Tech guru John Doerr loves iPhone and Hillary Clinton

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I intercepted John Doerr, the famous venture capitalist who placed early bets on some of the world’s biggest tech companies, as he moved at bullet-train speed through the Apple developer conference with a silver Mac notebook (Drats! I didn’t notice whether it was a Macbook Air) tucked under his arm.

An unabashed iPhone booster, Doerr is one of the key people behind the iFund, the $100 million program from VC firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers to finance businesses creating applications for the iPhone.

The iPhone upgrades announced today, including a version that includes GPS and runs on a faster 3G network, makes the device ‘the most important platform that has ever been announced,’ Doerr said. ‘It knows who you are and where you are. It feels gorgeous.’

So far the iFund has given money to four ventures and is negotiating with a fifth, Doerr said. The only two projects that are public are one from Pelago called Whrrl that helps iPhone users find businesses and other places of interest, and another from iControl Networks, which lets you monitor and control your home security system remotely through the iPhone.

And a quick question for Doerr, one of Silicon Valley’s most outspoken Democrats, about the end of his party’s presidential primary season. He put his hand to his heart and said: ‘I am very loyal to Hillary, but I am behind Barack Obama.’

-- Michelle Quinn