John Doerr Names His Top Green Investment Ideas

November 18, 2009

Green tech investing is not for the faint of heart. Competing takes money (lots of it), patience and technical know-how (lots of it, too).

In its formative pre-public years, Google required only $25 million of venture capital. Secretive fuel-cell start-up Bloom Energy has already raised $250 million. And after seven years it is still in stealth development. Another two years may be needed.

Green tech investing takes more money and its take more time, says venture capitalist John Doerr

Green tech investing “takes more money (and) it takes more time,” says legendary venture capitalists John Doerr. “You’re messing with atoms and molecules.”

Nevertheless, Doerr says he’s got patience – and the expectation of handsome returns.

At the GreenBeat 2009 conference, Doerr laid out his favorite investment themes and dropped the news that smart grid start-up Silver Spring Networks could go public next year.

“I hope it does,” he said of the company he funded at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

When it comes to his favorite investment ideas, Doerr highlighted:

*Low cost ways to make biofuels;
*Innovations in large-scale grid energy storage;
*Solar cell development to achieve price parity with fossil fuels;
*And technology to lower the cost of wind turbines.

In the area of next-generation lighting, Doerr says he has found nothing of interest yet. But then, there is always tomorrow.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Green Economy Coming Faster Than Expected, John Doerr Says

November 18, 2009

The federal government has dangerously under invested in clean-energy technology.

The government has woefully under invested in green technology, said venture investor John Doerr

Yet the green economy is coming faster than many observers believe, legendary start-up investor John Doerr said Wednesday.

“I think we will get to a low-carbon economy much faster and at a lower cost than anybody believes,” the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers venture capitalist said at the GreenBeat 2009 conference.

Doerr sounded a warning that America may not lead this next technology revolution the way it did the last. U.S. companies such as Google, Yahoo, Amazon and Facebook are the hands down leaders of the Internet.

But only four of today’s top 30 clean-tech companies were founded in the United States. Even if people haven’t yet accepted man’s role in creating greenhouse gases, they should be alarmed by the entrepreneurial shift, he said.

Part of the reason is the lack of federal investment under the head-in-the-sand Republican George Bush. “In green (tech) we’re woefully under funded,” Doerr said. Federal funding was less than $1 billion last year, and research at universities is nothing like it was during the early years of high tech.

President Barack Obama has changed direction. The Obama Administration has steered billions into promising solar, smart-grid and energy-conservation efforts.

“The president has a very clear agenda when it comes to green” he said. As a result, the country will be better prepared when the green economy arrives.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

John Doerr And Charles Phillips Named By Obama To Board

February 6, 2009

President Barack Obama named two prominent high-tech executives to an Economic Recovery Advisory Board on Friday, adding to Silicon Valley’s clout in Washington.

Oracles Charles Phillips named to presidential advisory board

Oracle's Charles Phillips named to presidential advisory board

Named by the president were John Doerr, a partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Charles Phillips, a president at Oracle.

“I created this board to enlist voices to come from beyond the Washington echo chamber,” Obama said in brief remarks. “I also want to be sure that we’re tapping a broad and diverse range of opinion from across the country, because a historic crisis demands a historic response.”

The newly created board includes high-pedigree executives from manufacturing, finance and labor. It is to be headed by Paul Volcker, an economist and former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The other members are:

*William H. Donaldson, former SEC chair;
*Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., President & CEO, TIAA-CREF
*Robert Wolf, Chairman & CEO, UBS Group Americas
*David F. Swensen, CIO, Yale University
*Mark T. Gallogly, Founder & Managing Partner, Centerbridge Partners L.P.
*Penny Pritzker, Chairman & Founder, Pritzker Realty Group
*Jeffrey R. Immelt, CEO, GE
*Jim Owens, Chairman and CEO, Caterpillar Inc.
*Monica C. Lozano, Publisher & Chief Executive Officer, La Opinion
*Anna Burger, Chair, Change to Win
*Richard L. Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO
*Laura D’Andrea Tyson, Dean, Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley
*Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Kleiner Perkins Still Pumped About Investing In The Internet, Claims Partner John Doerr

November 6, 2008
Nine Internet investments since July

Nine Internet investments since July

Since a July article in Fortune questioned the storied VC firm’s commitment to Web 2.0, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers made nine investments in Internet companies, Doerr said.

“No, we haven’t given up on the Web,” Doerr told the Web 2.0 Summit on Wednesday. “We are doubling down on this theme.”

That means devoting 11 partners to the space and 30 percent of this year’s investments to “digital” startups. Another 30 percent went to clean energy and a small chunk to life sciences.

Doerr said the firm’s recent Internet investments went into four Web companies and five companies making products and services for the iPhone.

“I think this platform is more important than the PC,” he said, referring to Apple’s popular smart phone. “They know who and where you are” and users are “always connected,” Doerr said during an on-stage interview.

In its coverage of the VC firm, Fortune pointed to Kleiner’s past role in the Internet revolution – putting money into Netscape, Amazon and Google.

But Doerr said he remains “pumped up” about companies today. Zynga is one, a company writing applications for social networking sites. Another is ng:moco, a startup developing games for the iPhone.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Venture Capital Market Headed Toward Tough Times, John Doerr Says; Exit Markets May Not Spring Back For Four Years

November 5, 2008
John Doerrs advice for startups

John Doerr's advice for startups

Entrepreneurs are “going to have to hunker down and prepare for the longer term,” Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr said Wednesday.

The same is true for VCs. New commitments to funds could be only $5 billion to $10 billion next year, compared with an estimated $15 billion to $16 billion this year, he said at the Web 2.0 Summit.

And “we might not see much liquidity in the next three to four years” from IPOs and startup acquisitions, he said. “Google’s just not going to buy a lot of Internet-related (startups).”

Doerr said his advice for startups is to 1) get financing now, 2) make cuts deep enough to prevent the need for a second trimming, 3) stock pile 18 months of cash, 4) don’t spend on new facilities, 5) re-evalutate R&D priorities, 6) renegotiate contracts, and 7) encourage everyone to sell.

Many companies should probably be sold, he added.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

John Doerr’s Advice To A New President: Double The Number Of Engineering Graduates And Appoint Bill Joy As Federal CTO

November 5, 2008
Green energy is challenge of our generation

Green energy is challenge of our generation

President elect Barack Obama would do well to appoint Sun Microsystems co-founder and Kleiner Perkins partner Bill Joy as his chief technology officer, fellow partner John Doerr said Wednesday.
The new president also needs to focus on three key technology challenges, according to Doerr: fuel innovation in clean energy, invest in basic technology research and encourage more students to pursue science and engineering careers.

Green energy is the “challenge of our generation,” Doerr said at the Web 2.0 Summit. At the same time, Obama should set the goal of doubling to 60,000 the number of students who graduate each year with engineering degrees, he said.

Obama promised last year to anoint a CTO if elected president.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

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