#170 Chairman of Kleiner Perkins, John Doerr: Getting Into Trouble with Disruptors (Encore)
Guest: John Doerr, chairman of Kleiner Perkins
After Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr first invested in Google — $12.8 million for 13 percent of the company — he told co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin that they needed to hire a CEO to help them build the business. After they took meetings with a variety of successful tech execs, they came back to Doerr and told him “We’ve got some good news and some bad news.” The good news was that they agreed on the need for a CEO; the bad news, Doerr recalls, is that they believed there was only one person qualified for the role: The then-CEO of Pixar and interim CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs.
In this encore presentation of the 100th episode of Grit, John and Joubin discuss the urgent need to act on the climate crisis, getting turned down by Kleiner Perkins, CEOs as sales leaders, the microprocessor revolution, balancing between work and family, the opportunity of AI and sustainability, what makes Jeff Bezos special, Bing Gordon and the invention of Amazon Prime, the Google CEO search, how the iPhone nearly killed Apple, Steve Jobs’ greatest gift, Bill Gates’ philanthropy, and how Doerr divides his time.
In this episode, we cover:
John’s two books — Measure What Matters and Speed & Scale — and applying OKRs to the climate crisis (02:39)
How John got to Silicon Valley and what he learned from his entrepreneurial father, Lou (08:55)
“I didn’t want to be in venture capital” (16:27)
Joining Kleiner Perkins at the dawn of personal computing (20:03)
The internet, cloud computing, smartphones, and the next big tech wave: AI (24:41)
How John met Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (29:46)
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and teaming up with Mike Moritz from Sequoia (38:26)
John’s friendship with Steve Jobs and the creation of the $100 million iFund for iPhone apps (45:12)
“Family first” and setting personal OKRs (50:10)
Working with Bill Gates outside of Kleiner Perkins (52:51)
Brian Roberts, Comcast, and hustling to make at-home broadband nationwide (59:28)
Links:
Connect with JohnTwitter
LinkedIn
Connect with JoubinTwitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
#100 Chairman of Kleiner Perkins, John Doerr: Getting Into Trouble with Disruptors
After Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr first invested in Google — $12.8 million for 13 percent of the company — he told co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin that they needed to hire a CEO to help them build the business. After they took meetings with a variety of successful tech execs, they came back to Doerr and told him “We’ve got some good news and some bad news.” The good news was that they agreed on the need for a CEO; the bad news, Doerr recalls, is that they believed there was only one person qualified for the role: The then-CEO of Pixar and interim CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs.
In the 100th episode of Grit, John and Joubin discuss the urgent need to act on the climate crisis, getting turned down by Kleiner Perkins, CEOs as sales leaders, the microprocessor revolution, balancing between work and family, the opportunity of AI and sustainability, what makes Jeff Bezos special, Bing Gordon and the invention of Amazon Prime, the Google CEO search, how the iPhone nearly killed Apple, Steve Jobs’ greatest gift, Bill Gates’ philanthropy, and how Doerr divides his time.
In this episode, we cover:
John’s two books — Measure What Matters and Speed & Scale — and applying OKRs to the climate crisis (02:45)
How John got to Silicon Valley and what he learned from his entrepreneurial father, Lou (09:00)
“I didn’t want to be in venture capital” (16:28)
Joining Kleiner Perkins at the dawn of personal computing (20:05)
The internet, cloud computing, smartphones, and the next big tech wave: AI (24:53)
How John met Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (29:48)
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and teaming up with Mike Moritz from Sequoia (38:29)
John’s friendship with Steve Jobs and the creation of the $100 million iFund for iPhone apps (45:20)
“Family first” and setting personal OKRs (50:14)
Working with Bill Gates outside of Kleiner Perkins (52:53)
Brian Roberts, Comcast, and hustling to make at-home broadband nationwide (59:30)
Links:
Connect with JohnTwitter
LinkedIn
Connect with JoubinTwitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
Rapid Response: How to decarbonize your business, w/John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins
“Go for the megatons.” That’s John Doerr’s recommendation for how we need to combat the existential threat of climate change. Doerr, a venture capitalist and author of the new book Speed and Scale, joins host Bob Safian to discuss our decarbonization efforts, what he calls “the greatest economic opportunity of the next century.” The book quantifies the specific societal needs, in six discrete areas, to achieve a carbon-neutral world. John isn’t arguing that we all need to be vegan ascetics, but rather, the need for collective action – and the critical role that business plays in advancing that movement.
