科比退役後轉行做風投 成立1億美元風投基金

Kobe Bryant, the former US National Basketball Association league star, launches a US$100 million venture capital fund known as Bryant Stibel at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

本週一，前NBA超級巨星科比·布萊恩特在紐約證券交易所啓動了一個1億美元的風險投資基金，名字爲布萊恩特·斯蒂貝爾。

Mr Bryant, the former captain of the Los Angeles Lakers, told the Wall Street Journal he felt he has a talent for identifying entrepreneurs.

洛杉磯湖人隊前隊長科比在接受《華爾街日報》採訪時表示，他認爲自己在辨別企業家方面很有天賦。

The "Bryant Stibel" fund will invest in tech, media and data companies. Mr Stibel is an entrepreneur and investor who founded several companies including .

據悉，“布萊恩特·斯蒂貝爾”基金將會給科技、媒體和數據公司投資。斯蒂貝爾先生是一位企業家和投資者，他曾經成立了包括在內的幾個公司。

Mr Bryant, 37, retired from basketball earlier this year after a 20-year career.

今年上半年，在完成長達20年的職業生涯之後，37歲的科比最終選擇了退役。

He has invested with Mr Stibel before, but this fund is the first formal partnership between them. The pair are financing the fund themselves.

科比之前也和斯蒂貝爾一起投資過，但是這次這筆風投資金是他們兩人第一次正式合作。這筆基金是由兩人自己出錢成立的。

Since 2013, they have invested in 15 companies together including sports website The Players Tribune, videogame designer Scopely, and legal-services company LegalZoom.

自從2013年以來，科比和斯蒂貝爾已經一起投資了15家公司，其中包括體育網站“玩家論壇”、電子遊戲設計公司Scopely，以及法律服務公司LegalZoom。

Mr Bryant who was known for his strong work ethic in basketball said, similar skills are needed for sport and growing a business.

曾因在籃球領域良好的職業道德品質而聞名的科比表示，不管是體育運動還是經營一家公司，都需要相似的技能。

"It's the inner belief that a person has that he will endure no matter what the obstacle may be. It's that persistence, the entrepreneur doing what he or she truly believes in and truly loves to do," he said.

科比說道：“這是一個人所擁有的內心信念--無論障礙是什麼，他都能夠克服。正是因爲這種堅持，企業家們才能夠做自己相信、自己喜歡的事情。”

The pair said the fund will last a few years and look to target companies where they feel they can add value through their business insight, and not through Mr Bryant's celebrity.

科比和斯蒂貝爾表示，這筆基金將會持續運作幾年，並且對那些他們覺得可以用自己的商業眼光來增加價值的公司投資，而不僅僅是依靠科比的名人效應。

Mr Stibel told the Wall Street Journal, "We don't want to be in the business of investing in companies so someone can use Kobe as an endorser. That's not interesting. The point is to add real value".

斯蒂貝爾接受《華爾街日報》採訪時表示：“我們不想在別人的公司裏幹商業投資的工作，因爲那樣的話科比就會被當做代言人。那樣沒什麼意思。重要的是要增加真正的價值。”