Hamet Watt, the co-founder of MoviePass, is moving on from the company’s downfall and is in the process of launching a new venture studio aimed at developing and funding startups. Watt, who co-founded MoviePass in 2011 with the revolutionary idea of offering moviegoers unlimited theater access for a monthly fee, has been working diligently at Share Ventures.
The new company has successfully raised nearly $20 million in funding, with support from major investors including Alphabet and Amazon. Share Ventures is concentrating on startups associated with the future of work and longevity sectors.
Watt believes that the ongoing AI boom and elevated interest rates have created an opportunity for a distinctive venture capital model. To this end, Share Ventures plans to develop its own software and complex language models to streamline its internal operations.
He explained that with the current environment, there’s no need for excessively large funds, and investors can identify opportunities with significantly less capital. “For us, that’s a great thing because we’re building companies from scratch and using all of the most advanced tools to do that proactively,” he stated.
Watt further shared that while many venture firms are investing in emerging technologies, they often do not fully integrate or utilize them in their operations. He emphasized, “Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us.”
His interest in health and longevity was sparked by personal loss; he lost his mother when he was just 25 years old. “When you lose your mom at a young age, it forces you to think about your own mortality in a way that I wasn’t fully conscious of at the time,” he reflected.
Despite the setbacks with MoviePass, which he recently addressed in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” Watt remains committed to innovation and exploration. He concluded by pondering, “What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to try now — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?”