Kleiner Perkins related stories
All articles and analysis
Andreessen's Big BetThe co-founder of Netscape says other VCs may consider some of his investments to be "a little crazy"
Former KP GP finds key to ChinaJoe Zhou has raised $200M for Keytone Ventures after leaving KPCB China
- KP Does First (We Think) Water Deal
Kleiner Perkins has made what is believed to be its first water-related cleantech investment, peHUB has learned. A source at KP confirmed that the firm had invested in Applied Process Technology (APT), which makes water-remediation technology, but did not share the dollar amount or other details. There are no other water-related companies listed among the 15 companies in the “Greentech” portfolio on KP’s website. “There’s a lot of nitrates in water, most of it from agriculture [and] fertilizers,” the KP source said. “About 4,000 wells in the [California] Central Valley alone are closed … We believe with this new remediation process—which is a bio-film, a live filter—we could open up the vast majority of those and increase the water supply—not just in California, but nationwide.”
- peHUB First Read
* BreakingViews: GE Capital doesn't need special treatment http://www.breakingviews.com/2009/07/28/ge%20capital.aspx?sg=nytimes * Bernie Madoff gives his first in-prison interview http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Madoff/story?id=8195963&page=1 We learn three things: (1) He was surprised by how long he was able to get away with the scam; (2) He's been working out in the yard; and (3) He cares about his wife, but "doesn't give a ---- about his two sons." I think we can all fill in the blank on the last one. * The Terralliance saga takes a new twist, as Kleiner Perkins sues former CEO Erlend Olsen http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2009/07/28/kleiner-backed-terralliance-sues-ex-ceo-olson-for-ip-misuse/ * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower http://www.reuters.com/article/usMktRpt/idUSLT41916120090729 London rises early http://www.reuters.com/article/londonMktRpt/idUSLT45578220090729 European shares climb on banks and chemicals http://www.reuters.com/article/eurMktRpt/idUSLT56861120090729 the Nikkei gains 0.3% http://www.reuters.com/article/tokyoMktRpt/idUST27921620090729 and China shares slide on tightening worries http://www.reuters.com/article/hongkongMktRpt/idUSHKG28206820090729 * The day in Zappos "was it or wasn't it": Michelle Leder says it's entirely possible http://www.footnoted.org/urge-to-merge/the-long-woo-between-amazon-and-zappos/ Bill Gurley says no way http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/07/27/i-do-not-believe-that-zappos-was-forced-to-sell/ Sarah Lacey seems to agree with Bill http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/27/what-everyone-made-from-the-zappos-sale/ (although not all her commenters do) and eight ways VCs can push for a sale without having equity control http://www.thefunded.com/funds/item/5822 * Bizmore http://www.bizmore.com goes live today, as an online Q&A service for mid-market business executives. Nothing new there (LinkedIn, WSJ Online, etc.), except that Bizmore's backer is a Mr. Michael Milken http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/michael-milkens-new-business-advice-site/?src=twt&twt=nytimesbits * KKR will be listed as an underwriter on the Dollar General IPO docs, according to WSJ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124883449189489059.html#mod=testMod It's not completely disintermediating the banks (Goldman and Citi, among others, will also be listed), and it's not the first time that it will sell portfolio company IPO shares through its Fidelity arrangement (that will be the Avago IPO, coming in two weeks). But this will be a major reputational test for
- Jim Clark: "VCs Take Too Much Ownership for What They Bring to the Business"
As many readers already know, billionaire Jim Clark pretty much gave the Valley the heave-ho after cofounding Silicon Graphics, Netscape, MyCFO and some other companies during the go-go dot.com years a decade ago. Clark first headed to Florida to develop luxury condos in Miami, a move that he "wouldn't do again." He now spends a fair amount of his time in Sydney, Australia, where among his newest properties is an $8 milliion waterfront apartment that he and his Australian supermodel wife Kristy Hinze closed on this week, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Recently, Clark, who'd returned to the Valley to accept an award, emailed with the San Jose Mercury News about that period of his life, as well as what's right and not so right with the tech world today. He told reporter Scott Duke Harris that among the reasons he left California in 1999 was that he'd "tired of starting companies," as well as that he "didn't want to be a conventional venture capitalist because I have always held that occupation in low regard, even though some of my very good friends are VCs." The reason, he said: "They take too much ownership for what they bring to the business."
- Shaking The MoneyTree: VC Investment (Still) Rises in Q2
Stop me if you've heard this one before: Venture capital investing increased in the second-quarter of 2009, even though investment activity was still much lower than in Q2 2008. Oh yeah, we wrote about it over the weekend /45026/venture-capital-funding-rises-in-q2-healthcare-tops-it/ (and have been What's different this time is that the data comes from MoneyTree, a joint venture of the National Venture Capital Association, PwC and Thomson Reuters. That last one just happens to publish peHUB, which means we trust these numbers a bit more, have access to the actual database and are able to display a gluttonous smorgasborg of charts (see below). The topline number is $3.7 billion invested in 612 U.S.-based companies. This compares to $3.19 billion raised by 601 U.S.-based companies in Q1 2009, and $7.55 billion raised by 1,048 U.S.-based companies in Q2 2008. To use a semi-apt sports analogy, VCs took a baby step off the sidelines, but are nowhere near the line of scrimmage (particularly given that barely over $300 million has been invested thus far in Q3). In terms of industy sectors, IT managed to (barely) keep its unbeaten streak alive against life sciences ($1.72b vs. $1.53b). This is different than what the earlier data from Dow Jones showed, and MoneyTree does show biotech as its fattest cash cow in a more segmented analysis.