John Doerr's achievements

Filed in archive Venture Capital on May 3, 2004

The NYt has a fascinating portrait of John Doerr partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

"For Mr. Doerr, Google's spectacular success is fresh vindication of his ability to pick big winners. Since the dot.com bust, critics have questioned Mr. Doerr's boosterism of the Internet, which he famously called "underhyped" in the 1990's boom."

"More recently, he raised eyebrows with his wildly optimistic predictions about the potential value of Segway, the maker of "human transporters," which has yet to find more than a niche market for its gyroscope-guided scooters."
Mr. Doerr remains a huge presence in Silicon Valley despite his Internet losses. Entrepreneurs will always dream about becoming the next Amazon, the next Netscape, the next Compaq, the next Sun - all of which received early backing from Kleiner. The firm, which is based in Palo Alto, Calif., anchors the West Coast venture capital industry."

"Kleiner's flops are overshadowed by its financial successes. Mr. Doerr made an $8 million investment in Amazon for the firm that turned into $60 million when the company went public in 1997. His $5 million investment in Netscape Communications reaped $400 million for Kleiner."