Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers - History

History

History of private equity
and venture capital

Early history
(Origins of modern private equity)
•
The 1980s
(LBO boom)
•
The 1990s
(LBO bust and the VC bubble)
•
The 2000s
(Dot-com bubble to the credit crunch)

The growth of the venture capital industry was fueled by the emergence of independent investment firms on Sand Hill Road. Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, founded in 1972, was among these pioneers. At that point, the founders of most venture capital firms came from financial backgrounds, however Kleiner Perkins's founders distinguished themselves through their technology industry experience; Kleiner was a founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Perkins was one of the leaders of Hewlett-Packard's early computer hardware division. Located, in Menlo Park, California, Kleiner Perkins would have access to the burgeoning technology industries in the area. By the early 1970s, there were many semiconductor companies based in the Santa Clara Valley as well as early computer firms using their devices and programming and service companies. Venture capital firms suffered a temporary downturn in 1974, when the stock market crashed and investors were naturally wary of this new kind of investment fund. Nevertheless, Kleiner Perkins was still active in this period. Kleiner invested in Tandem Computers, an early manufacturer of computer systems, founded in 1975 by Jimmy Treybig.

It was not until 1978 that venture capital experienced its first major fundraising year, as the industry raised approximately $750 million.

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