John Doerr, one of the legends in the venture capital industry and head of Silicon Valley VC powerhouse Kleiner Perkins, will be taking the stage at the CED Tech Venture Conference.

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development announced Doerr’s participation in the Sept. 19-20 conference early Tuesday.

It’s the first time Doerr has made a speaking engagement in North Carolina, according to the CED.

Doerr became the first chair of Kleiner Perkins last year.

  • VIDEO: Watch a presentation from Doerr “Ideas are easy, execution is everything” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xWGSUZmkIc

“We are honored, humbled, and beyond thrilled to have John Doerr, a true legend and national treasure, viewed by most as Silicon Valley’s most important and greatest venture capitalist in history, joining us for a fireside chat at the CED Tech Venture Conference,” said Steve Nelson, a veteran Triangle investor and entrepreneur who will host the chat.

“John has literally changed the world, and our lives, and those of generations to follow, by the founders, ideas, and companies he has backed and worked energetically and tirelessly on behalf of. Amazon. Google. No need to say more! If we looked up the words ‘change agent’, ‘market maker’, and ‘market disruptor’ in the dictionary, we would likely see John’s picture.”

Doerr has backed such firms as Google, Amazon and Intuit.

He joins a growing list of high-profile speakers for the two-day tech showcase, including:

  • David Cohen, founder and co-CEO of Techstars, who will have a main-stage chat with Chris Heivly
  • Doug Lebda, founder, chairman & CEO of Charlotte-based LendingTree
  • Michael Chasen, CEO of Raleigh-based PrecisionHawk

Silicon Valley-based VCs at the event include: Alex Estevez, Venture Partner at Accel Partners; Mark Fernandes, Managing Partner at Sierra Ventures; and Brendon Kim, Vice President, Managing Director and Global Head of Investments at Samsung NEXT.

Bio: John Doerr

John Doerr joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 1980 and has since backed some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, including Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt of Google; Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, and Scott Cook and Bill Campbell of Intuit. John’s passion is helping entrepreneurs create the “Next Big Thing” in mobile and social networks, greentech innovation, education and economic development. Ventures sponsored by John have created more than 300,000 new jobs. John serves on the boards of Amyris, Google, and Zynga, as well as several private technology ventures. He also led KPCB’s investment in Twitter.

John’s technology career began in 1974 at Intel, just as the chipmaker was inventing the groundbreaking 8080 microprocessor. During his Intel years, he held roles in engineering, marketing, management and sales. John also learned about operating excellence from Intel co-founder Andy Grove — insight that he continues to share with entrepreneurs today. He later founded Silicon Compilers, a VLSI CAD software company, and co-founded @Home, the nationwide broadband cable Internet service.

Outside of KPCB, John supports entrepreneurs focused on the environment, public education and alleviating global poverty. These include NewSchools.org, TechNet.org, the Climate Reality Project and ONE.org. John earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Rice University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He also holds several patents for computer memory devices. John is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Source: Kleiner Perkins