John Doerr to Become Kleiner Perkins's First Chairman
March 31 2016 - 7:10PM
Dow Jones News
Legendary Silicon Valley investor John Doerr is relinquishing
his partner role at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the
venture-capital firm that helped usher in the Internet boom largely
because of his early bets on Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
Mr. Doerr will take on a new role as chairman of the firm,
focused on recruiting and coaching its next generation of leaders,
he said Thursday. Mr. Doerr will step aside from day-to-day
management of the firm but said he still will be involved with
investing in future funds.
Kleiner Perkins' three most veteran partners, Ted Schlein, Beth
Seidenberg and Mary Meeker, will share leadership of the firm's
investments, he said. Kleiner Perkins currently is raising a new
fund, people familiar with the matter say.
Mr. Doerr, 64 years old, made himself and Kleiner a fortune as
one of the first institutional investors in Google and Amazon
during the dot-com era. But in the ensuing decade, his firm also
lost money on massive bets in clean-technology companies such as
solar-panel producer MiaSolé and electric-car maker Fisker
Automotive.
Kleiner largely missed the rise of social media and mobile
technology and had to play catch-up with later-stage investments in
companies such as Facebook Inc., Snapchat Inc. and Uber
Technologies Inc. The firm's early investments in startups
currently valued at $1 billion or more include data-storage company
SimpliVity Corp. and mixed-reality startup Magic Leap Inc.
In an interview, Mr. Doerr said he has worked to build a team of
investors at Kleiner Perkins who are well-equipped to lead the firm
at a time when the venture business is more competitive than it
ever has been.
"It's easier now than ever to start a new venture and harder
than ever to build a durable company," Mr. Doerr said. "There is
more capital, entrepreneurs are more discerning, more demanding and
that all makes for more efficient, more effective markets."
Mr. Doerr is changing roles at a time of uncertainty in tech
startup investing. Venture-capital funds in the first quarter have
raised money at the highest rate in more than 15 years, according
to Dow Jones VentureSource, even as some investors have grown more
cautious and marked down the value of some prominent companies.
As a firm, Kleiner Perkins also is rebuilding its identity in
the wake of a high-profile sexual-harassment lawsuit last year
brought by Ellen Pao, one of its former female partners and a proté
gé e of Mr. Doerr. A jury found that Kleiner didn't sexually
discriminate or retaliate against Ms. Pao. But the six-week trial,
which included Mr. Doerr's testimony, exposed business secrets and
infighting among Kleiner's partners, and put a spotlight on gender
diversity in the venture-capital business.
Mr. Doerr joined Kleiner Perkins in 1980, after holding various
roles at Intel Corp. as the chip maker helped lay the groundwork
for the personal computing industry. As an investor, he said some
of the proudest moments of his career came when he helped
entrepreneurs solve a key problem early in their development.
He said he introduced Google's co-founders to Bill Campbell, an
executive coach who helped shape them into leaders; helped
Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos secure a convertible debt financing around
1999, when the e-commerce company was on the verge of bankruptcy;
and assisted Intuit's Scott Cook with his decision to transition
into a role as chairman of the company he co-founded.
Mr. Doerr will continue to invest in startups and keep his board
seats, which include Google, gaming company Zynga Inc. and
renewable energy firm Amyris Inc.
"Usually in a tech company when someone becomes chair they are
kicked upstairs and that is an exit," Mr. Doerr said. "One thing I
hope is very clear is I'm going to spend more time on the people
and the work I love because my daughters are off to college."
Michael Moritz, Mr. Doerr's longtime friend and counterpart at
Sequoia Capital, in 2012 stepped back from management of the firm
due to an illness and took the title of chairman. Mr. Moritz has
continued investing, leading Sequoia's deals in startups such as
grocery-delivery company Instacart Inc. and fitness-tracking app
Strava Inc.
"The prospect of John spending more time investing spells big
trouble for people like us who have to compete with him," Mr.
Moritz said in an email. "Nobody does it better than L. John
Doerr."
Write to Douglas MacMillan at douglas.macmillan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 31, 2016 18:55 ET (22:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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