Its been sometime since I last posted. Excuse me for the same. Hopefully from now I plan to engage my readers regularly.

I had recently been to what the organizers call as ” The Biggest Showcase of CleanTech Cos in India “. It was held in Hyderabad. I was really surprised by the sheer number of companies which had participated.

They were some good teams which showcased their ideas. Its really good to see so many of them competing/ participating from all over India. The objective was to pitch their plans to prospective investors.

They were some 25 companies which had participated. The event was organized by TiE Hyderabad in association with ISB & New Ventures India.

At this rate very soon we will see some good companies emerge out of India in the CleanTech area.

I also happened to visit ICRISAT in Hyderabad and was very happy to see their huge campus which is extremely well maintained.

All in all I really look forward to a Great Entrepreneurial New Year ahead.

Here’s Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas & a Very Prosperous New Year 2010.

The Copenhagen circus is over. Thousands of gallons of coffee, hundreds of flights, and much flag-waving (not only by protesters!) has resulted in an agreement which has been called anything from a failure, to a ‘positive sign’ for future rounds of negotiations. One thing is for sure: the goal of writing and signing a binding treaty was not reached – far from it.

However, while emissions targets remain elusive, a key question is the effect – if any – that Copenhagen has had on the cleantech sector. After all, any emissions reductions targets will have to pass through the sector: cleantech firms will be charged with developing and commercializing solutions which point towards the policy Nirvana of the so-called ‘low carbon economy’. So what are the main trends affecting cleantech which have come out of Copenhagen so far?

Agreement or no agreement, cleantech markets are here to stay

The Copenhagen conference featured several events aimed at, and run by, green businesses. A clear, binding agreement would have provided a boon for such businesses in terms of vision, clear policy landscapes, and risk management. However, while the conference has largely been declared a failure, there are signals that cleantech businesses are looking past this short time frame, to the low carbon economy which many governments are still trying to promote. While Copenhagen may have stalled as a political process, market reality continues. For example Vestas, the Danish wind turbine manufacturer, announced that, with or without a treaty at Copenhagen, it would increase its R&D workforce by 50%.

Furthermore, in the current economic crisis, it makes sense in the short term to adopt cost-saving – read ‘green’ – technologies and measures. Cleantech products are increasinly seen not as premium offerings, but as competitive technologies and processes which can help contribute to the bottom line. As Jared Diamond has recently argued in the New York Times, cleantech’s cost-saving  potential is, increasingly, its main attraction. Governments see this too: in the UK, Labour’s Low Carbon Transition Plan aims to set up a ‘green collar’ workforce of 1.2 million workers by 2020.

Emerging markets rise to prominence

One of the positive results about the otherwise lacklustre negotiations in Copenhagen has also been the agreement to set up a $100 billion fund to help avert the effects of climate change in developing countries. The fund will be financed by developed economies, and will be channelled through individual governments. The aim will be to invest in technologies and processes – from batteries to more efficient offshore wind turbines – which will help mitigate the effects of a changing climate. In short, the aim will be for $100 billion per year to flow largely into cleantech. This will spur cleantech investment in emerging markets.

The establishment of the fund will also open up new markets to the adoption of technologies such as solar, or waste and water treatment and recycling. This will benefit companies such as University of Wisconsin spin-off AquaMost, which has recently developed a device which uses UV light to destroy pathogens and polluters in water. AquaMost. The company is pitching for investment in order to develop its products for the Chinese and Indian markets. With Copenhagen’s concrete focus on funding technologies and projects to mitigate the effects of climate change in developing countries, investors will have renewed incentives to invest in similar technologies.

Setting up the mitigation fund was not well-received by all observers. In the US, the Republican Study Committee, headed by Tom Price, argued that, ‘Some T-shirt company could make a bundle with shirts that say, “My President Went to Copenhagen and All I Got Was This Huge Spending Obligation.”’ This may be bad news for some, but a committed spending obligation is what cleantech needs if it is to continue to develop as a sector which markets itself as providing solutions to climate crisis.

China: cleantech leader for 2010?

