Hamet Watt, co-founder of the now-defunct subscription service MoviePass, is moving on from the company’s dramatic downfall and is in the process of raising capital for a new venture studio aimed at supporting and funding startups.
Watt, who launched MoviePass in 2011 with the revolutionary concept of allowing customers to pay a monthly fee for unlimited movie access, has been working diligently on Share Ventures. The new venture has already secured nearly $20 million in funding, with prominent investors such as Alphabet and Amazon backing it. The focus of Share Ventures is on startups that intersect with the future of work and longevity sectors.
He believes that the current climate of the AI boom combined with high interest rates presents a unique opportunity for a “differentiated model” in venture capital. As part of this approach, Share Ventures plans to create its own software alongside sophisticated language models to streamline internal operational tasks.
Watt mentioned, “You don’t need as large of funds, and you can get signal on an opportunity much earlier with much less capital.” This method benefits his team as they are building new companies from the ground up while utilizing cutting-edge tools.
He noted that although many venture firms are investing in emerging technologies, they aren’t necessarily integrating these innovations into their own operations. “Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us,” he added.
Watt’s interest in health and longevity was sparked by a deeply personal loss; he reflects on the death of his mother at the age of 49 when he was just 25, prompting him to contemplate his own mortality. “When you lose your mom at a young age, it forces you to think about your own mortality, in a way that I don’t know that I was conscious of at the time,” he shared.
Despite the challenges he faced with MoviePass, which he has openly discussed in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” Watt remains determined to innovate. “What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to go out now and try — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?” he said.