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The Thesis
Doerr, the legendary Kleiner Perkins partner, backed both Amazon and Google in their earliest stages, recognizing that the internet would create the most valuable companies in history.
The Story
John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers made two of the greatest venture capital investments in history. In 1996, he invested $8 million in Amazon, and in 1999, he invested $12.5 million in Google. At the time of each investment, skeptics abounded — Amazon was called "Amazon.bomb" and questioned whether anyone would buy books online, while Google was entering a search engine market that already had established players like Yahoo, AltaVista, and Lycos.
Doerr's investments in Google and Amazon together generated returns exceeding $10 billion for Kleiner Perkins. But his impact extended far beyond financial returns — Doerr introduced the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework to Google, which became a fundamental part of how the company operated and was later adopted by thousands of companies worldwide. He proved that the best venture capital isn't just about writing checks — it's about adding genuine operational value that helps startups scale into generational companies.
Key Insight
The best venture investors don't just provide capital — they provide frameworks, connections, and wisdom that help companies scale from startups to world-changers.
“Ideas are easy. Execution is everything.”
John Doerr
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