Tim Draper

Founder of @DFJvc, @drapervc, @Draper_U, @IYS_Org.

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Book Recommendations:

TD

Recommended by Tim Draper

Awesome book. This one by @SurbhiSarnaSF a @draper_u hero, and amazing entrepreneur. Surbhi overcame long odds, built a valuable business and transformed the way we look for cancer in the fallopian tubes. You will love it. https://t.co/bZyR9QxJji (from X)

“An inspiring blueprint to overcome challenges—and thrive” (Arianna Huffington, Founder and CEO of Thrive Global), on how to turn other’s and your own doubt into rocket fuel to achieve your dreams, from entrepreneur, CEO, and healthcare investor Surbhi Sarna. The very qualities that make you an outlier are, in fact, your strengths. Or so Surbhi Sarna discovered after a teenage cancer scare inspired her to reimagine healthcare, founding a medical start-up to detect early ovarian cancer. In Without a Doubt, she shares how she proved the doubters wrong. As a young, brown woman without a medical degree or Ivy-league or Silicon Valley contacts—and who had felt different throughout her life—she was often overlooked and underrated. Undeterred, Sarna used the naysayers as ammunition to help her surpass expectations—and achieve her dreams. Without a Doubt is her powerful story of becoming a leader without an MBA, networking without a network, and raising funds when she didn't know a single venture capitalist, teaching you how to do the same. Sarna led an all-star team to develop a life-saving medical device, sold her business for $275 million, and became a partner at Y Combinator, one of the most successful venture firms in the world. Using her own experience, she shows you how to face setbacks, not let impossible standards get in the way, lead empathetically, empower others to think differently, and how to convince the right people to help you accomplish your goals. Without a Doubt reveals that your power lies in recognizing the qualities that make you different and leveraging them to pursue your dreams.

TD

Recommended by Tim Draper

My brother-in-law is a famous jazz musician. He wrote a terrific book about his life, the famous people he met, and how music got him through a lot of ills. Buy it, read it, love it. #jazz https://t.co/ZYx1XBcdCW (from X)

FROM TOURETTE'S TO TRIUMPH. FROM CANCER TO CURE. FROM THE SEGREGATED SOUTH TO COMMANDING STAGES AROUND THE WORLD, JAZZ MASTER, MICHAEL WOLFF'S JOURNEY BEGINS WITH PURE GRIT AND ENDS IN PERFECT VICTORY. Award winning jazz musician Michael Wolff's journey nearly ended six years ago at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in lower Manhattan. After being worked on by doctors and nurses for most of the night, Wolff, with the perfect timing only a world class musician would have, regained consciousness just in time to hear one of the doctors ask his wife if he had a DNR. Before she could even ask what that was, Wolff used his last ounce of energy to gasp, "Resuscitate me!" After being treated for the wrong cancer for a year and a half, it was discovered that Wolff had an ultra-rare, untreatable cancer called histiocytic sarcoma and had three months to live. Fortunately, he was someone accustomed to surviving the odds. Wolff had already survived a painful childhood overshadowed by Tourette's Syndrome, where his brilliance as a jazz pianist and passion for music saw him through. He went on the road at nineteen, not only performing with some of the great luminaries of Jazz, but also conducting over twenty-five symphony orchestras worldwide. In 1989, Wolff was chosen to be the musical director of Arsenio Hall's groundbreaking late-night talk show, which was extravagantly praised for its diversity of musical guests and brilliant house band. It was through The Arsenio Hall show that Wolff became a household name and where he met and eventually married Actor/Writer/Director Polly Draper when she was a guest on the show. (Their two sons, Nat and Alex Wolff are now highly successful actors and musicians in their own right, so the talent was passed on to the next generation.) In the meantime, Wolff has released twenty-one albums to critical and popular acclaim, written award-winning scores to movies and television series and has managed to beat an untreatable cancer. His compelling story begins with his fish out-of-water story in the segregated South, then moves to politically turbulent Berkley, California in the early sixties and then it takes him around the world as he earns his stripes as a world class Jazz musician. On That Note is more than a memoir. It is like a Jazz score with words, taking the reader on the wild journey of Wolff's singular life. It is a life driven by a passion for music and a passion for being alive. Sometimes hilarious and sometimes harrowing, Wolff's story instantly sweeps us up with it and charms us with a unique voice. Many books claim to be "page turners." This one actually delivers.

TD

Recommended by Tim Draper

Interesting interviews in this book about the future of the world including #degov #bitcoin #crypto https://t.co/a8r6pyT9Ve (from X)

CIVILIZATION IN OVERDRIVE: Conversations at the Edge of the Human Future provides an astonishing tour of how the world's future looks to those likely to know the most about it. Journalist Konrad Stachnio engages 17 experts, global opinion leaders in their respective fields, in discussions on artificial intelligence, finance, the economy, technology, world order, the military, cultural change and more. His well-researched and probing questions draw out striking revelations from his guests on where 21st century civilization is leading us, raising further questions as to whether we want to go there, and if that could be prevented. The trends anticipated by the interviewees are ground-breaking, sometimes shocking. This book is a plunge into the unexpected, forcing us to bid farewell to our familiar yet increasingly complex world which is irrevocably disappearing before our eyes and morphing into dimensions even more complex and less comprehensible. Interviewees and topics include: Douglas Rushkoff, named by MIT as one of the “world's ten most influential intellectuals,” on whether we still have the chance to be self-determining individuals in the all-encompassing world of algorithms and AI. John Perkins, the author of the book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which spent over 70 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and has been published in 32 languages worldwide on the global revolution just around the corner. Aleksandr Dugin, one of the best-known writers and political commentators in post-Soviet Russia, considered one of the most contentious thinkers of the modern world, on whether the modern technological path we take is inevitable. Tim Draper, one of the most successful venture capitalists of all time, as well as among the most instrumental and prominent people in Silicon Valley today, on Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and how they will affect finance, economics, and work. William Binney former geopolitical world Technical Director of NSA about what digital terrorism will look like in the future and whether we already live in the Chinese model of 'social credit'. Mikhail A. Lebedev, award-winning scientist in the fields of Neurophysiology and Brain-Computer Interfaces on the impact connecting their brains with machines and implanting chips into them will have on people. Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Treasury Secretary, Wall Street Journal Associate Editor, And more...

