About Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) is a Sand Hill Road venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. The name comes from the four senior partners: Eugene Kleiner (emeritus), Tom Perkins (emeritus), Frank J. Caufield (emeritus), John Doerr, and Brook Byers.

The firm was formed in 1972. At that point, the founders of most venture capital (VC) firms had financial backgrounds. Kleiner Perkins's founders were distinguished by their industry experience -- Kleiner as a founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Perkins as one of the leaders of Hewlett-Packard's early computer division.

Like other venture capital firms, the firm does not discourage transactions among companies in which it holds a stake.date=November 2007 This is similar to the Japanese keiretsu style of company structure.date=November 2007