Early Life
L. John Doerr was born on June 29, 1951, in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis. Doerr obtained a B.S. and an M.E.E. degree in electrical engineering from Rice University and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1976.
Rise to Success
Doerr's career began at Intel Corporation in 1974, where he excelled as a top salesperson and held several patents for memory devices. In 1980, he joined Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm, and directed funding to technology companies, including Compaq, Netscape, Symantec, Sun Microsystems, drugstore.com, Amazon.com, Intuit, Macromedia, and Google. He notably invested $12.5 million in Google in 1999, which became a multi-billion dollar success.
Key Business Strategies
Doerr's success is rooted in his ability to recognize and support groundbreaking entrepreneurs. He emphasizes not only capital but also mentorship, helping founders grow into effective leaders. He championed the use of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), a goal-setting system that has spread across the corporate world.
Philanthropy
John Doerr is a strong supporter of environmental sustainability and has made significant contributions to the cause. In 2022, he and his wife, Ann, donated $1.1 billion to Stanford University to establish the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Doerr serves on the board of Bono's ONE campaign to fight global poverty, particularly disease in Africa.