SAN JOSE, Calif. – Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm, has appointed Gen. Colin Powell as a “strategic limited partner.”
Powell, the former U.S. secretary of state who resigned last November, will not relocate to Silicon Valley from his office in Virginia. But Kleiner Perkins has created a new kind of position for him, to draw on Powell’s considerable global experience to help mentor entrepreneurs.
“I wanted to be on the leading edge of technology developments in America and in the world, which will not only benefit America, but all of human kind,” Powell said in an interview.
It’s rare that Silicon Valley venture firms boast such high-profile partners. Despite the popular image of venture capitalists cutting deals on the golf fairways, the business of early-stage venture capital can be sweat-heavy. Venture firms invest money into start-up companies in exchange for an ownership stake. That requires long board meetings, tireless networking and lending sundry help and advice to entrepreneurs.
Kleiner has invested early in companies such as Google, Netscape, Amazon and Sun Microsystems.
As a “limited partner,” Powell is an investor in the fund – and so is not part of the core team of Kleiner Perkins’ full partners who manage the firm’s activities day to day. In that way, Powell is similar to scores of other individual and institutional investors. However, his role extends beyond just investing, which is why the two sides agreed on the additional title “strategic,” Powell said.
Powell, 68, said he will give talks to entrepreneurs and employees at the start-ups that Kleiner has backed.
He also will advise entrepreneurs on how to lead the kinds of large global companies that Kleiner’s start-ups hope to become. He will make regular trips to California, both as part of his existing lecture circuit and to assist Kleiner Perkins, he said.
“We don’t call on any other limited partners to provide wisdom and guidance in these areas,” Kleiner partner John Doerr said in a conference call. Partner Brook Byers added: “The real role he’s going to play for us is mentorship.”
Powell said he has grappled with the issues of outsourcing and offshoring over the last few years, and has concluded that the United States can only maintain its leadership position in the global economy by investing in new technologies. That means providing entrepreneurs with managerial help, advice and money, he said.
He plans to be in touch at least weekly with Kleiner by video conference, Powell said, but does not expect to attend the firm’s weekly partnership meetings. He said he and Doerr have been in almost daily contact over the past several weeks, adding, “If the e-mail and phone calls over past few weeks are any indication, I’m going to be doing something with Kleiner almost every day.”
Doerr began recruiting him after Powell stepped down in November. The two had gotten to know each other in the 1990s, when Powell served on the boards of America Online and Gulfstream. During that time, Powell became familiar with the Silicon Valley start-up life, and worked with people like former AOL CEO Steve Case, former Netscape CEO James Barksdale, and Kleiner partner Frank Caufield.
He is not a technology novice. Powell owns a Treo, a Motorola Razr phone, and has three computers – all different makes – in his home office, he says. He’s also proud of his accomplishment at the State Department. He pledged in 2001, when he arrived, that he would get rid of the archaic Wang computers the employees used, and hook everybody up with broadband-enabled computers. He did it.
Powell says he’ll also continue to be outspoken about the need for places like China to respect intellectual property rights. He will travel to South Korea and Japan starting Wednesday, he said, where he will address that issue.
“I feel even more strongly about it, with my Kleiner Perkins association,” he said. Intellectual property, once created, is being “immediately stolen and given away for almost nothing, without any benefit to the creator,” he said. “We can’t have a balanced trade relationship without” respect for intellectual property rights.
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AP-NY-07-12-05 2258EDT
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