When asked earlier this week how long the economy will remain in its current sorry state, John Doerr, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist tapped by President Obama for the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, responded, "I have no idea."
As for predicting what will lift the country out of recession, the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner sounds more sure-footed.
"I might not know when this is going to end," Doerr (pictured) told a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle at the TED conference Tuesday, "but I think we'll see a huge wave of green innovation that will do for us today what the Internet did for us in 1996."
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That's certainly the bet he's making at Kleiner Perkins, which boasts cleantech champion former Vice President Al Gore among its partners. In May, the firm launched a $500 million Green Fund.
Doerr is best known for backing computer and Internet companies including Amazon.com Inc., Compaq, Google Inc., Netsape and Sun Microsystems Inc., but he and his partners have not participated in the biggest Web 2.0 deals, such as MySpace, YouTube LLC and Facebook Inc., and they're not investing in the current wave of hot Internet startups, such as LinkedIn and Twitter Inc. Over the last few years, Doerr has been increasingly focused on cleantech companies, such as smart grid technology provider Silver Spring Networks, in which Kleiner led a $75 million investment recently.
In the Obama inner circle, Doerr may rub elbows with another venture capitalist, Julius
Genachowski, the president's choice for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Genachowski, whose new job was cheered by other VCs, is a managing director of venture capital firm Rock Creek Ventures, a special adviser to buyout firm General Atlantic Partners LLC and the co-founder of tech accelerator LaunchBox Digital. Previously, he was former general counsel, head of business operations and a member of Barry Diller's office of the chairman at IAC/InterActiveCorp. - Mary Kathleen Flynn
See related story about executives on the board from Corporate Dealmaker
Comments
I had to laugh - Doerr talks his way into the white house and then claims the Greentech will do for the country what the internet did for "us" in the last decade. Ha Ha John, thats a funny one, you mean Kleiner will become richer piling a bunch of worthless greentech companies on public markets like it did with internet companies. Yes John, get richer because all that matters is you.
Its a great country, somebody turn on the heat in the cell next to bernie madoff for John