In Copenhagen, most eyes were on China. Its role in the future of cleantech is clear: from the point of view of Chinese renewable energy firms and manufacturers, cleantech is a golden export opportunity. And as Ian Thompson, founder of CleanTechies, a San Francisco-based green careers and environmental business network, recently told me, ‘Clean technology is a no-brainer in China: the Chinese are sick of breathing dirty air’.

Market conditions in China are in favour of rapid cleantech development. The so-called ‘China Price’ – the competitive advantage given by low labour costs, economies of scale, and a large internal market – has helped reduce the cost of renewables globally. As Louisa Lim has recently reported for America’s NPR, in the past 12 months the cost of solar panels has decreased by a third, in large part because over the same period, China has become the largest producer of photovoltaic (PV) technology.

This is not the whole story. Copenhagen has also shown that China’s participation in climate policy debates will increasingly affect flows of capital and innovation in the sector. As the world’s fifth largest economy, China is not only starting to punch its weight in the emissions fight. It is incorporating other developing countries in a nascent global alliance, and concerns over emerging markets’ role in reducing emissions is starting to have serious – and positive – knock-on effects on capital availability for cleantech. So, keep a weather eye on China’s rapidly developing cleantech market, but don’t forget the impact this will have on other, significant markets affected by China, India chief among these.

Doubts over uneven policy landscapes

Copenhagen has given the cleantech finance community the sense – if not the tools, yet – that cleantech investors will be effectively driving the transition towards a low carbon economy and towards achieving emissions reductions targets. After all, mitigation and adaptation strategies such as those discussed in the past two weeks have several things in common: the central role of clean technologies, efficiency measures, and consumer and industry adoption of these technologies and processes. These three concerns are also central to the cleantech market today.

Doubts remain, however. In particular, the nature of global negotiations and policy conferences like Copenhagen has highlighted the disjuncture between the policy decision-making process and the world of cleantech finance. While cleantech investors are expected to jump on board, they haven’t necessarily been central to discussions on technology funding to achieve a greener climate. Kassia Yanosek, a private equity investment professional for renewables-focused Hudson Capital Partners, attended Copenhagen and argued that ‘What I am finding is that we (the finance community) do not really have a role in the COP15 negotiations’. This split between policymakers and banks, private equity, insurers and fund managers is regrettable, especially as the figure being touted as needed to reduce emissions by 50% by 2050 is a not-small $500bn annually.

by Federico Caprotti reporting for Skipso from Copenhagen

Here is an article from earth2tech.

“Will 2010 be the year for greentech IPOs? When lithium ion battery maker A123Systems successfully debuted on the Nasdaq back in September, there was much speculation that the move would ready the market for a following of greentech IPOs. The notion seemed over-enthusiastic then, but three months later solar power startup Solyndra has registered for an IPO, which will likely happen in 2010, and we’ve heard rumors that Tesla is plugging away at its S-1 (Reuters also reported an upcoming Tesla IPO).

Then there’s Silver Spring Networks, which just raised $100 million and looks like it’s getting to that stage where it’s too big to be acquired but will need more financing to compete in the smart grid infrastructure market. Silver Spring isn’t commenting on any IPO rumors, but it is clearly one of the best candidates in the greentech world. If these three — Solyndra, Silver Spring and Tesla — do go public in 2010, it’ll make investor Steve Westly look like a pretty solid market forecaster — he predicted in May that these three would go public by early 2010 and he’s already good for one out of the three.

Out of any of the venture capital investment sectors, greentech has the most bullish outlook in 2010 from a VC standpoint. According the National Venture Capital Association, more than half of a group of venture capitalists surveyed predicted that clean technology would see higher investment levels in 2010. According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, venture capital investing in cleantech already rebounded sharply in the third quarter of 2009 to $898 million in 57 deals, up from $475 million in 49 deals in the second quarter of 2009.

The IPO market in general is also looking better to VCs. VCs surveyed by the NVCA are predicting “a mild improvement” in the number of venture-backed IPOs overall in 2010, with 74 percent of respondents saying they think there will be more than 20 IPOs in 2010. However, according to this Reuters article, greentech companies’ offerings represented only a small portion of the overall U.S. IPO market in 2009, ranking fifth by dollars raised in 2009 in the IPO market, and accountng for 8.5 percent of issuance by companies going public in 2009.”

