capitalBLOG

Benchmark & Kleiner Perkins - Acquired Ties, but Consistent Exits

March 15, 2007 on 5:31 pm | In Company Analysis, Mergers & Acquisitions, Investor Analysis, In the news |

Joshua Jaffe of thedeal.com found/applied a LinkSViewer map to illustrate Tellme Network relations (cool, this how I envision our tool being used).  He posed an interesting supposition on his VCRatings blog:

What also comes through by analyzing TellMe’s network is that another capital-thirsty Kleiner Perkins and Benchmark portfolio company, Good Technology, also found a buyer a few months ago. A pattern, perhaps? I’m not sure, but other co-investments by the pair include Infinera, which has filed for an IPO, and Friendster, which is huge in the Philippines.

I got to thinking, what other Silicon Valley deals were Kleiner Perkins and Benchmark involved in?  For this I examined their combined Company Map (Company filter = Active + Inactive companies; Investor Filter = 3 Types unchecked; orange and red links hidden):  

Benchmark/Kleiner Company Map - This cluster indicates their active and inactive company co-investments.  Note how 11/15 (including Tellme Networks) were acquired, 3 are public, and only 1 (Friendster) is private.  What is most interesting is that 14/15 of their co-investments have resulted in exits (some more successful than others). 

This map helps validates Joshua’s initial supposition, that Kleiner Perkins and Benchmark have been co-investors on their share of acquisitions.  And given the recent leverage of Friendster (round funding on 8/06, patent grants, and users in the Philippines), this is likely to be a perfect 15/15 in the Valley.  If I were a company looking for funding, this connection would in all probability guarantee some form of exit (and to be fair 20% went IPO).  There must be something about the Kleiner/Benchmark connection… 

Registered LinkSViewer users are encouraged to explore interesting maps for key connections.  Let us know if you find a cool map using the ”email this map” feature to linksviewer@groupscope.com and drop us a comment briefly describing your map/issue.  We can help you post it to your blog, you can guest post it to our blog, or we will post it and give you props (if you like).  Happy mapping!