I don’t subscribe to Fortune anymore (though Business Week and The Economist’s third world rates got me back for one more fix), but I do need to read this artticle on Kleiner Perkins… the legendary VC firm that backed Google, and many others before it. Venture Beat adds:
The firm’s fortunes have emerged as the subject of discussion in Silicon Valley, now that the firm has largely abandoned the Internet investments that made it famous. “Several Valley investors who monitor startups tell me they don’t bother sending Web-oriented entrepreneurs to pitch Kleiner anymore; they say the firm just doesn’t seem interested,” writes Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky, citing one off-the-record source. “If they’re wrong, it’ll be the end of Kleiner Perkins.”
Excuse me, but Kleiner can invest in all of the clean tech crap and bio nonsense they want… that at least seems to have some kind of meaning and impact down the road. Besides, let’s consider the horrible track record of VCs that invested in the skata that permeats most dot com VC’s portfolio. Give me a f’n break. We’re now bashing a bunch of investors for taking a rain check of crpstr.com to invest in things that actually mean something and make a difference?
More power to Kleiner. One virtue of being richer than God is not having to put up with the institutional imperative. Most of the VCs that now ride Kleiner’s coattails in the VC game have nothing but misfires and strikeouts to show for their efforts anyway.
There’s a saying that states: fear is temporary, greed is permanent. Well, you can add, greed is global, too.
Apparently, after losing their shirts and fleecing their own investors in the North American video market (quick, name me on more successful exit in the space other than YouTube - too late, the elevator’s moved on), VCs are now losing their shirts - and making me lose my lunch - in China, too.
Wow. No comment. The idea is: take a successful idea and export it to another market, not take a crappy idea and export it.
Wireless. B2B. Social networks. All pretty faddish if you ask me. The latest, apparently, is green investments.
Gentlemen, start your engines and start flushing your money down the toilet:
Kleiner Perkins raises $700M fund…
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