Read the full article here.

The heavily-covered IPO filing by solar panel maker Solyndra (some facts here from Greentech Media) got me to look at the numbers in the “new energy” market again.  They remind me of another science-driven market a decade ago: optical telecom components.  I was right in the middle of that one.

What are some of the features they might have in common?

• Massive venture capital investments.
• Dozens of competitors funded.
• Highly unpredictable, expensive research and development.
• Negative gross margins – we’ll make it up in volume.
• Extremely challenging reliability and lifetime requirements.
• A long, heavily fluctuating supply chain.
• Calls for government spending when actual customers don’t want to pay.
• Chinese competitors keep cutting costs of “old generation” products.

The one thing optical communications had going for it, that new energy does not: end users knew they wanted it because it clearly made life better (and possibly even more productive).  Everyone wants more channels, more broadband, cheaper phone service, video on demand, cheaper cloud services.  Most electricity consumers don’t care what color that electron is, as long as it’s cheap.  And, unfortunately, the winds are increasingly against the taxpayer funding green electrons to be delivered at the same price as dirty ones.

Some specifics on Solyndra:
They are the second high-profile cleantech IPO filing this year, and the second one to do so with negative gross margins on products.  A123 is the other.  The idea is that as you scale revenue, you break into positive territory.  If you can maintain pricing.  A quick plot of some critical lines – extrapolated by implication and without a responsible “model:”

The good news is that the (highly unscientific) lines do actually converge.  However, they converge at an annual revenue run rate of about $1.4 billion.  At the 2009 Solyndra selling price of $3.42/Watt, this can’t be provided by Fab 1 and Phase 1 of Fab 2 (to be completed 2012H1).  Of course there are many scenarios I have left out (both positive and negative).

All that said, I salute the team who built a very difficult technology from the lab concept demo to a company that is probably clicking along at a > $200M run rate.  It is no small feat, nor is raising the very large amount of money required to pull it off!  And I hope they get to profit territory soon!

Predicting trends for the next year is a silly exercise. But oh well. We all play silly games some times. I will check back at the end of 2010 to see how wrong I may have been.

Hot in 2010:

- Water: This is a darling of VCs despite the fact that very few people have actually invested in the space. But I think people will start to get their act together here finally. Invested technologies may not necessarily be in drinking water per se, which is the holy grail, but in industrial/municipal/commercial cleanup applications.

- Biochemicals: Now that VCs have gone soft on biofuels, there will be more interest in the biomass to biochemicals space. DOE has 12 platform chemicals that would be high value add to make, and then there are a number of companies pursuing diff polymer chemistries. VCs like the fact that you can potentially build smaller plants that are still profitable.

- Motors/generators: Old school and probably not so sexy…but markets are large, innovations have been few in the past decades, and applications in electrified vehicles to industrial robotics to high efficiency HVAC are making this an interesting segment again.

- Next gen energy storage: A123 euphoria is eroding a bit (or so I hope), and people will start to look beyond Li-ion for both automotive and grid storage applications. There are some who will wait for cheap Chinese Li-ion to arrive in the US (esp for grid storage applications), but the technophiles are already looking at all solid state, metal-air and other battery chemistries.

- Waste heat: We have seen a few companies invested in this space, but this will be a growing trend. Not just thermoelectrics, but also heat-engines and other mechanical technologies for utilizing low-grade and medium-grade waste heat. People will find applications in developing countries as well, e.g. India.

- Small wind: Is this going to be the year that small wind technologies will finally demonstrate the performance they promise? I think we might see some interesting fundamental innovations to make it more real.

- Balance of System: VCs learnt a few new words in 2009, and ‘Balance of System’ costs were among them. With pressure on solar/LEDs etc for rapid cost cutting, there will be more investments in equipment and other businesses that bring these costs down.

Not-so-hot in 2010:

- Biofuels: Despite some investments in the algae fuel space in 2009, it will take some time for investor confidence to return to the biofuels space. At least a few of the companies that have now raised hundreds of million of dollars would probably need to find an exit for their investors first.

