"We're going to DISRUPT the way we manufacture water in this country. Photo Credit: Glenn Andrews-USA Today Sports
Michael Phelps has got to be bored and just wants to mess around. That's gotta be it. He has like a million gold medals and now he's retired. So what's an other-worldly swimmer to do?"I would love to get involved, whether it's in a couple little startups here and there, take a little risk, have some fun and see where it goes," he told the Associated Press.Oh. OK.What is his level of involvement?"I am getting my feet wet."[Face.]Other than that, he's pretty short on specifics. He did say he was getting advice from others in the venture capital and investment world, so that's…something. Look, it's certainly not inconceivable that Phelps goes into the VC space. Other celebrities have done it before him. There have been successes (Dr. Dre) and epic failures (Curt Schilling). And obviously we all remember the truest maxim: money make money.But Phelps seems to be a little lax about all this. Even if you watch Silicon Valley you know startups are hardly a sure thing. They're damn white-knuckle intense and the probability of success isn't high. It's definitely not the easiest way to make money. Still, entrepreneurialism is all the rage amongst athletes now. A-Rod has A-Rod Corp (which definitely does something, we just don't know what) and polos. Kobe Bryant has Kobe Inc. and another investment fund, which he will definitely focus on and run with his normal unstoppable, manic level of intensity."This is one of my passions," Kobe said at the time of launch. "We are one gear, 100 percent laser-focused, and here we go."Which is how you'd want to go into it. Phelps, though, seems like he just wants to mess around.
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