Part I — The story
The story
Vinod Khosla co-founded Sun Microsystems, a landmark computing company, before becoming a venture capitalist known for backing the boldest, most ambitious bets in technology — clean energy, AI, biotech, food science — areas others consider too risky or too far out. He founded Khosla Ventures explicitly to fund audacious ideas with the potential to transform whole industries.
Khosla embraces a portfolio philosophy suited to moonshots: most bold bets will fail, but the rare success can be so enormous that it more than compensates. He argues that meaningful innovation comes from being willing to fail unconventionally, and that the biggest problems — and rewards — lie where others fear to invest.
Khosla represents venture capital's appetite for asymmetric bets — funding the improbable because the payoff from the rare success can reshape the world, and because the biggest opportunities live where the risk scares others away.
Part II — The playbook
The playbook
Pursue asymmetric bets
Khosla funds moonshots where rare wins dwarf many losses.
Fund what others fear
He invests in areas others consider too risky or far-out.
Accept unconventional failure
Most bold bets fail; that's the price of transformative wins.
In their words
Most people won't try because they're afraid to fail.
The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity.
Failure doesn't matter; the magnitude of success does.
What to read next
- (essays and interviews of Vinod Khosla) —
Why this matters
The thinking behind these decisions connects to models you can study directly:
Frequently asked questions
What is Vinod Khosla known for?
Co-founding Sun Microsystems, then founding Khosla Ventures to back audacious 'moonshot' bets in clean energy, AI, biotech and food science that others consider too risky.
What is Khosla's investing philosophy?
An asymmetric, moonshot approach: most bold bets fail, but the rare success can be so enormous it more than compensates — and the biggest opportunities lie where others fear to invest.