I think that people should know a bit more about Boost VC, because I see that many have the wrong impression about them.

I’m the CEO of Loanbase (re-branded from BitLendingClub) and I went through Boost as Tribe 5. I wholeheartedly believe that this is one of the best things that happened to me as a person, and hopefully to Loanbase as a company. Boost VC is a family, a very BIG family! And how I know it’s a family? For 5 months 26 companies worked 16 hours a day out of Hero City’s “dungeon”, we slept across the street in Draper University and we were back to work in the next morning. We saw hard times together, we saw good times together and we build some amazing products. It’s the most diverse family I’ve ever had! I have brothers and sisters from every corner of the country: Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, Ohio, and that’s just the US. I have brothers and sisters from France, Spain, the Netherlands, Philippines and many more countries.

What did I get out of Boost? The network! The majority of the companies were so early stage, that most didn’t even have a product. The few of us that did were probably the exception. Boost invested in ideas and they invested in people. We’re 26 companies from all over the world, we were there to learn what building a startup is all about. And we did!

1. Boost gave us free housing and office space (**in the Silicon Valley**), as well as enough cash to get by. But that’s just the standard offering!

2. Adam brought in some of the most influential speakers in the Bitcoin space, they shared their stories and we networked with them.

3. We lived with a bunch of people that are putting everything on the line and are working the hardest they’ve ever had in order to build Bitcoin companies.

4. We learned that fundraising is the hardest thing ever, unlike what most other people think!

5. We realized that the companies that make it are not Unicorns but Cockroaches: they’re not these beautiful mythical creatures that defy reality, but scrappy little buggers that survive in the dirt!

Many of us sacrificed our jobs, our friends, our families and the comfort of having a 9–5 which pays your bills and provides you with a safety net. When you’re building a startup, you really have no time for anything else. It’s extremely stressful, emotional and, at the same time, rewarding! We did it, because we’re all a part of the Bitcoin community and you cheered us on in the process! Just count the number of times Boost companies were on the front page of /r/Bitcoin: Fold, BitQuick, BitMesh, ZapGo, and our 17-year-old Prodigy who built BitProof.io. Did everybody walk out with a million dollar check from a VC? No. Is that a knock on Boost? Hardly! Each and every one of us carries the responsibility to make it. Boost just gave us the basic tools, the network and the family to help us do so.

At the front of the Boost VC pack is Adam Draper. I can only assume that having to grow up as the son of a billionaire venture capitalist is probably the best thing ever, but when it comes to being successful in your own business: nobody trusts you! Everybody questions if he’s the real deal, if he’s really doing it on his own and Adam has to prove himself at every corner. When he raised money, he didn’t simply ask his father to give him the money, he went out there and pitched hundreds of VC’s (who were also questioning whether he’s the real deal), he got shot down a lot, but he did succeed. He convinced a bunch of VC that they should put their money in a fund, which will invest in Bitcoin companies!

But that’s not all! Adam is 29, a father, a husband and is one of the most hard working people I know. And trust me, I’ve seen his schedule and it’s jam packed. He has more meetings than you can count, he works more hours a day than what fits in a 24 hour clock, and he’s willing to help you with anything he can. Just off the cuff, I remember shooting an e-mail to Adam at about 1 am, asking for some introductions, and at 4:30 a.m. he sent out the e-mails making the introductions. Who does that?!?! Everybody at Boost does that! Brayton, Maddie, Jeff and every company that came through Boost does that!

If it was just for the money, then people would not be sacrificing the precious time they have with their friends, families, and loved ones. If it was just for the money, then people wouldn’t be leaving their cozy high-paying jobs in the tech industry. If it was just for the money, people wouldn’t be investing every single moment of their precious time in building something amazing. If it was just for the money, then people wouldn’t be going through the massive agony that is the startup life. So what is it about? It’s about the ideas and the people. There is no way that you will go through the meat-grinder if you didn’t believe that your idea has a massive potential and if you didn’t have a network of amazing peers to support you in the process.