Kleiner Plays Catch-Up

Venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led the late-1990s dot-com frenzy with investments in Netscape, Amazon and, later, Google. But after spreading its bets to clean technology -- and missing out on early-stage investments in some of the hottest new Internet companies -- the firm is scrambling to grab a leadership role in the latest Web boom.