Taking My Hat Off to @Shervin and His Hyperloop Ambitions
Shervin Pishevar.
Many of the articles I’ve read about him over the last several years have a listing of his biggest successes — mostly Uber — and a tinge of cynicism about his close connections with celebrities or self promotion. Not this one. I’m going to write a pure admiration piece. A “hats off” (see what I did there?) story about big bets and equally grand huevos. And also a “thank you.”
I first met Shervin (does he need a last name?) in 2009. We attended a fbFund demo day (which I rarely do but it was put on by my long-time buddy Dave McClure — who hadn’t yet started 500Startups — and Sheryl Sandberg who was much more of a mere mortal back then). FB was becoming big but nowhere near the juggernaut it would become.
We saw several companies present and I was mostly there for the networking. One company — Samasource — presented an incredibly inspirational goal of helping people in developing countries — not by aid but by engaging them in work. It was what has now become more common — a social startup — and this one was a non-profit. I loved the idea.
I thought I would get to quietly admire the ambition of Leila Chirayath Janah and just get back to checking my Blackberry and waiting for the next pitch. Yes, I still used a Blackberry in 2009.
But, nope! No peaceful distractions allowed.
Dude with full beard shouts out, “I’m in for $50,000. What an amazing mission. Who else is in with me?” The whole audience was looking around sheepishly. Dude was challenging everybody to give money on the spot to a non-profit they hadn’t heard of 5 minutes before. Blank stares. Crickets. He stands up, raises voice, loud, “Come on! You just heard Samasource’s mission. We all have money. Who’s with me?” Several hands went up. Many faces stared at the floor, trying to avoid eye contact.
All I kept thinking was, “Who the fuck is that guy? Whoa. Has he got stones. Challenging all these people to donate.”
That was my introduction to Shervin Pishevar. I asked around who he was. Founded a few startups. Sold them. Angel investor. Philanthropist. Hmm.
[update: after posting I was sent this awesome photo from that actual event! If you look carefully, in the foreground is Travis, next to him is Shervin (they didn’t know each other!) and further afield is me. I hadn’t yet met Travis (later met as SXSW) or Shervin. I’m just glad in this photo I’m the one paying attention :) ]
By the time I got to know Shervin I basically knew him as a big, jovial, ball-of-unbridled optimism and enthusiasm. A teddy bear. He was the guy you always saw at a conference or networking event and would give you a great big hug and smile. He seemed to be omnipresent and have an unlimited appetite for travel. Many of us loathe the schlepping. Shervin seemed to embrace it.
He soon moved on from personal check-writer to venture capitalist at Menlo Ventures. His swash-buckling had a few more zeroes behind it. More girth. And in a move reminiscent of David Sze’s (then considered) lofty check for the then not-yet-certain hit Facebook, Shervin wrote a mega head-scratching check into Uber. Huh?
That move would define Shervin in much the way that Uber is defining an entire era of startups.
The story as reported in Forbes is worthy of your reading directly (small edits below for brevity)
“Pishevar was turned down by Uber in its 2nd round of funding. He got a call from Uber CEO Travis Kalanick saying he was back in if he could come meet in Dublin. Pishevar grabbed the next flight to Ireland. “I didn’t really know Shervin, [but] I was getting e-mails from him & intros from everybody he knows, I met with him because I had to.” The two hit it off, walking the streets of Dublin for hours. They signed a term sheet in the wee hours of the morning. Menlo left with an estimated 8% of Uber, at a valuation of $290 million. The company is now worth $42 billion.”
Shervin has done much since then including founding his own fund, Sherpa Ventures.
But what impressed me the most was reading the story about Shervin’s involvement in The Hyperloop. I was at the All Things D (now Recode) conference in May 2013 when Shervin got on a microphone and asked Elon Musk to reveal his plans publicly. And out of the blue Elon dazzled us with his vision for creating high-speed, non-air, travel. This is what I wrote at the time, mouth agape, after hearing him speak.
People used to compare Jack Dorsey to Steve Jobs. Listening to Elon Musk it’s clear that he’s the natural successor #GameChanger
— Mark Suster (@msuster) May 30, 2013
Just like with the Samasource presentation, I heard an inspirational presentation and thought “Wow, how amazing” while Shervin must have thought, “I’m going to fucking do something about it.” Ok, I don’t know if he used the eff word. But you have to imagine he would have.
Shervin put money into a venture to make the Hyperloop a reality. He rallied high-profile co-investors. He flew to Las Vegas to lobby Harry Reid and get access to people with right-of-ways between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. He morphed the idea from a passenger transport system to a more readily possible cargo transport system. He flew to meet the president and apparently morphed his meeting with President Obama into a full-blown pitch-fest for the Hyperloop.
If even half of the Forbes story is true — know this: Lots of stories are out there about whether VCs really make a difference. About whether VCs will go the mile for your company or idea and whether they are truly active. Say what you want about Shervin’s jet-setting or celebrity friends. I say there’s a guy who goes the distance to make a difference for every project, every person and every charity that he cares about.
Will his project work? I haven’t a clue. But I’ll be rooting for him. Because if he wins — yet again — we all win. Hats off to you, Shervin, for taking chances and for hustling and making a difference. And thank you for making a difference.