TD

Recommended by Tim Draper

Excited to speak to @bfeld about his new book "Startup Communities" on Tuesday 9/15 at 9am PT. We'll then kickoff the @DraperNetwork Startup Showcase featuring the best companies from our own global startup communities. Register here to join us: https://t.co/DCrB8lkmxx (from X)

First published in 2012, Startup Communities became a blueprint for what it takes to build a supportive entrepreneurial community. Now regarded as a classic, the "Boulder Thesis" created and popularized by Feld within the book generated enormous media attention nearly a decade ago. At that time, Boulder was an emerging startup laboratory―a hub of innovation building new tech businesses. It quickly accelerated into a world class ecosystem for entrepreneurs. Boulder's entrepreneurial density, combined with the geographic concentration of entrepreneurial activity around the Boulder downtown core, made it a hotbed of startup activity. Feld was and is still there, as a keen observer and one of its leaders. As he notes simply in the new edition, humans are wired to start things. In a sense, that short Feld-ism accurately describes the startup revolution still taking hold throughout the world. Boulder is proof that innovation can happen anywhere, in any city. Thanks in part to the book, what happens in Boulder now leaves Boulder. Rapidly growing startup communities in Atlanta, Detroit, Denver, Kansas City, Nashville, and Indianapolis are just a few examples. Over the last decade, Feld has dispelled the myth that startups can only thrive in Silicon Valley. Startup communities continue to pop up across the U.S. and around the world, prompting fresh new revelations and stories from Feld about what's happened over the last decade. Startup Communities 2e describes what makes a startup community ecosystem first click, then hum, and in time, excel. From Boulder to Beijing and beyond, entrepreneurial ecosystems are driving innovation. Startup Communities 2e discusses and the necessary dynamics and pre-conditions of building communities of entrepreneurs who can feed off each other's talent, creativity, and support. In Startup Communities 2e, Feld will help you understand: The core principles of a vibrant startup community, re-examining his Boulder Thesis and exploring other historical frameworks.The attributes of leadership in a startup community that can help it thrive along with the classical problems any community will face during development.The importance of a university in a startup community, and how large companies can engage effectively with entrepreneurs.The importance of continuous improvement so growth does not stagnate.The common myths about startup communities.The opportunities to build startup communities in non-urban, or rural, places that are much less populated.

TD

Recommended by Tim Draper

Steve Hoffman nails it! He identifies the science fiction that is becoming our new reality. A delightful run through a wild future of sentient AIs, cyborgs, transgenic animals, and designer babies. Read it! (from Amazon)

The Five Forces reveals how technology is unleashing forces that will forever alter our lives, politics, and society. Learn more about nanotechnology, transhumanism, the future of space exploration and colonization, super human computers, and so much more! Discover what lies in our future: How will humans change as we merge with our machines, embracing transhumanism?What happens when intelligent algorithms make all the decisions?Should we connect our brains directly to the Internet?And are we entering an age of simulated realities? The Five Forces takes you on a journey to see what the most brilliant minds of our age are dreaming up. Hoffman reveals how new scientific breakthroughs and business ventures are poised to reshape our lives and turn science fiction into fact. With scientists in Japan creating humanoid robots, Silicon Valley biohackers boosting their IQs, and Chinese labs developing human-monkey chimeras, Hoffman gives an inside look at the limits of what’s possible today and the impact these developments will have. Mass Connectivity What happens when brain chips connect our minds directly to the internet? Will we be able to boost our IQs, exchange memories, and communicate with our thoughts? Or will this turn into a nightmare, with corporations reading our minds, hackers overwriting our identities, and governments controlling our actions? Bio Convergence Now that we can decode the building blocks of life and create new lifeforms that never existed before, what comes next? Will we conquer disease, resurrect extinct species, develop superior plants and animals, create DNA-edited babies, and even spawn other intelligent beings? Human Expansionism Is it our manifest destiny to colonize Mars and extend the human race beyond the limits of our solar system? How will technologies like space travel, new materials, and nanotech transform our civilization and open up new horizons we never imagined possible? Deep Automation As our machines become capable enough to do every job better, faster, and cheaper, how will this affect society? Will we wind up delegating our most important decisions to data crunching algorithms? And does this mean our machines will end up running our economies, our corporations, and even our lives? Intelligence Explosion As soon as we create a superintelligence that far surpasses human capabilities, what will happen to us? Will we be able to control our machines, or will they eventually control us? Are we headed for a paradise of plenty, where our technology eliminates hunger, disease, poverty, and war? Or will this be the end of our reign as the rulers of the planet?