John Doerr started off his morning looking at a chart—no doubt a common occurrence for one of the most famous investors in Silicon Valley history. Except this time Doerr was on the witness stand, and the chart was a list of partners employed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers during the `80s and `90s. And the list didn’t include any women, said Alan Exelrod, an opposing attorney in the gender discrimination case that’s pulling back the curtain on one of the tech industry’s most storied venture capital firms. Exelrod asked Doerr to confirm that Kleiner didn’t employ women during those decades.
But you don’t get to be a billionaire by backing down that easily. The chart had left off investing partner Cynthia Healy, who worked in the life sciences division, Doerr said. During the same round of questioning, Doerr was unwavering in his assertion that Kleiner didn’t discriminate.
“I don’t consider Kleiner Perkins to be a firm run by men,” he said. “We have many female partners, many female general partners.”
Doerr’s turn on the stand came during the second week of testimony in the gender bias lawsuit filed three years ago by Ellen Pao, a one-time partner at the firm. Pao is suing Kleiner Perkins for $16 million in damages, alleging that she was held back professionally at the firm because of her gender and that Kleiner Perkins retaliated against her when she reported being pressured into a relationship with a married colleague.
I don’t consider Kleiner Perkins to be a firm run by men. John Doerr
The potentially landmark trial, now in its sixth day in court, could have far-reaching implications for how women are treated in a male-dominated industry. Doerr’s testimony is being watched especially closely, and not just because of his massive influence as the venture capitalist who led Kleiner’s investments in such wildly successful companies as Amazon and Google. As Pao’s longtime boss and mentor, Doerr also plays a key role in the events cited in Pao’s case. While Doerr himself has been absent from the courtroom until now, his name has been mentioned throughout the trial, with former and current colleagues casting him in a positive light. He’s been portrayed by other Kleiner colleagues as Pao’s protector at the firm and a supporter of getting more women into the venture capital industry in general.
“Team JD”
Doerr testified Tuesday that he viewed the associate partner and chief-of-staff job for “Team JD”—the position Pao was hired to fill at Kleiner back in 2005—to be “very sophisticated.” A job description shown in court by Pao’s team said the position required someone with a technical undergraduate degree in either computer science, mechanical engineering, or electrical engineering. An advanced degree in law or business was described as desirable, though not required.
Previously, the Kleiner defense team tried to cast this role as largely administrative in nature, with tasks that included helping with the calendar and writing speeches and press releases. Pao, the defense argued, should not have expected to transition into a full-time investing role from this starting position. But Doerr acknowledged under questioning from Exelrod that two partners on Team JD—Matt Murphy and Aileen Lee, who were both hired around 1999—were promoted to senior partner after about five years each.
Exelrod tried to establish a pattern of glowing praise from Doerr for Pao, citing passages from her 2006 performance review in which Doerr complimented Pao’s writing skills her successfully planning of a “global summit” that resulted in KPCB receiving a “significant number of new business plans.” In two reviews, an employee evaluation from 2006 and a 2007 email related to Kleiner Perkins’ China initiative, Doerr called Pao “quiet,” which Exelrod tried to show was meant as a compliment. The descriptions stood in stark contrast to those offered by colleagues, who accused Pao of elbowing her way into other people’s initiatives and of being “territorial.”
Team Building, VC-Style
In his testimony, however, Doerr himself also said that Pao had had trouble with interpersonal skills during the time she was employed at Kleiner Perkins. “I think you’ll find this was a recurring challenge,” he said. To “build a relationship of trust and cordiality” with former Kleiner partner Trae Vassallo, who had also testified in the case, Doerr suggested that Pao challenge her to a game of tennis, or that the two travel to China together.
Of Pao’s affair with then-Kleiner partner Ajit Nazre, Doerr testified he thought Nazre had displayed a serious lack of judgment, and confirmed he wanted to fire Nazre in 2007—and that he might have, had Pao not stepped in and said she was prepared to move past the conflict and continue the work relationship. Doerr confirmed that Nazre’s bonus was docked as a result of the affair but that “the biggest punishment was I told him I’d lost confidence in his ability to be a leader at Kleiner Perkins.” Nazre was promoted to a senior partner position in 2008 but left the company in 2012 after a sexual harassment investigation.
In his testimony, Doerr also confirmed Pao’s claim that he asked her to hand over a client with whom she had been building relationships, patent management company RPX, to another Kleiner Perkins partner. Pao claimed Doerr asked her to do so because Komisar “needed a win,” which he confirmed on the witness stand. “Kleiner needed a win,” Doerr said. “We all needed a win.”
‘Better Leaders’
In her cross-examination, defense attorney Lynne Hermle urged Doerr to discuss his advocacy work. Doerr said he did nonprofit work in education, the climate crisis, and reduction of poverty, especially for women with AIDS in Africa. “My fourth, but not final cause, is advocating for women,” Doer said, “the subject of this trial.”
Hermle went on to list every woman at Kleiner Perkins, asking if Doerr had a hand in hiring them. Doerr confirmed each one. He also confirmed that he had backed plenty of women-led companies during his time at Kleiner Perkins. Doerr called the number of women in the venture capital industry “pathetic,” and he testified that he thinks a more diverse group leads to better decision making and better products. “Almost always,” he testified, “women are better leaders than men.”
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