{"id":1388,"date":"2023-01-30T20:01:44","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T12:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yizhayan.org\/wp\/?p=1388"},"modified":"2023-01-30T20:01:44","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T12:01:44","slug":"valley-boy-the-education-of-tom-perkins-2311","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yizhayan.org\/wp\/?p=1388","title":{"rendered":"Valley Boy: The Education of Tom Perkins 2311"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>2022\u5e74\u7684\u4e66\uff0c\u5b9e\u9645\u662f\u5728\u4eca\u5e74\u5143\u65e6\u5047\u671f\u8bfb\u5b8c\u7684\u3002Tom\u662fKPCB\u7684\u4f20\u5947\u521b\u59cb\u4eba\uff0c\u5176\u4e2a\u4eba\u7ecf\u5386\u5341\u5206\u4e30\u5bcc\uff0c\u5728\u5b66\u6821\u65f6\u5c31\u521b\u4e1a\u6210\u529f\uff0c\u6210\u529f\u5bf9\u5916\u51fa\u552e\u4e86\uff0c\u4e4b\u540e\u8fdb\u5165\u60e0\u666e\uff0c\u62c5\u4efb\u9ad8\u7ba1\uff0c\u8fd8\u521b\u529e\u4e86VC\u754c\u7684\u4f20\u5947\u673a\u6784KPCB\u3002\u7167\u4f8b\u505a\u4e9b\u6458\u5f55\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u6700\u4e3a\u7ecf\u5178\u7684\u662fTom\u5bf9VC\u7684\u7406\u89e3\uff1a\u94b1\u662f\u6700\u4e0d\u80fd\u5dee\u5f02\u5316\u7684\u5927\u5b97\u5546\u54c1\uff0cVC\u5374\u662f\u51fa\u552e\u201c\u94b1\u201d\u7684\u751f\u610f\uff0c\u6240\u4ee5\u5fc5\u987b\u8d4b\u4e88\u94b1\u4e4b\u5916\u7684\u7279\u6b8a\u4ef7\u503c\u624d\u6709\u610f\u4e49\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>I realized that leaving HP had been a mistake. I called Dave to see if I could come back.He said that I could, but maybe I should take a look, instead, at a company being put together in optics. He and Bill would be investing personally, along with the early Palo Alto venture capital firm of Draper Gaither and Anderson (DG&amp;A) and a handful of other top HP executives, in a start-up to be called Optics Technology Inc. (OTI). <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u505a\u4eba\uff0c\u80fd\u5c48\u80fd\u4f38\u6700\u91cd\u8981\u3002\u53d1\u73b0\u79bb\u804c\u9519\u4e86\uff0c\u7acb\u5373\u53cd\u6094\u5bfb\u6c42\u89e3\u836f\uff0c\u800c\u4e0d\u662f\u6b7b\u6491\u7740\u9762\u5b50\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The new company would be headed by Dr. Narinder Kapany of the University of Chicago, and Kapany needed a business person to run the commercial side. Dave suggested that I consider the job.I flew back to Chicago and was blown away by Narinder\u2014what a guy! He had a PhD in optics and had written numerous scholarly papers on \u201cfiber optics.\u201d I believe he even coined the term, and he had dozens of ideas on how profitably to \u201cexploit\u201d modern optics. He was a Sikh with a full beard and requisite turban, and he had a great sense of humor and an infectious booming laugh. After an interview with the key partner, Don Lucas, at DG&amp;A, \u201c I was offered the job, at a fraction of my Booz pay but with cheap stock that would make me rich if we hit it commercially in our \u201cexploitation.\u201d I took the bait and signed on.\u201d Ultimately, years after the demise of OTI, fiber optics became very important. Fiber use ranges from imaging bundles used in medical endoscopes and industrial camera probes to communications: virtually all high speed data transmission over long distances is via optical fiber today. But we had little or nothing to do with fiber optics\u2019 final success.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u5149\u7ea4\u521b\u4e1a\uff0c\u6700\u7ec8\u83b7\u5f97\u4e86\u5927\u53d1\u5c55\uff0c\u4f46\u662f\u521b\u4e1a\u516c\u53f8\u5374\u662f\u4e00\u6761\u6b7b\u8def\uff0c\u592a\u65e9\u4e86\u4e0d\u884c\u3002\u53c8\u4e00\u4e2a\u5178\u578b\u6848\u4f8b\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Things fell apart rapidly after the move to Palo Alto. I tried to make peace with Narinder and invited him and his very charming wife, Satinder, to dinner at our apartment. Tor, our son, had been recently born, and Gerd and I were feeling solid and confident in the world. The evening was a disaster. Too much was drunk by Narinder and me, and the personal insults exchanged, humiliating me in front of Gerd, could not be smoothed over with copious apologies during the following weeks.About this time Narinder announced the invention of \u201ccolor translating radiography,\u201d color X-ray, in short. He had filed for a patent on the idea, but little had been done to prove the principle in the form of a working device. There was nothing to see, even though a friendly reporter described the colors as being \u201cas vivid as those in a stained-glass window.