The co-founder of MoviePass, Hamet Watt, is moving past the company’s well-documented downfall and is busy raising funds for a new venture studio aimed at supporting the development of startups.
Since founding MoviePass in 2011, designed to offer movie enthusiasts unlimited access to theaters for a monthly fee, Watt has turned his attention to Share Ventures, his latest initiative. According to Business Insider, the new company has gained nearly $20 million in funding, with notable investors including Alphabet and Amazon. Watt indicated that Share Ventures will focus on startups related to the future of work and longevity sectors.
Watt believes that the current landscape shaped by the AI surge and high interest rates creates a unique opportunity for venture capital with a “differentiated model.” This is why Share Ventures is also developing its own software alongside sophisticated language models to streamline its internal operations. He explained, “You don’t need as large of funds, and you can get signal on an opportunity much earlier with much less capital,” emphasizing the advantages of building companies from the ground up using advanced tools.
He pointed out that while many venture firms are pouring money into new technologies, they often do not fully integrate and leverage these innovations themselves. Watt considers the innovative use of data and automation in their processes to be a distinctive strength of Share Ventures.
Watt’s personal experience has also driven his interest in health and longevity. He lost his mother at the young age of 25 when she was just 49, a loss that profoundly influenced his perspective on mortality. He reflected, “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.”
Discussing his experiences with MoviePass, which he explored in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” Watt stated that learning from failures only fuels his desire to innovate further. He remains determined to pursue new ventures, regardless of the potential for failure.