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com
Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins with Ryan Panchadsaram + VC Sunday School: cap table management | E1379
John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins joins to discuss his lessons from a career of investing and his new book "Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now," alongside his co-author Ryan Panchadsaram.
But first, Jason gives a 10-minute crash course on how to navigate messy cap tables in our latest VC Sunday School segment (1:54).
Then John and Ryan join Molly and Jason for a conversation (15:11). In this episode, you will learn:
1. The six objectives and four accelerants to reach zero emissions by 2050
2. Why Nuclear power is an important part of the plan, but cannot be the only solution
3. The biggest blockers to rapid climate progress and why "the climate crisis is under-hyped"
4. Hard-won lessons from funding solar companies
5. How John assesses founders and develops conviction to invest
6. Indications John saw that Jeff Bezos was an exceptional entrepreneur
7. Where investors should focus to drive the biggest output
(0:00) Jason and Molly intro the show, John Doerr, saving the climate and cap tables
(01:54) VC Sunday School - When is a Cap table too messy?
(07:29) Why VCs want founders to maintain more than 50% equity in the seed round
(10:02) Odoo - Get your first app free and a $1000 credit at https://odoo.com/twist
(11:08) What are the metrics for a red flag?
(15:11) Interview - John Doerr and Ryan Panchadsaram, on the path to zero emissions
(20:44) Bubble. Get one month free of a no-code plan at https://bubble.io/twist
(22:17) Six objectives to reach zero emissions
(30:22) The four accelerants needed to cut emissions in half by 2030 and hit the target by 2050
(31:28) Revelo - Get 20% off the first 3 months by mentioning TWIST at https://revelo.io/twist
(32:56) Where investors can focus to drive the biggest change, why the time for "individual action has passed" and we need collective action
(35:22) Why Nuclear power is an important part of the plan, but will not be deployed in time
(42:06) Identifying the biggest blockers to rapid progress
(47:37) Lessons from funding solar companies, why they require more capital and more intellectual rigor
(51:32) How Kleiner's early climate investment portfolio performed
(54:40) How Jason came to own the Roadster that KP Partner Ray Lane had ordered
(56:29) How Kleiner invests in Beyond Meat
(58:16) How John assesses founders and develops conviction to invest
(1:03:52) John spending time with Jeff Bezos, how Jeff actually knew how to pull his own revenue numbers with a UNIX grep command
(1:07:49) Why John thinks the Climate Crisis is under-hyped
(1:16:13) Where should investors focus?
Read Speed & Scale: https://speedandscale.com
FOLLOW John: https://twitter.com/johndoerr
FOLLOW Ryan: https://twitter.com/rypan
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood
Rapid Response: How to decarbonize your business, w/John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins
“Go for the megatons.” That’s John Doerr’s recommendation for how we need to combat the existential threat of climate change. Doerr, a venture capitalist and author of the new book Speed and Scale, joins host Bob Safian to discuss our decarbonization efforts, what he calls “the greatest economic opportunity of the next century.” The book quantifies the specific societal needs, in six discrete areas, to achieve a carbon-neutral world. John isn’t arguing that we all need to be vegan ascetics, but rather, the need for collective action – and the critical role that business plays in advancing that movement.
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com
Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
20VC: John Doerr on Buying 12% of Google for $12M, His Biggest Investing Lesson from 30 Years in Venture & The Climate Crisis: Why Governments are The Biggest Problem and Where the Biggest Opportunities Are in Climate Investing?
John Doerr is an engineer, venture capitalist, the chairman of Kleiner Perkins, and the author of the #1 New York Times best-seller Measure What Matters. For over 40 years, John has helped build some of the most generational defining companies of our generation. He was an original investor and board member at Google and Amazon, helping to create more than a million jobs. A pioneer of Silicon Valley's cleantech movement, John has invested in zero emissions technologies since 2006. Check out his latest book, Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now.
