I am standing in the middle of Draper University, and the writing is literally on the wall. Behind me, a massive mural of Superman and Wonder Woman screams a command to the crowded room: “UNLEASH THE HEROES!”
In any other year, this might look like a comic book convention. But in late 2017, this is the epicenter of the financial world. Tim Draper, the legendary VC who founded this school, calls entrepreneurs the “Heroes” of the modern age. And looking around this room, you get the distinct feeling that the definition of a “Banker” is being rewritten in real-time.
There isn’t a single suit in sight. The Heroes of 2017 don’t wear ties; they wear jeans, hoodies, and worn-out sneakers. They don’t carry briefcases; they carry hard wallets. We are here because we believe, with an almost religious fervor, that we are rewriting the constitution of money itself.
The Invincibility Complex
There is a dangerous but intoxicating electricity in the air. We feel invincible. Bitcoin is smashing through $18,000, Ethereum has birthed a new economy, and smart contracts promise to automate trust.
We genuinely believe that Blockchain is the cure for everything. Corruption? Blockchain fixes that. Supply chain logistics? Put it on the chain. Voting rights? Tokenize it.
We are the naive superheroes. We possess a new superpower—decentralized code—and we think it makes us immune to gravity. We haven’t met our “Kryptonite” yet. We haven’t met the Regulators. But tonight, nobody cares about the SEC. Tonight, we are going to the moon.
FOMO: The Air We Breathe
The room is packed shoulder-to-shoulder. The temperature is rising, but nobody leaves. The energy is so thick you could almost charge your phone with it.
This is FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) in its purest, most distilled form. Everyone standing here understands one thing: We are sitting on a rocket ship that is mid-launch. The person standing next to you might be a billionaire by next Tuesday, or they might be broke. The volatility is the drug, and everyone here is addicted.
The Mothership of Risk
It is fitting that we are doing this at Draper University. Years ago, when the US Marshals auctioned off the Silk Road Bitcoins, everyone laughed. Tim Draper didn’t laugh; he bought 30,000 of them.
He was the crazy one then. Now, he is the Oracle. Being here feels like being on the Mothership. This is the place where crazy ideas don’t get a rejection letter; they get a seed check. It is the only place in the Valley where saying “I’m going to replace the Federal Reserve” is considered a reasonable business plan.
The Democratization (and Danger) of Capital
The buzzword of the night is “ICO” (Initial Coin Offering).
For decades, early-stage investing was a country club sport. You had to be an “Accredited Investor”—rich enough to be allowed to get richer.
We have blown the doors off that club. The ICO boom has democratized capital. Anyone with an internet connection can now fund the next Google. We have opened the floodgates.
But as I look at the “Heroes” on the wall, and then at the crowd, my internal engineer kicks in. Not everyone here is a hero.
There are visionaries here, yes. But there are also opportunists selling vaporware.
My mission for the rest of 2017 is not just to ride the wave, but to survive it. The market is burning hot, and while it’s fun to feel like Superman, I know that eventually, gravity always checks your paperwork. The goal isn’t just to make money; it’s to distinguish the real innovation from the beautiful scam.
But for tonight? Tonight we celebrate the revolution.