- Solar PV: Another casualty of the financial downturn and the China factor in 2009. Investors remain unclear how big the technical/cost disruption needs to be for a new player to emerge successful. Investments will be slow until market conditions improve and inventory declines.

- Smart grid: This must have been the hottest sector in 2009. But now there are credible worries of a hype in the sector. So I think VCs will go into a watch and track mode.

- Electric cars: The year started off with new electric auto OEMs trying to raise capital as future tech platform suppliers to the big OEMs. And then the gov’t came and infused billions into them directly as well as into their suppliers. Now the same companies are gearing for an IPO, riding high on gov’t dollars.

- Algae fuels: I just don’t see how the current technologies scale and become cost-effective. Is there a venture play here at all?

- Concentrating PV: 2009 was a difficult year for CPV players. It was hard to raise money and they all needed to get to large scale for costs to come down. 2010 might also be a difficult year for many of them. The upfront capex is still too high compared to CSP and rapidly declining non-concentrating PV costs.

- Project development: Lack of project finance scared VCs  from companies developing infrastructure projects. While project finance may start to flow (or so I hope), it will still take a while for VCs to get comfortable with such capital intensive projects. Eventually this space should see lots of action.

Sarah M: As 2009 comes to a close, we are faced with the never-ending lists of “Best of 2009″ – best movies, music, books, websites, photos and celebrities, just to name a few.  One of the most exciting and interesting lists I have come across is the  50 Best Inventions of 2009, which has recently been published by TIME.   The inventions range from nifty gadgets to breakthrough medical technologies from all over the world, including the US, Australia, Japan, Germany, Italy, Holland and Great Britain.

The number one invention of 2009 was awarded to NASA’s Ares Rockets.  The Ares 1 rocket is an impressive 100 metres tall, manufactured with lightweight composites, superior engines, and advanced computer systems, giving it more reliability and power.  NASA designers claim that the Ares fleet of rockets with be 10 times safer than current shuttles, and up to three times safer than competing boosters.  It will allow for travel and exploration into realms of outerspace that we have not yet encountered, which truly boggles the mind.

Australia earned the number two position for the successful breeding of southern bluefin tuna, by Clean Seas, a feat that had previously been deemed as impossible.  The southern bluefin populations had been decreasing rapidly, plummeting more than 90 % since the 1950’s, due to increasing demand from overseas markets.  Clean Seas has now established sustainable seafood farming, and they are also working towards becoming a carbon neutral business.

Energy saving was a popular theme in the 50 Best Inventions of 2009, which brings us to invention number three: The $10 million lightbulb.  In seeking an LED alternative for the common 60-watt bulb in the quest to save energy in households, Philips Electronics designed a light bulb that emits the same amount of light that an incandescent lamp does, but it uses less than 10 watts, and lasts for 25,000 hours – this is a whopping 25 times longer than the bulbs that we used to know and love!

In working my way through to number 50, I discovered a vast array of intriguing inventions, including the teleportation of atoms, an AIDS vaccine, an electric eye, solar roof shingles, a handheld ultrasound, a bladeless fan, a fully electric car, wooden bones, a human-powered vending machine, a foldable speaker, a swimming supersuit, spiderweb silk, a 3D camera, as well as a car that is powered by a biodiesel mix of chocolate and vegetable oil.

It’s amazing to read about the ideas that people have, and the inventions that eventually surface.  Not only do lists like these allow us to praise the scientific minds that work hard to improve our everyday living, but it also gives us just a small glimpse into the future, and what it might hold for all of us.

Buried deep down the bottom of an article on ZDnet is:

A CE [Country Energy] household [smart meter] trial in NSW revealed it was children and not parents who responded to automated alerts, for example, that lights had been left on. This would suggest that parents were not sensitive to the price of energy, Simes told ZDNet.com.au.

This could have interesting implications for those services/products looking to help people reduce their energy bill. Whilst you might sell the meter to the adult, you might want to have the children’s mobile and emails (i.e. the whole family) connected to the alerts to achieve maximum effectiveness.

If parents aren’t responding then a product relying on the parents to take action may be perceived as “not working”.

