Course

Kleiner Perkins: Venture Capital Decision Making

Stanford University
Course Lectures
  • Brook Byers, partner at KPCB, talks about the diversity of the VC industry and uses a biological metaphor to compare the industry to an ecosystem.

  • Byers talks about the trends in which startups evolved from the mid 90's to the late 90's.

  • Size of VC Firms
    Brook Byers

    Byers discusses the different ways in which venture capital firms size themselves and makes recommendations on how they should go about investing.

  • Magic Mondays
    Brook Byers

    Magic Monday is a meeting day for venture capitalists. Byers talks about the importance of Mondays in venture capitalist organizations.

  • Byers gives an insight into the decision-making process at Kleiner Perkins on how it makes investment decisions. He advises entrepreneurs on ways to champion starting a selling process in the firm.

  • Byers believes that entrepreneurs should have a strong resonance with their customers. An acid test for entrepreneurs is to know their audience.

  • Getting Funding
    Brook Byers

    Byers discusses the process and the time that it takes for an entrepreneur to earn a standing to the time when he might get financed.

  • Multiple Investors
    Brook Byers

    Byers believes that two to three co-investors is a good set for a young venture. An entrepreneur should balance between the number of investors and their minimum stake in the company.

  • Looking for Investors
    Brook Byers

    Byers discusses the number of co-investors one should approach and suggests that while going to investors one should know about their investors very well.

  • The Ideal Team
    Brook Byers

    What does Kleiner Perkins perceive to be an ideal team? Byers believes that an ideal team simply comprises of just the essential people.

  • Byers reveals how Kleiner Perkins develops close working relationships with its teams by following the 'We are all in this together' attitude.

  • Passion for Work
    Brook Byers

    Byers' passion for his work is the driving force behind his success.

  • Byers talks about how he got involved in the stem cell initiative and its importance to him.

  • Career Advice
    Brook Byers

    Byers advices graduating students who are budding entrepreneurs to look for a company that will mentor and train them with invaluable experience.