\u201d I don\u2019t know what the reporter thought he actually saw, but I saw red. I decided to quit by asking the board to choose between Narinder and me. There was never much doubt of the preference of Don Lucas, the venture capitalist from DG&amp;A, who strongly influenced the board; they picked the glamorous and charismatic Dr. Kapany, and I was out. Over the next many months, the market became very hot for IPO technology stocks, in one of its endless cycles, and OTI indeed did become a public company. The stock rose very nicely (I had surrendered all of my stock back to the company, and never made a penny), but not too long thereafter, the company faltered after a number of acquisitions, and it ultimately simply passed out of existence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u5f69\u8272CT\u673a\u9879\u76ee\uff0c\u6709\u4e86\u4e13\u5229\uff0c\u4f46\u505a\u6210\u4ea7\u54c1\u4e0d\u5bb9\u6613\u3002\u679c\u65ad\u8f9e\u804c\u3002OTI\u8d76\u4e0a\u597d\u673a\u4f1a\uff0c\u5b9e\u73b0\u4e86\u516c\u53f8\u4e0a\u5e02\uff0c\u8fd8\u4e0d\u65ad\u6536\u8d2d\uff0c\u6700\u7ec8\u4e0d\u8fc7\u8fd8\u662f\u4e00\u573a\u7a7a\u3002\u5df2\u7ecf\u662f\u975e\u5e38\u4e0d\u9519\u7684\u7ed3\u5c40\u4e86\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>In order to proceed I had to evolve risk-reduction and cost-saving strategies, which proved typical of those I would use subsequently in many venture situations. First, I had to persuade Gerd to let me stake our life\u2019s savings in a risky laser development program. I had prepared quite a long train of argument for her. But after only about thirty seconds, she said, \u201cSure.\u201d Her faith in me was total. More vital, I had to get Packard\u2019s permission to moonlight, notoriously, on an idea that in no way would benefit HP. I explained the idea to him with a small technical sketch. Dave was one of America\u2019s truly great entrepreneurs, and he admired that kind of thinking in others. Plus he didn\u2019t think much of the OTI bunch either, and I am sure he didn\u2019t object to my desire to stick it to them. So he said okay, with the proviso that I didn\u2019t let it get too much in the way of my HP work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u8fc7\u5ea6\u5173\u6ce8\u6210\u672c\u3001\u5377\u7ba1\u7406\u5f80\u5f80\u662f\u4e0d\u597d\u7684\u3002\u6838\u5fc3\u8fd8\u662f\u8981\u641e\u51fa\u6765\u597d\u4e1c\u897f\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Regardless, the picture was clear\u2014I needed venture capital. At this time, though, there wasn\u2019t much professional venture capital available. But our growth and profits were impressive, and I was able to persuade some fellow executives within HP, who had a sort of investment club, to invest. Some risk money was offered from the local brokerage firm of Davis Skaggs, and finally we raised some money from one of the first true VC firms, Sutter Hill. In total around two hundred thousand dollars were committed for about twenty percent of the company. This restructuring was also an opportunity for Dick and me to buy Henry out. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>20\u4e07\u7f8e\u5143\u636220%\u80a1\u4efd\u7684\u4e00\u7b14VC\u6295\u8d44\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>That\u2019s when Gene said, \u201cWhen the money is available\u2014take it.\u201d I kidded him ever after that he had expostulated Kleiner\u2019s First Law; there were more to come. His most profound, I always thought, was \u201cThe more difficult the decision, the less it matters what you choose.\u201d Think about it.So, short of our goal at the end of 1972, we drew down the eight million and established Kleiner &amp; Perkins. It seems incredible to point out that this pool of capital, tiny by today\u2019s standards, was the largest fund in the entire world devoted to high-tech venture capital. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Kleiner\u7b2c\u4e00\u5b9a\u5f8b\uff1a\u80fd\u62ff\u94b1\u65f6\u8981\u591a\u62ff\u94b1\u3002\u8d8a\u56f0\u96be\u7684\u51b3\u7b56\uff0c\u600e\u4e48\u9009\u5176\u5b9e\u90fd\u4e0d\u91cd\u8981\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>I confess, right now, that K &amp; P and KPC &amp; B has never financed any plan that arrived through the mail. If the entrepreneur can\u2019t figure out some personal approach, it\u2019s just too hopeless to consider. But we read them anyway.This was a tough time for Gene and me. We both had financial interests outside of the partnership\u2014for Gene it was Intel, and for me it was Spectra Physics, the firm that had acquired my laser company. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u4ece\u6765\u6ca1\u6295\u8fc7\u90ae\u4ef6\u4e0a\u8fc7\u6765\u7684\u9879\u76ee\u3002\u4f01\u4e1a\u5bb6\u8fde\u4e2a\u6295\u8d44\u4eba\u7684\u4ecb\u7ecd\u90fd\u641e\u4e0d\u5b9a\uff0c\u4e5f\u4e0d\u592a\u914d\u505a\u4f01\u4e1a\u5bb6\u4e86\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Thankfully, Bill Draper of Sutter Hill let us participate in one of their investments with Qume, a printer company. It proved to be a good investment, and one on which we made a respectable return. But three start-ups we did thereafter were embarrassing disasters. The first was a semiconductor start-up in which we investors saw our money drain away like water poured onto desert sands by the inexperienced management.The second, Tread-Two, had a longer life, but it too failed. A young entrepreneur had the idea of resoling expensive tennis shoes with new bottoms. The venture began to succeed, and thousands of boxes of shoes arrived, each containing a ten-dollar bill to pay for the new sole\u2014so the business was in effect self-financing. But when he decided to come out with his own brand of shoe he was up against Nike and Adidas, and the inventory requirements and advertising took an enormous infusion of cash that we couldn\u2019t raise. We wouldn\u2019t commit it ourselves, so it too failed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u96be\u4ee5\u907f\u514d\u7684\u5931\u8d25\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The third sounds the most ridiculous, and it was the idea that Jimmy and I talked Gene into having K &amp; P back. It was called Snow-Job\u2014admittedly a most dubious name, but that\u2019s what it was really called. We met an inventor who had figured out how to convert a motorcycle into a snowmobile. It really worked. I had a ball with the prototype in the snow fields up in the foothills of the Sierras for a whole day. It was much faster and more maneuverable than a conventional snowmobile, and it could be converted from one to the other in a few minutes. We put the money in, but before we had Hell\u2019s Angels and their biker girlfriends on their hogs tearing up the pristine fields of snow, the government, in response to one of the country\u2019s fuel crises, outlawed the sale of gasoline for sports vehicles. That ban was later lifted, but at the critical moment we couldn\u2019t get dealers to stock our Snow-Jobs, so that venture crashed too.If K &amp; P hadn\u2019t been on the threshold of becoming arguably the most successful investment vehicle in the history of man, I wouldn\u2019t admit to all this stupidity. But after these failures, Gene and I changed our strategy. We decided to create our own start-ups.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u4ece\u5931\u8d25\u4e2d\u5b66\u4e60\uff0c\u641e\u574f\u4e86\u51e0\u4e2a\u9879\u76ee\uff0c\u5374\u53d1\u73b0\u4e86\u66f4\u9002\u5408\u81ea\u5df1\u7684\u65b9\u5f0f\u3002\u8fd9\u79cd\u5931\u8d25\u662f\u9002\u5408\u7684\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>I showed our business plan, which I had mostly written myself, to all the local potential investors with no luck. A trip with Jimmy back east fared no better. But the more we struck out, the more convinced we became that we were on the right track. The investors\u2019 rejection was based solely on general worries over the companies in the field: IBM, DEC, and HP. They had little understanding of the technical breakthrough we had achieved and how difficult it would be for those competitors to duplicate our effort and circumvent our patents already in application. These were financiers, after all, who maybe were clever with money but who had no feeling for or confidence in technology, the kind of investors who relied upon hired experts to tell them what to think.