Kanye West’s tech ambitions are no secret. For the past year, he’s been spotted palling around with members of the Silicon Valley elite and relentlessly comparing himself to Steve Jobs. But while the collective assumption was that he was attempting to soak up knowledge and advice from established technologists and entrepreneurs, a new Valleywag report suggests that what he’s actually trying to soak up is money, in the form of venture capital funding.
According to a handful of unnamed sources (and Rap Genius’ Mahbod Moghadam), Kanye has been courting San Francisco’s tech leaders but ultimately falling flat. While they’re more than down to hang out with him, the social occasions haven’t translated into what counts most: cold, hard cash. And that’s apparently in part because, despite Kanye’s ambition and creativity, DONDA so far lacks the focused, sharply articulated propositions that investors need.
“I think he’s getting frustrated. People are enjoying meeting him because he’s Kanye and they want to take him around, but then they’re not actually investing,” one source told Valleywag, adding that “if you see his behavior, it’s so erratic, he’s not focused and kind of all over the place.”
“Although he hasn’t met directly with any VC firms to raise capital, I think San Francisco is home the type of innovative and passionate thinker Kanye may want to collaborate with in the future. It’s early days, but there’s momentum,” said another.
Kanye may have the answers after all.
