Note: This is a
client-accountdecision. Rye Valley is building this for Draper’s website; consequences sit with Draper’s brand.
Date: 2026-10-01 Decider(s): Michael Houck, Tim Draper Status: decided
Decision
Build a live Draper Index ticker on the Draper homepage showing aggregate market cap of all Draper-seeded companies (~$5 trillion total: Tesla, SpaceX, Bitcoin, Coinbase, Robinhood, etc.).
Context
Tim proposed this in a content strategy session (Oct 1). The Draper portfolio spans public companies, crypto holdings, and private valuations at massive scale. Making that visible to early-stage founders signals prestige and scale at a glance.
Options Considered
Discussed only one implementation approach; no alternatives documented.
Consequences
- Public market caps: pull from live market feeds.
- Crypto holdings: updated 24/7.
- Private companies: static figure, updated every 6 months, with asterisk explaining methodology.
- Homepage placement.
- Michael owns delivery.
Related
- Meeting: Draper Socials Content Discussion
Update: 2026-10-15 - Tim approved build, methodology set
Source: Email “The Draper Index” (Michael to Tim Draper, cc Michelle Kwok, Megan Kurohara; Oct 15)
Michael sent Tim a Google Doc overview of the Draper Index. Michelle Kwok looped in Megan Kurohara (Draper Associates), who is handling other website changes. Tim replied “Great. Go for it.” with methodology rules:
- Funds that count: Draper Associates, DFJ, DFJ ePlanet, plus Tim Draper as angel (for the BTC position). Suggested label: “Funds associated with Tim Draper and Draper Associates.”
- Valuations: NAV for private companies, public market prices for public companies, crypto prices for crypto/bitcoin; all aggregated.
- Wording: “Invested first or among the first.”
Note: this supersedes the earlier “static private figure updated every 6 months” detail only to the extent that NAV is now the stated private-company basis. Next: coordinate website placement with Megan Kurohara.