Economic Times Sept 26
Vinod Khosla, Global Indian of the year
The award seeks to honour Indians who have set standards in excellence on a global platform and emerged as role models for people of Indian origin.
Vinod Khosla is as much an environmental activist as he is an investor and entrepreneur. Since 2004, when he set up Khosla Ventures, the Sun Microsystems co-founder has displayed almost messianic zeal in his quest to find alternative energy companies that can displace the dominance of fossil fuels.
Untiring in his quest to change the way the world consumes energy, the 58-year-old Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist has backed a number of startups developing futuristic technology.
These span the gamut from energy-efficiency device makers to healthcare solutions and alternative fuel companies. The IIT-Delhi graduate has often said he is unfazed by failure because a single spectacular success can make up for a dozen flops.
In choosing him as The Economic Times Global Indian of the Year 2013, the jury is recognising not only his sterling professional track record but a unique investment philosophy built on pushing conventional boundaries.
As a senior partner at Silicon Valley’s Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Khosla led deals backing chipmaker Nexgen that was bought by AMD, helping break Intel’s monopoly. He also funded Juniper, which would challenge the dominance of Cisco in the router market.
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ET Awards 2012-13: Vinod Khosla, the Global Indian of the Year
