Kleiner Perkins related stories
All articles and analysis
peHUB Wire: Thursday, February 25, 2010Random Ramblings
- Why VC Bloat is Bad for Everyone
In the March/April issue of Technology Review magazine, writer James Surowiecki - who produces the brilliant “Financial Page” column for the New Yorker week after week -- tackles the question of what’s wrong with venture capital. Much of the piece is a rehash of points with which this audience is well-acquainted. Surowiecki persuasively argues, for example, that the still-overfunded industry’s woes are structural, not cyclical -- a matter with which both big venture firms and small ones are aware and likely to agree. (The big firms, of course, argue that overall, far fewer firms should exist -- and look just like they do. Meanwhile, small firms say the big firms are too fat and inefficient, given the ever-falling costs of runnng startups.) Yet Surowiecki makes an interesting newer observation, too. He suggests there are reasons for people outside the industry to care about how much money is sloshing around on the inside.
- Bloom Energy Gets Ready for its Close-Up
Bloom Energy has been developing its "power plant in a box" for the past decade, but has played very coy when it comes to specifics. Beta clients have been asked to keep quiet, and Bloom investors have done little but offer knowing smiles. Approximately $400 million in venture capital thrown into a black box (both literally and figuratively). Well, until tonight. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company gave a sneak peak to 60 Minutes, just two days before the formal unveiling. Pretty good PR coup, even though the piece did give some voice to Bloom's legions of skeptics. In short, Bloom promises to build boxes as small or as large as the customer needs (shoebox for a home, foot locker for a small store, multiple refrigerator-sized boxes for industrial facility). Each is filled with stacked ceramic disks, which are imprinted with a type of ink that you won't find in your ballpoint. You can view the 60 Minutes segment after the jump. My only quibble is that Leslie Stahl notes how Colin Powell has "endorsed" Bloom, without also mentioning that he's a special limited partner in Bloom investor Kleiner Perkins:
- Investors flock to exclusive shopping sites
Kleiner Perkins, Matrix and others put $100M into private shopping startups last year
- Week in deals, Feb. 8, 2010
Summary of North American tech companies and other startups that raised venture financing in the past week
- Waste Management Backs Harvest Power
Harvest Power Inc., a Waltham, Mass.-based manager of food and yard waste composting facilities, has raised an undisclosed amount of VC funding from Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM). As part of the deal, existing Harvest Power shareholders Kleiner Perkins and Munich Venture Partners also increased their investments.