KPCB's prestige certainly finds support in the stats - since its founding in 1972, KPCB has invested in over 340 companies, of which over 120 have successfully gone public. In 1999, KPCB invested in 21 new ventures. Many of its portfolio companies have become industry leaders, including Ascend Communications, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Compaq, Genentech, and Amazon.com.

Investment strategy: eight core areas

With $1.5 billion in investment capital under management, KPCB offers investment to ventures at various levels of maturity: seed through third stage financing. However, the company's stated specialty is early stage financing for technology companies. Specifically, the company's portfolio divides into two primary areas: information sciences and life sciences. Within information sciences, the company's portfolio breaks down into five subsections: Internet, enterprise software, consumer media, communications, and semiconductors. On the life sciences end, investment is geared toward companies in three groups: medical devices and diagnostics, drug discovery and therapeutics, and healthcare services and informatics.

Life in the Kleiner keiretsu

Kleiner investees don't get just cold cash - they enter the Kleiner network. The firm subscribes to the idea of keiretsu, a Japanese concept referring to networks of companies bound together by mutual obligations and contacts. For Kleiner, Internet-based technologies have provided a fabulous opportunity to forge such a network, with Netscape at its center. One of the better examples of the Kleiner keiretsu is the alliance between Excite and Intuit, both Kleiner companies. As described in Fortune, Excite helped Intuit establish its beachhead on the Internet, and Intuit features Excite in its Quicken products. Fortune also pointed out that Intuit helped Excite with cash: a $40 million investment, and a $50 million loan to help the search engine complete its deal with Kleiner darling Netscape. @home, which purchased Excite in January 1999, is another keiretsu member.

A rich, steamy cup of Java

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has a very special relationship with Sun Microsystems, the Palo Alto-based technology company that developed the Java programming language that runs across all types of computers and is prevalent on many websites. KPCB super-star partner Vinod Khosla is a founder and former CEO at Sun. Regarding his Sun experience, Khosla told Red Herring "A lot of guys have gotten into [the VC field] recently who have never started a company. They have no operating experience. And they think being on a board gives them the right to advise entrepreneurs. The fact is you've got to earn that right by getting into the nitty-gritty grime and dirty stuff yourself."

Additionally, KPCB has established a $100 million Java Fund that demand that technology start-ups receiving KPCB funding must use and develop Java technology. Investments in the Java Fund include Active Software, Calico Technology, Healtheon (which merged with WebMD and several other medical web sites in November 1999 to become Healtheon/WebMD) and Viant. Ted Schlein, a KPCB partner, is the fund manager.

1999 was pretty good, too

Like most VC firms with a technology focus, KPCB enjoyed a healthy return in 1999. IPOs include Calico Commerce, which quadrupled in its first day of trading, E.piphany, which shot up 180%, and Homestore.com. Additionally, several KPCB companies were involved in high-profile mergers. Most noteworthy were Cerent (acquired by Cisco Systems for $6.9 billion) and Siara Systems (sold to Redback for $4.3 billion). KPCB continued their Internet momentum in 2000, investing in Hire.com, an online recruiting service and Zagat Survey, the famous restaurant guide launching an online review and reservation site.

Noteworthy partners

10 partners comprise KPCB's management team. Of the founding partners, Frank Caufield remains active at the firm. A graduate of the United States Military Academy and Harvard Business School, Caufield came to KCPB from Oak Grove Ventures, another Menlo Park Firm. Caufield sits on the Board of Directors of companies such as Quantum, Wyse Technology, VeriFone, America Online, and Quickturn. Another attention-grabbing partner is John Doerr. Although he denies it, many regard Doerr as the firm's most influential partner. A former Intel engineer and marketing wiz, Doerr joined Kleiner in 1980, and helped the firm complete investments in Compaq, Netscape, Lotus, Sun, and other dazzling companies. Doerr is a graduate of Rice University and Harvard Business School.

For those interested in biotech and pharmaceuticals, a notable partner at the firm is Cynthia Healy. The director of life science research, Healy joined the firm after eleven years in the pharmaceutical industry. She holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology from New York Medical College. Of all the KPCB partners, Vinod Khosla probably garnered the most press in 1999. Prior to his 15-year tenure with KPCB, Khosla co-founded Sun Microsystems. In 1999, Khosla funded some major success stories in the optical networking sector - a sector that The New York Times labeled the "hottest new area in the technology sector." Khosla's companies include Cerant, Siara Systems and Juniper Networks. However, Khosla is known for more than his technical acumen. He was named one of the 25 most powerful people in networking by Network World.