<\/p><p>Gene and I decided to finance the whole company, staking a very significant portion of our fund on the idea. Probably it was a courageous decision, but at the time we thought it to be a sure bet. In fact, every time I have written a check, I have felt utterly confident of winning. Then when I lose, it somehow gets buried in a different part of my brain, and doesn\u2019t get in the way of the next check. Gene and I were both on the Tandem board, with me as chairman; it was similar to University Labs, except that I could work on Tandem full-time, when needed. At the last instant before closing the contract, \u201cPitch\u201d Johnson, a prominent Palo Alto private player, invested a token amount from his own pocket. The money wasn\u2019t enough to make much difference, but his endorsement of the idea was gratifying, and his investment had the great advantage of involving his associate, Brook Byers, into our mix. Brook would, in due course, play a major role in our future.<\/p><p>Rather I will simply point out that it fully validated the K &amp; P approach of hands-on management of ventures, which became our trademark. I, as chairman, participated in every major step in its history, even writing the prospectus for its initial public offering and guiding its road show. That IPO was a big success when it came out in 1977; it put K &amp; P on the map\u2014and it put me off investment bankers for the remainder of my business career.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u5929\u817e\u7535\u8111\u7684\u4f20\u5947\u9879\u76ee\uff0c\u8d77\u521d\u4e5f\u662f\u6ca1\u4eba\u6295\u8d44\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>After decades of dealing with investment bankers, I find them to be exceptionally short-term-oriented; their focus is entirely on the transaction of that instant and their specific fee for that transaction. As my partner Frank Caufield says, \u201cThey have all the self-restraint of lobotomized sharks.\u201dYou may well ask: \u201cIf you are so disgusted with investment bankers why do you continue to deal with them?\u201d You have a good question there. It\u2019s because they are the SEC-licensed gatekeepers to accessing the public market for capital; they are a necessary evil.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u6295\u884c\u7684\u601d\u8def\u4f1a\u76f8\u5bf9\u770b\u773c\u524d\u591a\u4e00\u4e9b\uff0c\u66f4\u5173\u6ce8\u4ea4\u6613\u8d39\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>In our first year in the city we undertook our next significant venture, and we were also nearly wiped out financially\u2014I\u2019ll deal with that near-catastrophe first.Perhaps taking Kleiner\u2019s First Law too literally, Gene and I drew down the investor\u2019s full eight million dollars at the outset, rather than calling it down over time as the need for more cash arose, which was the practice we instituted in all subsequent partnerships. So we had cash in millions earning only the very low rates available from government bonds. We wanted to take no risk with this capital base; our ventures provided ample risk for the invested capital once committed. However, we heard about a prominent arbitrageur who was achieving excellent returns on playing bond spreads in the public market. When done properly every spread is hedged, so that the only risk possible is the loss of interest on the specific contract. By Sunday night I was in a state of the purest panic! The contracts weren\u2019t even remotely hedged: our guru had put Gene and me into a naked, totally exposed short position of tens of millions of dollars!