

Kleiner bets the farm - firm is going green and leaving Internet deals to the competition. - nickb
http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/08/technology/Kleiner_bets_the_farm_Lashinsky.fortune/index.htm

======
rms
This is Al Gore's fault.

------
nickb
Other than betting on cap & trade gov subsidies, I wonder how they plan to
exit these positions...

~~~
nostrademons
I think that Doerr may be betting that if he throws enough money at enough
different startups, _one_ of them is likely to come up with something that is
economically competitive with fossil fuels, and can replace it over the long
term. The worldwide oil market is in the trillions; it's not like there's a
lack of money to be had.

It's basically a high-stakes gamble with other people's money. If he wins, he
goes down in history as the man (well, the guy behind the man) who saved the
planet and ushered in the solar era. If he loses, his reputation is toast, as
his clients' money.

I'd give you about 10:1 odds that he loses, but considering the payoffs to
himself, Kleiner, his clients, and mankind as a whole, I'm glad he's taking
that bet.

~~~
nickb
I agree with you but I think your odds are way too generous :). Vinod Khosla
is another high profile VC that has taken some heavy positions in clean tech
as well but he has kept his ear to the ground and has invested in quite a few
of internet/tech startups as well.

Problem with clean tech is that most of it is capital intensive and many times
you have no idea if something will work until you spend $10M on it. You just
can't fail fast. After you do your R&D, few years will pass. Then, if you have
something, you will have to raise another huge round so you can build it out.
That's very cap intensive and again, takes long time.

Most funds operate on a 7yr timeline. With cleantech, you'll be lucky if you
make an exit after 10 years. And still, the biggest issue, as I pointed
initially, is the lack of exit points. IPOs are very hard these days and who
knows what the future will look like.

