| Vinod Khosla | |
|---|---|
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| Born | January 28, 1955 Pune, India |
| Occupation | Venture capitalist |
| Net worth | ▲$1.5 billion [1] |
| Spouse(s) | Neeru |
| Children | Nina, Anu, Vani and Neal |
Vinod Khosla (born January 28, 1955 in Pune, India[2]) is a Indian-American venture capitalist. He is an influential personality in Silicon Valley. He was one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems and became first CEO & Chairman of Sun Microsystems and then became a general partner of the venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers in 1986. In 2004 Khosla formed his own firm, Khosla Ventures.
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Early life and education
Khosla read about the founding of Intel in Electronic Engineering Times at the age of fourteen and this inspired him to pursue technology as a career. Khosla went on to receive degrees from the IIT Delhi, India (Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering ), Carnegie Mellon University (Masters in Biomedical Engineering), and Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA).
Career
Sun Microsystems
After graduating from Stanford University in 1980, Khosla along with his Stanford fellows Scott McNealy, Andy Bechtolsheim, and a UC Berkeley masters degree holder named Bill Joy founded Sun Microsystems. He became first CEO and Chairman of Sun Microsystems from 1982 to 1984. Khosla left Sun in 1985. He then joined the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 1986 as a general partner. Khosla is also one of the founders of TiE, The Indus Entrepreneurs, and has guest-edited a special issue of Economic Times (ET), a leading business newspaper in India.
Post Sun
Khosla became a recognized venture capitalist, associated with Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers. While recognized for several venture "hits," Khosla also played a key role with several of the tech industry's most spectacular failures, including Zaplet, Asera, Zambeel, Dynabook, Excite, and others.
He also invested in an Indian Microfinance NGO, SKS Microfinance, which lends small loans to poor women in rural India.
Khosla was featured on Dateline NBC on Sunday, May 7, 2006. He was discussing the practicality of the use of ethanol as a gasoline substitute. He is known to have invested heavily in ethanol companies, in hopes of widespread adoption. He cites Brazil as an example of a country that has totally ended its dependence on foreign oil.[3]
Khosla was a major founder of Yes on 87's campaign to pass California's Proposition 87, The Clean Energy Initiative, which failed to pass in November, 2006. In 2006, Khosla founded ck12.org that aims to develop open source textbooks and lower the cost of education in America and the rest of the world. Khosla and his wife Neeru are also relatively substantial donors to the Wikimedia Foundation, in the amount of $500,000.[4]
Khosla Ventures
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder(s) | Vinod Khosla |
| Headquarters |  Menlo Park, California |
| Industry | Private equity |
| Products | Venture capital |
| Total assets | $1.0 billion |
| Website | www.khoslaventures.com |
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This section requires expansion. |
In 2004 Khosla formed his own venture capital firm, Khosla Ventures. The firm is based in Menlo Park, California [5] and manages approximately $1 billion of investor capital as well as investments funded by Khosla himself.
Khosla Ventures focuses on early stage companies in the Internet, computing, mobile, silicon technology and clean technology sectors. Within cleantech, the firm has invested in bio-refineries for energy and bioplastics, solar, battery and other environmentally friendly technologies.
In September 2009, Khosla completed fundraising for two new funds, to invest in cleantech and information technology start-ups. Khosla Ventures III secured $750 million of investor commitments to invest in traditional early stage and growth stage companies. Khosla also raised $250 million for Khosla Seed, which will invest in higher-risk opportunities. [6]
Personal life
He lives in Portola Valley, California, with his wife Neeru, and his four daughters, Nina, Anu, Vani, and Nealia.
Accomplishments
Founding companies
Helping to found companies
- NexGen (now purchased by AMD)
- Excite
- @Home Network
- Juniper Networks
- Cerent
- Corvis
- LS9
Board membership
- DonorsChoose [1]
- MetricStream
- eASIC
- Spatial Photonics Inc
- Xsigo Systems
- moka5
- Ausra
- Kovio
Other
- 1999 World Technology Award Finalist
- Honorary Chair, DonorsChoose San Francisco Bay Area Advisory Board
See also
References
- ^ Forbes 400 #317 Vinod Khosla
- ^ IIT Delhi: Distinguished Alumni Awards
- ^ Venture capitalist a techie at heart October 15, 2006
- ^ Cadelago, Chris (August 24, 2008). "Wikimedia pegs future on education, not profit". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/23/MNIJ12ETP4.DTL&tsp=1. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
- ^ Khosla Ventures (company website)
- ^ Khosla Ventures piles up $1 billion for green tech. cnet news, September 1, 2009
External links
- Fear, Greed and Sky Diving, Vinod speaks at Stanford
- Vinod speaks to Google employees about ethanol on March 29, 2006
- Making cement while sequestering carbon, Issue 127, July 2008; Retrieved 2008-07-20.
- Vinod's presentations, papers
- Vinod Khosla Charlie Rose, 22 Sept. 2006
- From geeks to greens
- Press release about significant gift to Wikimedia Foundation (which runs Wikipedia)
| Preceded by first |
CEO of Sun Microsystems 1982 - 1984 |
Succeeded by Scott McNealy |
| Preceded by first |
Chairman of Sun Microsystems 1982 - 1984 |
Succeeded by Scott McNealy |
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