News Byte

Please Welcome the ZuckerPAC to Capitol Hill

After weeks of rumors, Mark Zuckerberg pulled back the curtain on his political action committee, FWD.us, on Thursday morning. The Facebook founder’s personal political initiative is aimed at influencing changes to U.S. immigration policy. Spearheaded by Zuckerberg, the group is composed of Silicon Valley luminaries such as Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt, Marissa Mayer and John Doerr.

Big-Name VCs Form “Glass Collective” to Back Google Glass App Makers

Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins agree to look together at companies building on Google Glass.
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Kleiner’s Doerr Joins Zynga Board of Directors

The legendary Valley VC will soon advise the struggling social gaming giant.
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Kleiner’s Doerr Takes Adviser Seat at Flipboard

A new board member for the social magazine.
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Voices

Start-Ups Adjust to Web’s Down Cycle

Prominent venture capitalist John Doerr coined the phrase “SoLoMo” in 2010 to describe how three technology trends — social, local and mobile — were fueling a new Internet boom.

Kleiner Perkins Gender Discrimination Suit Turns Into a Case of “They Said, She Said”

High-profile venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers today unequivocally denied the accusations of its partner Ellen Pao’s gender discrimination lawsuit.
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We Will Vigorously Defend Our Reputation

… our firm does not discriminate on the basis of gender.

– KPCB Partner John Doerr, on the company’s blog

News Byte

Kleiner Perkins Partner John Doerr Calls Gender Discrimination Charges False

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner and public leader John Doerr today issued a statement that directly rejects the gender discrimination lawsuit leveled against the firm by partner Ellen Pao. Doerr said his firm intends to defend itself “vigorously” against the “false allegations,” adding the charges had previously been found to be without merit by an independent expert, and reiterated KPCB’s track record of hiring and funding women and their companies. The full statement is here.

Andreessen Horowitz Partners Pledge Half Their VC Income to Philanthropy

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz say they want to improve venture capital’s image by committing to philanthropy.
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Headless Lawsuit in Topless Blog!