he and his partners launched genentech in 1976 with nothing more than a checkbook and an idea. >> thedea was to trick nature into letting us make something that didn't exist in nature -- in particular, human insulin. >> genentech's success led to new ways of treating everything from diabetes to dwarfism, and to getting rich. kleiner perkins' initial investment of $250,000 soared 800-fold to $200 million. >> that's what venture capitalists are created to do, and you can blame converting the orchards of silicon valley into parking lots partly on me and partly on genentech, because we proved that this kind of high-risk, high-tech venture capital could be an enormous home run, and everybody wanted to get in on it, including lots of entrepreneurs, and that's what got this whole silicon valley engine rolling, in my opinion. >> and it took somebody like perkins, with a background in science, to figure it out. he got an engineering degree from m.i.t. and an mba from harvard business school, and yet, he says, only two out of about every 10 of his projects resulted in a home run. when you think

genentech, represented by jeffrey teeter. [applause] hewlett-packard, represented today by kirsten rivera. [applause] kaiser permanente take, represented by yvette radford. [applause] wells fargo, represented by richard belite. [applause] to our cable partner, odwalla, represented by mason thorton. [applause] to our building partner, chevron, represented by russ yaro. [applause] david miller. [applause] levi strauss and co., represented by jill nash. [applause] pg&e, represented today by tony early. [applause] who proposed to his beautiful wife on the golden gate bridge. a fantastic story. [applause] speeck products -- speck products, represented by their whole marketing team. [applause] thank you all so much. we would not be here without your brief and to support. please join me in expressing our gratitude to our media and promotion partners -- and this is quite a list. nbc bay area. [applause] san francisco chronicle, sf gate, kgo, knbr, kfso, san francisco magazine, san francisco travels, telemundo, and because it is the 2

genentech. also an educational partner and an innovator in the health care world. and kaiser permanente a who saw the power of the bridge in the surrounding park lands to bring exercise to the community and the millions of people who, thanks to the wonderful work that has been done over the years in congress, have allowed our surrounding areas here to be full of people that walk, jog, and by the bridge a nearby park lands. please join me in thanking these towers sponsors. [applause] quickly, at the cable and builders of a ship level, again, really rock rib, san francisco bay area companies that mean so much to our communities that have joined us. levi strauss, chevron, pg&e, odwalla, handsome bridget, and spec products. they're usually responsible with this week in and celebrating a bridge that connects all of us whether you live here or a far. thank you so much. [applause] >> we're almost there, folks. mary and nancy, thank you again so much. and to all of your steering committee members for your incomparable leadership at the 75th anniversary of our golden gate b

some california companies like genentech say that is not fair.he bay area biotech firm decided to open an offense in oregon to take advantage of the tax break. prop 39 stops rewarding companies for creating jobs out of state. with the billion dollars a year half of it will help retrofit public buildings for alternative energy for five years and help train a workforce to do the projects and the other half goes to the state budget to help schools. >> it brings over a billion dollars to the state every single year and the way it is constructed itle create tens of thousands, up to a hundred thousand jobs. >> multistate companies say changing the tax formula will actually cost california jobs. >> it will raise the cost of doing business in the state and that will hurt jobs. >> with no formal campaign launched to fight prop 39 it will be difficult to reach out to voters. >> it is hard to understand whatcom lexitys of corporate complexities really are and if you don't understand it you should probably vote know. >> styer does admit that he invests in gr

we want and genentech -- an agenda, an initiative leading up to the 100th anniversary. funding has been on a precipitous decline. park funding has dropped 15%. we will evil -- either allow the funding cut to continue and have things get a lot worse, or we will reverse that trend. we are in a crossroads. people who will determine which road we go down will be americans. we need to tell this administration and governor romney and congress to invest in the national parks for the benefit of the parks, for the benefit of americans, and the benefit of the parks. host: a tweet that says, do not privatize national parks. julia in washington, d.c. is on the line. caller: i am a flight attendant and i am overnighting in washington. my thing is, america is the people and the parks. back when the -- back in the great depression, they had tva. that created jobs during the depression. why can we correct -- create jobs? if we cannot get obamas to, maybe we need to get another president -- if we can get obamas to, maybe we need to get another president -- if we cannot get obama to, may