In Today's Episode with John Doerr You Will Learn:
1.) What was John's entry into climate change investing? Having backed the likes of Amazon and Google, why did John decide then was the right time to do a climate fund, a pandemic fund, an iPhone fund? How does John think about market timing risk today? How does John determine between risks he is vs is not willing to take?
2.) What was one of John's biggest lessons on risk and upside from working alongside Tom Perkins? How did the Google deal come together? Where did John first meet Larry and Serge? What convinced John to write them a $12M check for 12% of the company? Why was it a contested deal within the partnership? How did the discussion go internally?
3.) Why and how is climate innovating and investing different today than it was in 2008? What are the core OKR's laid out in the book, that we need to achieve as a society? Why does John believe that governments are the biggest problem to us achieving these objectives? What does John mean when he says, "I am hopeful but not optimistic"?
4.) What does truly great listening mean to John? How would John describe his style of board membership? What do the truly special board members do? What does John do that makes him often cited as one of the best at recruiting? What is John's biggest investing miss? How did it change his mindset and approach? What investment is John most proud of, that no one knows?
Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode with John Doerr
John's Favourite Book: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
An action plan for solving the climate crisis | John Doerr and Ryan Panchadsaram
"How much more damage do we have to endure before we realize that it's cheaper to save this planet than to ruin it?" asks engineer and investor John Doerr. In conversation with Countdown cofounder Lindsay Levin, Doerr and systems innovator Ryan Panchadsaram lay out six big objectives that -- if pursued with speed and scale -- could transform society and get us to net-zero emissions by 2050. An action plan to solve the world's climate crisis, backed up by a proven system for setting goals for success.
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#543: Legendary Investor John Doerr on Picking Winners — From Google in 1999 to Solving the Climate Crisis Now
Legendary Investor John Doerr on Picking Winners — From Google in 1999 to Solving the Climate Crisis Now | Brought to you by ShipStation shipping software; Allform premium, modular furniture; and Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement. More on all three below.
John Doerr (@johndoerr) is an engineer, venture capitalist, the chair of Kleiner Perkins, and the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Measure What Matters. His new book is Speed and Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now.
John was an original investor and board member at Google and Amazon, helping to create more than half a million jobs. A pioneer of Silicon Valley’s cleantech movement, John has invested in zero-emission technologies since 2006. He’s passionate about encouraging leaders to reimagine the future, from transforming healthcare to advancing applications of machine learning.
Outside Kleiner Perkins, John works with social entrepreneurs who are tackling systemic issues across climate, public health, and education.
Please enjoy!
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How to decarbonize the grid and electrify everything | John Doerr and Hal Harvey
"The good news is it's now clearly cheaper to save the planet than to ruin it," says engineer and investor John Doerr. "The bad news is: we are fast running out of time." In this conversation with climate policy expert Hal Harvey, the two sustainability leaders discuss why humanity has to act globally, at speed and at scale, to meet the staggering challenge of decarbonizing the global economy (which has only ever increased emissions throughout history) -- and share helpful examples of promising energy solutions from around the world.
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Why the secret to success is setting the right goals | John Doerr
Our leaders and institutions are failing us, but it's not always because they're bad or unethical, says venture capitalist John Doerr -- often, it's simply because they're leading us toward the wrong objectives. In this practical talk, Doerr shows us how we can get back on track with "Objectives and Key Results," or OKRs -- a goal-setting system that's been employed by the likes of Google, Intel and Bono to set and execute on audacious goals. Learn more about how setting the right goals can mean the difference between success and failure -- and how we can use OKRs to hold our leaders and ourselves accountable.
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Recode Decode: John Doerr
John Doerr, the chairman of the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Teddy Schleifer about his new book, "Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs." Doerr credits two mentors, Andy Grove and Bill Campbell, with turning him on to that leadership strategy, which is short for Objectives and Key Results — or, in other words, communicating what you want to accomplish and how. Setting clear objectives and making them transparent to your entire company can help tech leaders succeed, but CEOs who don't commit or who build a cult of personality around themselves can put their businesses in jeopardy. Doerr also talks about the state of diversity in Silicon Valley, what he learned from the Ellen Pao trial and whether tech companies are taking privacy more seriously in the aftermath of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal.
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