\u201cThey were still scolding me back in our offices when a messenger arrived with a check for the full amount. Apparently I had convinced the guy that I would, quite literally, kill him! We cashed the check. Nothing was lost. He went bust in a huge wipe-out some months later. And, to you Kleiner &amp; Perkins partners of that period who are reading this for the first time, I apologize\u2014it has taken me over thirty years to confess to this episode.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u4e0d\u6210\u529f\u7684\u5bf9\u51b2\u5dee\u70b9\u6bc1\u4e86\u81ea\u5df1\uff01\u597d\u5728\u6700\u7ec8\u6ca1\u4ec0\u4e48\u505a\u635f\u5931\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>To replace Jimmy Treybig, in 1975 we hired Bob Swanson, a fledgling venture capitalist working in San Francisco for Citicorp Ventures. He was, coincidentally, the roommate of Brook Byers, whom we were getting to know through his involvement with Tandem. Bob enabled us to use the Tandem formula again, of spinning out a venture directly from the partnership. Gene and Bob were both on the board of the early failed semiconductor company, and Gene believed that you could get a better handle on an investor\u2019s character in adversity than when things were going well. He thought that Bob\u2019s tenacity would be an asset, and when Bob became restless at Citicorp we offered him a partner\u2019s role with K &amp; P. He was from MIT with a degree in organic chemistry and a master\u2019s from the Sloan School in business, both of which he obtained in just four years\u2014smart guy! <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u57fa\u56e0\u6cf0\u514b\u7684\u6545\u4e8b\uff0c\u4e5f\u662f\u7531\u57fa\u91d1\u76f4\u63a5\u5b75\u5316\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The more Bob pressed, the more Herb began to rethink. Maybe it really could be done faster. Over the weekend they continued to explore the idea of establishing a business right away. Within a week or so, Bob had drawn up a business plan that he put upon my desk, enthusiastically expounding on the idea and on why I should back the venture. Twice before I had mastered new technologies, in lasers and in computers, so the technical aspect didn\u2019t daunt me too much. I figured that I could learn it. But it was immediately clear that this idea was verging upon pure research. Venture capitalists shouldn\u2019t knowingly fund pure research, everyone knew that; that\u2019s a ticket for losing millions\u2014in pure research, by definition, there may be no payback\u2014if the payback were guaranteed it wouldn\u2019t be research. And Bob was proposing, literally, to create a new form of life. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u4e00\u5468\u5199\u5b8cBP\u7684\u4f18\u79c0\u6267\u884c\u529b\uff0c\u4eb2\u529b\u4eb2\u4e3a\u3002VC\u4e0d\u5e94\u8be5\u6295\u8d44\u79d1\u7814\u9879\u76ee\uff0c\u800c\u662f\u8981\u6295\u6709\u786e\u5b9a\u56de\u62a5\u7684\u673a\u4f1a\uff0c\u4e0d\u9700\u8981\u7814\u7a76\u4e86\uff0c\u9700\u8981\u7684\u662f\u751f\u4ea7\u3001\u6267\u884c\u548c\u5546\u4e1a\u5316\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Further, the plan called for an investment of nearly two million dollars. Space would be acquired, equipment purchased, scientists hired, and after all that, the experiment attempted\u2014what if it didn\u2019t work? I didn\u2019t reject the idea out of hand. Instead, I asked to meet Dr. Boyer to hear his ideas directly. Bob quickly arranged the meeting, and for the first time Herb came up to our penthouse office in the Embarcadero Center to meet me. He was obviously brilliant. (What surprised me most, though, was his charm. That encounter was the beginning of a friendship continuing to this day.) Rather than get into an explanation of the scientific details, which I knew would quickly be over my head, all my questions were oriented along the lines of, what (specific) equipment will you need? How long will it take to the first step? How will you test to see if you have the expected results, and (again) what equipment will be required for the tests? Herb had all the answers. He had thought through each step in detail and could identify all the critical checkpoints. While he couldn\u2019t guarantee the result of the experiment, he clearly knew how to undertake the experiment in a very specific way. I was impressed.