Longest-serving partner at his very influential firm, he is one of the most prominent investors in bioscience and the acknowledged "godfather" of personalized medicine. Formed the first life sciences practice in the venture industry in 1984. KPCB has funded or supported more than 110 companies that impact the healthcare industry. Several in his portfolio were founded by other list members, like Tethys Biosciences and Genomic Health. (Byers is a director of both.) KPCB also invests in healthcare services, represented by startups like RedBrick Health. 

From a speech at Stanford:

"Genes matter. Patients with cancer, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoperosis and other diseases have individual genetic signatures of their manifestation ... So should [molecular diagnostic] tests that will cost $750 to $5,000 be feared by people who want to get a grip on healthcare expenditures -- by the medical profession, payers, FDA, policy makers? Or should they be embraced? They should be embraced, because they can show excellent healthcare economics."