Dec 16, 2015 http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkon...-shaq-will-be-involved-in-a-250-million-fund/ Vivek Ranadivé's $250 Million University Of California-Backed Fund Will Mix Tech Bigwigs With Drake Vivek Ranadivé sees the world entering what he likes to call “Civilization 3.0.” And as the multimillionaire former founder of TIBCO and current Sacramento Kings owners looks to get more involved in the companies that will lead it, he’ll be bringing along a massive checkbook and some famous friends. As the manager of a new $250 million-and-growing fund announced with the University of California to invest in research and tech companies, Ranadivé will have one of the larger bankrolls in Silicon Valley to spot those companies. Access to Ranadivé will also mean access to famous athletes likeShaquille O’Neal, tech royalty like Ron Conway and Jerry Yang, and even the chance for a marketing boost from Drake. Bringing together university researchers with recording artists and basketball legends fits with Ranadivé’s thesis about the world: industries are converging, including technology, sports and media. “Every business ends up looking like a basketball team,” Ranadivé told Forbes in an interview on Tuesday night. “All inventory is ultimately perishable, whether it’s basketball tickets or airline tickets or a taxi ride. How do you engage people, and how do you convert customers into fans?” Companies that answer that question fit the mold of Ranadivé’s “Civilization 3.0.” (The first two got us through the industrial revolution.) Its poster children are Amazon and Uber, companies that don’t need large physical retail presences and base decisions off big data. The fund will invest more at the growth stage, backing companies that will shake up a market, Ranadivé says. “There will be a few of these very year that emerge, and each in a winner take all market.” The University of California, which has committed the $250 million, will have a chance to aggressively pursue promising research. Companies coming out of it that the fund backs will then have a ripe recruiting ground, Ranadivé says. He plans to recruit people to work for the fund in 2016, more from operational experience than an investing background and partner with leading accelerators. The VC and accelerator establishment have no problem with that. Conway, the founder of SV Angel, said in a statement that he applauded the fund and would work with it. Andreessen Horowitz cofounder Marc Andreessen said similar, as did Yang, SanDisk CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt and Nest founder Tony Fadell. “He’ll make something interesting happen here,” says Box CEO Aaron Levie. And while $250 million is a big number, Ranadivé says it could prove much smaller than the actual funds he’ll have to invest. “That’s the UC commitment, but it could be substantially larger,” he says. “I’m putting in a chunk myself, and there will be other significant investors over time.” The fund will be a major time commitment for Ranadivé, whose Kings hit an eight-year high in attendance last season but are off to another rocky start. Asked if the fund’s a new full-time job, he called it “substantial.” But there’ll always be time to pose for the camera with Drake, who recently toured the team’s new downtown arena, scheduled to open in October, and posted a photo of it to Instagram on Tuesday night. The artist offered a congratulatory statement as well for the man he calls “the boss don” on social media. “Drake came to my house for my holiday party the other day,” Ranadivé says. ”He put it on Instagram and there were almost half a million likes. If you’re a startup with a very small marketing budget and a guy like Drake can like your product and tweet it, that’s worth millions and millions. And these guys are very tech savvy.” basically.. Drake is about to get investments from this n----- for any new projects and marketing. Views confirmed to be classic with goat marketing @DrakeSXN
Dec 16, 2015 he sees fewtch in the rear view, that's honestly probably why he rushed a collab tape with him in the first place.
Dec 16, 2015 I thought that was a misunderstanding because Future was misquoted when talking about Drake or something. They were cool like 2 days later I thought? Either way what does that say about Future that he would make a tape with Drake despite that history It's either not that serious or they're both about the money above all else.
