Grit

#170 Chairman of Kleiner Perkins, John Doerr: Getting Into Trouble with Disruptors (Encore)

Dec 25, 2023

01:06:15

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Chairman of Kleiner Perkins, John Doerr, shares stories of investing in Google and the need for a CEO, the urgent action required for the climate crisis, balancing work and family, the opportunity of AI and sustainability, the invention of Amazon Prime, the Google CEO search, and how the iPhone nearly killed Apple.

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Quick takeaways

Working with disruptors who have grand visions and strong execution abilities leads to success.

Recognizing the potential of disruptive technologies and emphasizing execution are crucial for partnerships with companies like Amazon and Google.

Addressing the climate crisis requires significant investments in sustainable clean economy and partnerships with influential figures like Bill Gates.

Deep dives

Investing in disruptors

John Doar highlights the importance of working with disruptors who have grand visions and strong execution abilities. He emphasizes the need for feedback and learning from a network of peers who will challenge and provide critical input.

Discipline, Time Management, and Grit in Business

01:24

Value of Sales Leadership and Problem-Solving in Selling

01:11

Evolution of Technological Waves and the Rise of AI

01:52

Introduction

2min

From Rice to Harvard: Investments, Books, and Climate Solutions

7min

The Early Experiences of an Engineer and Entrepreneur

18min

The Next Wave: Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change

3min

Investing in Amazon: The Early Stages

22min

Climate Change, Responsibility, and Collaboration

8min

Building a National Network of Cable Modems for High-Speed Internet

4min

Managing Time and the Importance of Loyalty in Venture Capital

3min

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 John
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
Connect with Joubin
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
- Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

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