Lightspeed has invested across several cleantech areas, including solar (Stion), biofuels (LS9, Solazyme), clean coal (Coaltek), LED lighting (Exclara), and energy storage (Leyden Energy, f/k/a Mobius Power).

Peter Nieh and I (Andrew Chung) teamed up again this year to make a few predictions about cleantech in 2010 (see our prior year predictions for 2009 and 2008):

1. There will be increased availability of equity, debt, and project finance capital, along with an increased flight to quality.

Despite 2009 being a slow year for venture capital firms raising funds (Q3 featured the fewest number of VC firms raising money in 15 years), the cleantech category appears to have drawn continued commitments. Several domestic firms raised large cleantech-focused funds earlier this year. Internationally – from China to Singapore, India to South Africa – a number of local venture and private equity firms are now raising multi-hundred million dollar funds to target cleantech investment. As such, the global pool of equity capital targeted at cleantech will be greater in 2010, as investors continue to look at the sector as a source of investment opportunity. The emergence of the debt markets from the depths of the fallout from late 2008 and the growth in capital flows from an improved stock market should also increase the availability of debt, tax equity, and project finance capital.

Despite the rise in availability of capital in 2010, investors will likely remain cautious. We expect a larger share of dollars to go into emerging leaders and high-potential portfolio companies, as the number of new companies funded in first-time investments grows more moderately. Larger funds may preserve capital to make more substantial bets in later-stage, “winner’s circle” companies.

2. Massive project deployments and manufacturing capacity growth will be undertaken, as winners and losers become more apparent.

In 2010, we expect a number of prominent VC-backed cleantech companies to be tested, as they emerge from R&D and initial customer acquisition and move into full-scale production and/or deployment mode. Some companies will rise to market leadership, while others may fall, as the myths and reality of their technology, competitive edge, and ability to scale come to light.

The “shakeout” will likely impact the sectors that have seen the most investment in recent years, such as:

• Solar: Many up-and-coming solar manufacturers have made bold claims about their capabilities. As these companies start to ramp their manufacturing capacity, their validity of their claims on efficiencies, yields, cost economics, capital efficiency, and field reliability will become more readily apparent. Companies will find it much more difficult to “scale first, optimize later,” as pressure on cash reserves increase significantly.

• Smart grid: As some of the massive project deployments with nationwide utilities roll out, whether new technologies can truly scale to millions of endpoints cost effectively and reliably will become clearer. The utilities will also better judge the extent of the value created by the deployed networks and how far it extends beyond advanced metering into areas like demand response, distribution automation, and network management.

3. Momentum in plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles to continue, as a greater variety of vehicles starts to arrive to market. Electrical storage will be the key enabling technology.

Nearly every major carmaker claims it will launch a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or all-electric vehicle (EV) some time between 2010 and 2013, as concept cars start to become production models. Notable target launches for 2010 include the Chevy Volt and Nissan EV-02. Numerous startups will also look to enter the market, despite the challenges in raising the funding needed to compete in the automobile industry.

Another trend to watch in 2010 will be an increased focus for fleet operators to consider adoption of HEVs and PHEVs, as the industry looks to rebound from the downturn and retire more of their aging fleet. Adoption will still be early, but sustainability initiatives and new emissions regulations should help.

The key enabler for the HEV and PHEV revolution will continue to be the battery technology. While established companies like Sanyo, LG, and Hitachi are all attempting to adapt their lithium-ion battery technology for the automotive market, limitations with traditional chemistries have made it difficult for a clear victor to become apparent; startups have an opportunity to disrupt the market and become alternatives for OEMs. For example, Leyden Energy (formerly Mobius Power, a Lightspeed portfolio company) is bringing to market Li-ion batteries that offer the high energy density that is critical for EVs, while providing a high degree of safety and long cycle life over a wide operating temperature range. We expect there to be some healthy competition and progress made here in 2010.

