Mannerisms

Who says so? Tom Perkins himself in his book 'Valley Boy'.

Perkins invented the off-balance partnership to cope with the heavy cash needs of Genentech, the original gene splicing company which came up with an artificial way of making insulin which, up to then, had been obtained from pigs and cows.

Genentech, according to Perkins: "Would rocket into history as, in percentage return, the most successful venture capital investment of all time".

Kleiner Perkins invested $250,000 for a third of the company. Perkins was one of three directors.

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Writing in 2006, Perkins said: "If you bought shares at the offering price, held them, and reinvested as necessary, adjusting for all the splits, one dollar of the IPO would today be worth around $350 in your pocket."

David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, was to join the Genentech board.

Perkins recounts how Packard was asked at HP: "Dave, have you learned a lot about DNA at Genentech?"

To which Packard replied: "I haven't learned a damn thing about DNA, but I've sure learned a lot about financing."