| Boost VC Accelerator Model and Fundraising Experience | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Harry asks standard operational questions about Boost VC fund mechanics and fundraising experience. Adam details his fundraising metrics and LP structure in a highly collaborative manner. | |
| Deep Dive into Blockchain, Bitcoin, and Market Adoption | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | Harry cites portfolio statistics from Medium and proposes a technical definition for the distinction between Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain. Adam confirms Harry's framing and expands on smart contracts, adoption hurdles, and store-of-value use cases. | |
| VC Sentiment, Startup Valuations, and Frontier Technology Focus | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Harry asks about investor sentiment, potential bubble valuations, and common investing mistakes. Adam gently reframes Harry's premise regarding mistakes, explaining that early-stage bets on passionate founders are valid. | |
| Quickfire Round: Family Competition, Life Advice, and Harry Potter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Harry leads a lighthearted quickfire round featuring a surprise question from Adam's father about tennis and chess. Harry surprises Adam by revealing he lives near J.K. Rowling and offers him a signed Harry Potter book. | |
| Quickfire Round Continued: Mentors, Gaming, and Investment Highlights | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Harry continues the quickfire questions, playfully pushing Adam when he hesitates to pick a favorite portfolio company. Adam yields and explains Joystream's integration of BitTorrent and Bitcoin. |
Statements from this episode (11)
Boost VC Has Invested in Approximately 120 Companies Across Six Cohorts
“Since then at boost VC, we've been, we've run Six tribes. We call them tribes. They're three month programs where we provide housing, office space, and we invest in companies, and we've invested in about a 120 companies.”
Boost VC Focuses Its Accelerator Investment Program on Blockchain and VR
“We're not, Going global, we're bringing people to the United States in order to train them in specific industries such as blockchain and virtual reality is where our focuses have been.”
Boost VC invests $10k-$25k across 50 startups per year
“It's an accelerator program. So we do two, two tribes a year, two sessions a year that are three months, they're three months long where we provide housing office space and we invest in the companies and we invest between 10 and 25,000 dollars. To 25 companies…”
Adam Draper: Boost VC's $6.6M second fund will back roughly 180 companies
“Current funds, so I've raised two funds, and the first one was smaller, but my current fund was about 6.6 million dollars, and that'll invest in about 200 companies, 180 companies.”
Adam Draper pitched 3,000 investors to close 35 LPs for $6.6M fund
“I so it took me 12 months to raise my money. So, so from when I opened to raise money to close, it was like no, no, Back in 2013 to november 2220 14, and I closed 6.6 million bucks. I had to, I reached out to probably 3000 investors. I ended up meeting with ab…”
Adam Draper: US government regulation actually drives crypto adoption by legitimizing it
“I actually think regulation is good because it legitimizes it. Like, every time the US government makes a new rule about Bitcoin or the blockchain more people get interested in it rather than shy away from it because it feels like it's more and more endorsed b…”
Draper: Bitcoin cuts cross-border transfer costs by two-thirds
“Border to border transfer of money. It can be a third the cost and one fifth the time of sending money today with this new technology, which is really, really exciting.”
Adam Draper: Blockchain technology cannot exist without Bitcoin's incentive structure
“And to me, they're completely integrated. Everyone's, they're very integrated and they're very similar. It's one can't exist without the other because the Bitcoin system is the incentivized system to help the ledger stay opera in operation because the ledger i…”
Draper: Around 200,000 miners power the Bitcoin transactional network
“There's something like 200,000 people who are hooked up to this network who are powering this huge transactional thing.”
Adam Draper: Ender's Game is one of the best books on leadership
“Ender's Game, I think, is one of the best books on leadership, even though it's not technically a leadership book at all.”
Adam Draper: Boost VC portfolio company Joystream merges BitTorrent with Bitcoin
“We have one company in this tribe that's called joy stream run by a solo founder who is trying to merge two technologies that have never been merged before, which is the peer to peer technology of BitTorrent with the peer to peer technology of Bitcoin. So basi…”