While true in the financial sense - it somewhat depends on if success can only be a binary measurement and the only measure that matters is return to LPs. [1]
If the alternative reality is allowed to be entertained, it is very much possible to say KP was instrumental in laying the groundwork for a clean tech VC ecosystem - jumpstarting VC activity amongst other VCs and supplying a ton of critical social cred to clean teach entrepreneurs/engineers that they were legit and not just tree-hugging pie-in-the-sky dreamers.
Herd mentality and FOMO among other competing VCs following suit likely significantly multiplied the amount of clean tech VC dollars that KP directly allocated and led to many of the successful clean tech companies today.
Also there's a ton of fundamental clean tech R&D that was learned in the areas of energy demand management, solar and battery tech knowledge at the KP funded startups. It was also much more visible what failed so subsequent startups could avoid those hazards. And as engineers at the failed startups dispersed, they could then be picked up by future successful players.
And even though it lost, there's also a ton of social cred in KP putting in a bid for Tesla's Series C. It set a lower bound on Tesla stake for Vantage Point and gave Elon that much more capital at a crucial stage. [2]
If the alternative reality is allowed to be entertained, it is very much possible to say KP was instrumental in laying the groundwork for a clean tech VC ecosystem - jumpstarting VC activity amongst other VCs and supplying a ton of critical social cred to clean teach entrepreneurs/engineers that they were legit and not just tree-hugging pie-in-the-sky dreamers.
Herd mentality and FOMO among other competing VCs following suit likely significantly multiplied the amount of clean tech VC dollars that KP directly allocated and led to many of the successful clean tech companies today.
Also there's a ton of fundamental clean tech R&D that was learned in the areas of energy demand management, solar and battery tech knowledge at the KP funded startups. It was also much more visible what failed so subsequent startups could avoid those hazards. And as engineers at the failed startups dispersed, they could then be picked up by future successful players.
And even though it lost, there's also a ton of social cred in KP putting in a bid for Tesla's Series C. It set a lower bound on Tesla stake for Vantage Point and gave Elon that much more capital at a crucial stage. [2]
[1] https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-rctom/submission/weathering...
[2] https://pando.com/2012/07/17/who-made-the-bigger-mistake-in-...