. . . and walk out rich! WSJ:
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has Al Gore. Now Khosla Ventures, started by former Kleiner Perkins rainmaker Vinod Khosla, has Tony Blair. The venture firm brought on the former British Prime Minister as a senior adviser who gives Khosla Ventures a powerful political ally for its clean technology portfolio companies. While a press release announcing the hire touts Blair’s “consistent commitment to addressing climate change,” the U.K.’s New Statesman was more critical of Blair’s green-energy past, saying in 2003 he attempted to “‘greenwash’ the then government’s environmental record, publishing a white paper on energy provision that many felt was full of hollow promises and light on hard targets.” Either way, some cleantech investors realize they need to more help navigating the political arena. As VentureWire first reported last week, former New York Governor George Pataki recently joined the advisory board of cleantech investor EnerTech Capital. “It’s all about [the advisory board members’] contacts, their rolodex,” said EnerTech Managing Director Wally Hunter.