Oral History of Thomas J. "Tom" Perkins

Interviewed by John Hollar on July 22, 2011, in San Francisco, California, X6219.2012
© Computer History Museum
Thomas J. Perkins co-founded the legendary Silicon Valley venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers (KPCB) with Eugene Kleiner in 1973 after a decade-long career at Hewlett-Packard. Together with his KPCB partners, Perkins led one of the most successful long-term venture investing strategies in the history of Silicon Valley. Two of the earliest venture investments that Perkins led-Tandem Computers and Genentech-went on to be game-changing developers of technology in the earliest days of system and high-performance computing.
A number of oral histories of Perkins are available on the Internet, including a long interview done by the University of California at Berkeley. This three-hour oral history conducted in 2011 focuses on Perkins' upbringing, education, mentors, early professional experience at Hewlett-Packard and transition to venture investing. It also covers his investment philosophy and a number of personal stories of entrepreneurs with whom he had particularly close business relationships.
Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - www.computerhis...
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

[@amitellipsis]

Looks like an entire era floating in front of the eyes..

[@jaqueitch]

He had great opportunities to take the necessary steps to do what he did. I'm not taking anything away from him. Imagine if other management teams put trust in their people like that? He didn't need a job at all, with the money he had from the laser business. Yet, he wanted the challenge. I feel much the same way. I just need someone who will give me the opportunity.

[@BigAirWindJam]

Great Gentleman.

[@skipsassy1]

Henry Ford genius

[@skipsassy1]

physics teacher was irrelevant of course - he would have made it but the interviewer cannot get this around his head. Total nonsense - if he just handed out newspapers we would not be watching this.

[@JeffersonMartinSynfluent]

When whales die......

[@jamespedro256]

Hey self made

[@quickparkly]

Piggy