4. 2010 could see several public exits from some of the emerging leaders; consolidation, M&A, partnership, and JV activity expected to grow

With the IPO markets opening a crack in mid-2009 after nearly a year-long drought among VC-backed companies, investors appear cautiously optimistic about some public offerings in the cleantech area in 2010. We expect that IPO demand in this sector will be driven by factors like the success of the A123 offering (although the stock has come down 35% from its high and stabilized at where it opened in September 2009) and the scarcity of quality cleantech public companies.

Consolidation and vertical integration in areas like solar and biofuels will continue – many involving distressed companies that can no longer support the high cost of their assets and debt load. A number of solar M&A deals were announced in 2009, including First Solar acquiring Optisolar for $400 million and MEMC acquiring SunEdison for $200 million.

A number of biofuels companies have been active in the last couple of years developing strategic partnerships and joint ventures in order to speed up their market entry. LS9 and Solazyme (Lightspeed portfolio companies), for example, have teamed up with established giants like Chevron, Proctor & Gamble, and the U.S. Navy to further their development efforts.

We expect to see these types of transactions and relationships to continue in earnest in 2010, as large companies seek ways to tap into startup innovation, and startups seek ways to scale up in more capital-efficient fashion.

Google CO2 Cube: Monthly Emissions per Person

As the Google cube – a 27×27x27 foot video screen illustrating the volume of a metric ton of CO2 – rotated outside the window of the Cassiopeia Restaurant in the choppy gray waters of Copenhagen’s Lake St. Jørgens, I sat down to breakfast this morning with Speaker Pelosi and the U.S. Congressional delegation to the U.N. climate negotiations. Pelosi asked for this Smart Grid briefing from myself and other leaders of the Demand Response and Smart Grid alliance for two reasons: helping to reduce carbon emissions and helping to create jobs. Pelosi said the Smart Grid is important to climate change and ought to be part of the climate change debate, both here in Copenhagen and back home.

In addition to covering policy issues with the Members, I briefly demonstrated eMeter’s consumer engagement software and Control4’s Home Area Network devices to illustrate key elements of saving energy: consumer information feedback, dynamic pricing, automated control of smart appliances – and the added consumer benefit of convenience (in this case through an automated door lock: push a button by your bedside at night, turn off all the lights, and make sure all your doors are locked). The potential energy savings? Dan Reicher, Google’s Director-Energy and Climate Change Initiatives, who followed me, estimated 20% or more (my own research has found 5 to 15% is likely, but that 20% is certainly possible). And remember that 1 kWh saved is the same as 3 kWh worth of CO2 not emitted, because only about one-third of the fuel energy used to produce electricity is eventually delivered to the appliance.

In my table conversation with Henry Waxman, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he mentioned jobs as well. We talked about both direct jobs – cleantech jobs in Smart Grid, solar, and renewables – but also about U.S. international competitiveness. Energy efficiency lowers energy costs, making U.S. companies leaner and meaner, while innovation – Pelosi stressed this, too – creates global opportunities for selling Smart Grid technology. One estimate is that 300,000 Smart Grid jobs will be created in the U.S.

As I told chairman Waxman, we’d much rather be sending our energy dollars into the pockets of American workers than the coffers of offshore oil companies. “That’s absolutely right,” he said.

And to DRSG’s Executive Director, Dan Delurey and the others who helped make it a great meeting: Thank you and well done!

By Elisa Wood

December 17, 2009

If The Graduate were written today, Mr. McGuire’s career tip to Benjamin probably would have been “green,” rather than “plastics.”  But it’s likely Benjamin would have responded in the same quizzical way: “Just how do you mean that, sir?”

It was difficult to envision the vast number of new products, businesses and careers that would emerge from the plastics industry following World War II. The same is true for the green energy industry today.  A report issued December 16 by PricewaterhouseCoopers sheds some light. http://www.pwc.com/us/cleantechrevolution

To know where the business opportunities will be, watch the unusual alliances forming among industries, according to “Cleantech Revolution: Building Smart Infrastructures.” We see hints already as automakers, utilities, battery makers and communications providers ally in preparation for an expected $165 billion smart grid build-out. The report cites several examples, among them:

• Nissan’s partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric to build electric vehicle charging stations
• Echelon and T-Mobile’s deal to create wireless networks connecting utilities to smart meters
• Cisco assisting Duke Energy in building a smart grid

“As the build-out gains traction, it has the potential to support a proliferation of new businesses across sectors, much like the evolution of both the semiconductor industry and the Internet,” says Tim Carey, PWC U.S. clean technology leader.

