How Tim Draper leveraged Government and debt to Create his first fund
I am not known for being a great supporter of government programs, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank the SBIC program for taking a chance on me way back when when I was 26 years years old and starting out in the venture capital business. I was able to take a $2 million SBIC and use SBA’s 3:1 leverage to have a fund where I could use their $6 million to start investing in tech startups.
I remember Marvin Klapp telling me I needed to have 10 years of investment experience, and I replied, “I have been investing since I was 10.” He looked right down at his hands and said, “check!”
From that borrowed $6 million, I was able to build a record and a career that allowed me to finance over 1000 companies that have employed hundreds of thousands of employees, creating hundreds of billions of dollars of wealth for hardworking, driven creative people with dreams of a better future.
As of today, I have finally paid off all of my debt to SBA, so I wanted to show my appreciation for a group that was willing to stick their necks out for a green, unproven investor with a three page handwritten business plan.
So thank you Small Business Investment Company division of the Small Business Administration. Thank you Marvin Klapp, wherever you are.
