The Reboot Chronicles: A New Global Economy - The Age of Cryptocurrency & Coronavirus

The pandemic has had a devastating impact on global economies, but at the same time created new opportunities for innovation and venture capital. I recently spoke with legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper, about today’s venture capital economy the present situation for capital markets, entrepreneurs of the new age and where cryptocurrency is headed.

“We live in a time where artificial intelligence combined with Bitcoin, the blockchain and smart contracts can fuel innovation.” TD

The Art of Entrepreneurship

According to Tim, regardless of the environment, truly passionate entrepreneurs make things happen for themselves. Successful leaders can drive progress forward by finding purpose, creating their own opportunities and having the vision of moving beyond the limits.

This is the same message I look to give in the program I teach at Kellogg about the intersection of creating the purpose combined with fun and money. If you are an entrepreneur or business owner, making a profit is the prerequisite for staying in business. But, as the saying goes, money doesn’t buy happiness. Focusing on money alone also won’t make your business the best it can be.

Tim says there are three pillars of being a successful entrepreneur: having a transformational vision, developing a great business model and having fun.

The Fuel Powering the Future of Venture Capital Entrepreneurs

“The pandemic has accelerated interest in remote work, telehealth, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, VR, remote online education and in new forms of decentralized governance,” says Tim. “We live in a time where artificial intelligence combined with Bitcoin, the blockchain and smart contracts can fuel innovation.”

He says the future for venture capital seems optimistic and notes that as the world is going through rethinking, transformational change is now on the table. As a result, Tim says people are adapting to the new norms: bitcoins, smart contracts and artificial intelligence. On the contrary, he points out that the downside of any crisis is always a recession, as well as a tightness of cash and liquidity. The net result of this is job loss and uncertainty.

While the current global liquidity crisis has the potential to destroy some asset classes, in the short-term bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will prevail, according to forecasts says Tim.

COVID, he points out, has cut off some investment possibilities and suppressed the value of money. In the past, he notes, it was the promise of gold and silver fueled by faith and credit of the federal government, but now, people are beginning to questioning the value of money and losing their faith in credit.

As a result, more individuals have started favoring Bitcoin as a new form of funding – ‘whenever anything happens, investors and employees always get the amount of money they're supposed to get through a bitcoin wallet’ Draper. Tim says as a result he believes the price of bitcoin could reach as high as $250,000 as soon as 2022.

As Tim says with societies no longer trusting their own currency and cryptocurrencies now being used to buy products, there is no longer a need for a trusted third-party in these transactions. Additionally, bitcoin is secured by thousands of software programs, all keeping track of records with no back interaction. The move will banks having to go through a total transformation as they adjust.

Watch it here or tune in wherever you listen to podcasts

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About The Reboot Chronicles Podcast: Hosted by Dean DeBiase, The Reboot Chronicles is a popular no-holds-barred podcast on iHeart Radio, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and YouTube that has been bringing together CEOs, entrepreneurs, authors, and global leaders, for over a decade, to discuss how organizations are rebooting their leadership-competitiveness of everything from growth, innovation, and technology to talent, culture, and governance. Tune in wherever you listen to podcasts or at https://www.revieve.com/rebootchronicles

‍Named a “Growth Guru” by Inc. Magazine, Dean DeBiase is a Faculty Member at Kellogg School of Management and Silicon Valley serial CEO, where he has served in chief executive and chairman roles of more than a dozen emerging growth companies, CEO of Fortune 500 subsidiaries, and a director on public, private, family-enterprise, CVC, PE and VC boards. He is a Technology Fellow at Northwestern University, a Board Leadership Fellow at The National Association of Corporate Directors, and an Advisor to the National Science Foundation. A Forbes Contributor and co-author of the best-selling book The Big Moo, Dean is working on his next book, Dancing with Startups. Connect with Dean here: www.linkedin.com/in/FollowDean

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