<\/p><p>Keeping Genentech in cash took some financial inventions. Long before Enron\u2019s Lay, Skilling, and Fastow thought of off-balance sheet partnerships to convert losses into profits, Fred Middleton, the CFO, and I invented the idea, and we used it to finance Food and Drug Administration clinical trials. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>800\u4e07\u7684\u57fa\u91d1\u5355\u4e2a\u9879\u76ee\u8981\u878d\u8d44200\u4e07\uff0c\u80af\u5b9a\u4e0d\u884c\uff0c\u4e5f\u6ca1\u6709\u7b80\u5355\u7684\u62d2\u7edd\u3002\u800c\u662f\u60f3\u6cd5\u8bbe\u6cd5\uff0c\u901a\u8fc7\u521b\u65b0\u7684\u65b9\u6cd5\uff0c\u6700\u7ec810\u4e07\u80fd\u641e\u5b9a\u7684\u6838\u5fc3\u6280\u5de7\u3002\u867d\u7136\u4e0d\u80fd\u4fdd\u8bc1\u8bd5\u9a8c\u7ed3\u679c\uff0c\u7cbe\u786e\u7684\u77e5\u9053\u6bcf\u4e00\u4e2a\u73af\u8282\uff0c\u4e5f\u5341\u5206\u5173\u952e\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>When we decided to put our new fund together, we still had about four million in cash, which, as promised in our Bill of Rights, we returned to our (very happy) limited partners.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u57fa\u91d1\u53ea\u6295\u8d44\u4e8650%\uff0c\u5269\u4e0b50%\u5c45\u7136\u5c31\u9000\u56de\u53bb\u4e86\u3002\u4e5f\u662f\u591f\u5389\u5bb3\u7684\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Money is, I think, the least differentiated of all commodities. With water, you\u2019ve got Calistoga, Perrier, and San Pellegrino, all noticeably different. With sugar there\u2019s the cane and beet variety; some can tell the difference. But with money it\u2019s all the same. So, as a venture capitalist in the business of selling money, it\u2019s commonplace to say that one must add value to differentiate oneself, and that\u2019s quite true. Gene and I had evolved a different approach to the business by essentially financing our own start-ups. While our competitors seemed happy to wait for fully fleshed-out business plans, and full teams, to walk through their doors, we were incubating our own new ventures, then building the teams to suit the needs. We had found a way to harness our impatience. I have never been good at just waiting.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u94b1\u662f\u6700\u4e0d\u80fd\u5dee\u5f02\u5316\u7684\u5927\u5b97\u5546\u54c1\uff0c\u800cVC\u662f\u51fa\u552e\u201c\u94b1\u201d\u7684\u751f\u610f\uff0c\u6240\u4ee5\u5fc5\u987b\u8d4b\u4e88\u94b1\u4e4b\u5916\u7684\u7279\u6b8a\u4ef7\u503c\u624d\u6709\u610f\u4e49\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Since we always distributed and never reinvested profits (according to our Investor\u2019s Bill of Rights) we were, therefore, constantly running out of new money to invest. New partnerships were required for new money, and via new partnerships we could recarve the general partner\u2019s ownership slice of the pie each time going forward, both to reward high achievers, and to bring aboard new talent. (Gene became less active after the first two partnerships and he gradually retired from KPC &amp; B to spend more time on his personal investments. He continued to be a close friend and was active in the Valley until his death in 2003 in his eightieth year. He was a true pioneer\u2014Time carried his obituary.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u901a\u8fc7\u4e0d\u65ad\u7684\u65b0\u57fa\u91d1\u3001\u65b0\u7ed3\u6784\u6765\u4f18\u5316GP\u5408\u4f19\u4eba\u4f53\u7cfb\u7684\u6743\u76ca\u5206\u914d\uff0c\u771f\u662f\u4e2a\u7edd\u5999\u7684\u60f3\u6cd5\uff0c\u8fd9\u6837\u624d\u80fd\u907f\u514d\u5750\u4fbf\u8f66\uff0c\u8fd8\u80fd\u6301\u7eed\u7684\u5438\u7eb3\u65b0\u4eba\u3002\u4e5f\u662f\u6781\u5176\u7ecf\u5178\u7684\u5b89\u6392\u3002<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2022\u5e74\u7684\u4e66\uff0c\u5b9e\u9645\u662f\u5728\u4eca\u5e74\u5143\u65e6\u5047\u671f\u8bfb\u5b8c\u7684\u3002Tom\u662fKPCB\u7684\u4f20\u5947\u521b\u59cb\u4eba\uff0c\u5176\u4e2a\u4eba\u7ecf\u5386\u5341\u5206\u4e30\u5bcc\uff0c\u5728\u5b66\u6821\u65f6\u5c31\u521b\u4e1a\u6210 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