Here’s what it’s really like to appear in billionaire VC Tim Draper’s ‘Meet the Drapers’ promo

There wasn’t a breeze on the roof of the MCM Studios building in Manhattan last week, as six entrepreneurs took the stage to showcase their work.

At some point, it was April Wachtel’s turn. She stood up and made the case for her company, Cheeky Cocktails, before a jury that included billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. Men with television cameras surrounded her as she performed, capturing the moment live on Draper’s “Shark Tank”-style business competition show “Meet the Drapers.”

The show is entering its eighth season, with previous winners including the driving platform Balloon And the food company She’s skinny.

After the presentation, Wachtel told TechCrunch that the experience was a “whirlwind” and said the exposure is great for startups like hers. Cheeky cocktails Offers a line of handcrafted cocktail mixers. She heard about the offer after placing second in another competition earlier this month. A “Meet the Drapers” producer reached out and asked if she was available for filming, and less than two days later, she was promoting the show.

“There is no substitute for hearing the founder tell his own story,” she said. “Ultimately, people may buy from you because they like you and then stay with you because they like the product.”

Last Monday, the show provided a behind-the-scenes look at how he presents himself to the media and selected guests. Draper told TechCrunch that he wanted to provide a behind-the-scenes look at how investments are made.

The judging panel included his sister Polly Draper, an actress now best known for her appearance in Hacks. Also on the panel were Andy Tang, a partner at Draper Associates, and Rosie Rios, who served as U.S. Treasurer from 2009 to 2016.

The show is one of many on Draper’s newly launched TV channel, DraperTV, which offers programming about business and entrepreneurship, available on streaming services like Roku. Previously, the show was broadcast on channels like BizTV.

This season of the show travels across different cities in the United States, such as Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Austin, and Detroit, to tap local talent and highlight different technology ecosystems.

Wachtel was one of six founders in the New York episode, where the winners moved on to the semifinals against all the other winners in the city, and then the grand final in San Francisco to compete for the $1 million prize.

“The idea was for people around the world to be able to see what the interaction between entrepreneurship and venture capital looks like, and why it’s one of the best things to do for creating jobs, wealth, energy and consumer activity around the world,” Draper said.

The show had all the entrepreneurial and entertainment traits that viewers love. Draper has a big personality and knows when to make fun of himself. The investors provided clear insights, and the founders came with great visions. Everyone comes from diverse racial and gender backgrounds and different professions in a myriad of industries.

Sujana Chandrasekhar, founder of medtech company KivviMed, participated in the same New Jersey pitch competition as Wachtel and also received a recommendation to audition for “Meet the Drapers.” Chandrasekhar said she was more nervous than usual during “Meet the Drapers,” especially knowing the size of the show’s audience. KivviMed creates a medical device to help relieve ear pain.

You have created five digital twins. I conducted my digital interview with Karl Marx.

Draper said that the show has a large viewership, specifically in India, Brazil and Taiwan. DraperTV, which launched last summer, reaches more than 350 million households worldwide, according to statistics provided by the program.

“I was able to stay focused and convey what I needed to convey and answer the questions to the best of my ability,” Chandrasekar told TechCrunch. She said the show’s staff also helped prepare it. They helped her refine her idea, did a little walking tour of New York with the founders, and provided her with hair and makeup, which, she said, made her feel special.

“The exposure our company and our vision receive is amazing,” she added about why she chose to participate.

Hilary Taylor, founder of WattsUp, agreed. WattsUp is a startup that has built the infrastructure for electric vehicles. Taylor found out about the show through the Techstars Alabama Accelerator program, which her company is currently a part of.

She described the show as engaging and challenging, saying it was as much about storytelling as it was about business.

“You get to connect with viewers and judges in a very short period of time, simplifying complex technology for a mainstream audience while still appearing credible to investors,” she continued, adding that the show helps early-stage founders connect with those outside the tech bubble.

“In contrast to the tense feel of many venture capital showrooms, this room had candid, funny and even goofy moments that made it seem unexpectedly human and fun,” she said.

“Meet the Drapers” is just one part of the larger Draper media empire that is being built. Draper himself is a third-generation investor (after his famous father and grandfather), and in the 1980s he founded Draper Associates, a venture firm that backs some of the biggest names in technology, like Tesla, Skype, and Twitch. His sons have also entered into the family venture capital business, including… Jesse Draper, founder of Halogen Ventures, And Adam Draper, founder Boost VC.

Draper clearly has big ambitions for his tech and startup-focused media empire. DraperTV offers programs such as “Draper Decentralized” about AI and web3; the “Can’t Be Done” podcast, about emerging technology; and “Talk with Tim,” in which Draper shares his views on business and technology.

There’s no substitute for hearing the founder tell his own story.

He’s also building digital twins: AI versions of himself that can interact with people and even conduct interviews. He believes digital twins will become a more important part of entertainment, media and news, although additional humans will still play a large role in the development of news.

“I created five digital twins,” he said. “I had my digital interview with Karl Marx.”

Away from his television network, Draper still runs Draper University, a program that occasionally features Unconventional methods were used To train entrepreneurs on how to survive in the jungle of the startup world. For example, one of his first forays into reality TV was a show based on Draper University called “Startup U,” which was quickly canceled after one season. But Draper said he still likes the hypothesis and has not ruled out another similar attempt.

“We’ve done some extraordinary things with entrepreneurs, we’ve produced some very good videos and some very good stories,” he said.

Draper believes that the innovation these founders are building will be of paramount importance in the coming decades and that showcasing such talent now is a gateway for people to explore the future. On “Meet the Drapers,” that meant taking a peek at how people see the future of sports betting, how founders are looking to advance drug discovery, and how the electric vehicle infrastructure is about to see a change.

“There are a few networks that are thinking ahead,” Draper continued. “They all tell the story of what’s happening now. We want a story 15 years from now.”