Khosla Ventures
Alex Kinnier is a partner at Khosla Ventures, where he is focused on solar energy utilization, thermal efficiency, energy conversion devices, energy storage, and biofuels.
Over the past 10 years, Alex has created, launched, and grown a variety of technology and household products. As a Group Product Manager at Google, Alex built the Agency display advertising team and created Google’s next generation third party serving and targeting system. As part of this effort Alex was a leader of the $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick. On the consumer side of Google’s business, Alex earned an Executive Management Group award for leading the product response to Microsoft’s IE7 browser launch that significantly increased Google’s search share. In Brand Management at Procter & Gamble, Alex leveraged a forgotten technology and led two award winning marketing campaigns to build his brand to $80 million in sales. And, in Product Development at Procter & Gamble, Alex led the development and launch of three new-to-the-world Febreze products that helped the brand achieve sales of over $400 million in 50 countries in 24 months.
Alex also knows the joy and pain associated with starting a venture from scratch. In 2002, Alex began in Cleantech, founding Ocular Technologies to commercialize enhanced efficiency evaporators utilizing a proprietary monolayer coating that improved air conditioning performance. The challenges of commercializing components of a larger system controlled by an entrenched industry provided Alex with a learning experience that informs his investing.