Don’t be surprised, says the report, to see a national retail store chain partner with an electric battery maker to install charging stations nationwide for plug-in electric vehicles. A new wave of corporate mergers and acquisitions also could be in the cards.  The opportunities are vast, especially when you consider the size of the smart grid. The US has 160 million households awaiting installation of smart meters. These new devices will require changes in the way we operate our electrical infrastructure, which encompasses 3,100 utilities, 10,000 power plants, 5,600 distributed energy facilities and 157,000 miles of high voltage transmission wires, says the report. How many better mousetraps can a system of this size support? More than we can imagine.

The clean technology, boom, however, depends heavily on consumer acceptance. If consumers find smart meters too complicated or plug-in hybrids unreliable, the game is over.  To avoid this problem, organizations like the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy are focusing on understanding customer motivation. http://www.aceee.org/conf/09becc/09beccindex.htm.

Use of smart grid technologies must become “pervasive and ingrained,” says the PWC report.  Sunil Sharan, of the Center for American Progress, sees the smart meter becoming like the Blackberry, “with all sorts of applications.” Indeed, energy industry insiders often describe the next game changer – whatever it will be – as the cell phone of energy.  But given how integral electricity is to our everyday lives, clean technologies need to become everyman products. Out of the corporate alliances, the mergers, the breakthroughs and the investment deals, maybe it’s not energy’s cell phone that will make fortunes, but its plastic wrap.

Visit Elisa Wood at http://www.realenergywriters.com/ and pick up her free Energy Efficiency Markets podcast and newsletter.

Lots of companies are focused on sustainability, but who will lead them?

By Neil Sims and Adrian Choo, Boyden

Sims and Choo (left) say it takes a special leader to manage cleantech companies. Photos: Boyden.

Going green has gone commercial. Environmental sustainability is no longer the exclusive purview of non-governmental organizations and policy wonks. Today a raft of young ‘cleantech’ companies is emerging to bring a wide range of green concepts to market in fields such as biofuels, solar, wind, biomass, tidal power generation, conservation and many other categories.

These companies have financial backing, innovative engineering and technology, and the widespread support of an increasingly green-conscious public.

What they often lack are leaders.

Where do you find the leadership to build a lean, fast-moving business based upon sophisticated science? There are a limited number of seasoned executives with scientific and environmental expertise and the qualities needed for successful entrepreneurship.

Scientific entrepreneurs, or entrepreneurial scientists?

Scientists can be recruited from the traditional biotech and energy companies, but these individuals may not survive in the world of the start up. The labs of large, multinational companies and academic research efforts at major universities or governments are great at churning out innovations that become the basis for startups. (Technology behind superhot battery maker A123 Systems (AONE), for example, was invented at MIT and incubated at Boston University.)

But often the leaders who emerge from such institutions are ill suited to tackle the obstacles presented in starting a company with limited cash, working the extended hours required to turn an idea into a sustainable company or making the Sophie’s Choice trade-offs normally required to transform compelling science into a viable commercial offering.

Andres Wydler, CEO of Real Green Power, a wastewater treatment and renewable power generation company, offers some interesting insights. “We have no real choice but to take some risks as we build these companies,” he tells Boyden Global Executive Search.

“When it comes to the science, we also must have subject matter expertise,” adds Wydler, who served as a software executive earlier in his career. Many observers believe that droves of qualified people will migrate from legacy industries to build the cleantech executive corps. Yet difficult decisions remain. For example, should the leadership of a biofuels company come from the biotech sector or an oil and gas monolith?

Wydler reveals three strategies he uses for executive recruitment. First, he looks for non-vocational experiences that hint at a candidate’s resourcefulness. A candidate becomes interesting to him, for example, if he or she has been active in leading a non-profit organization or a sports team where finances are limited and the individual can demonstrate an ability to achieve goals by leveraging creative resources and leadership skills.

Second, he looks for a candidate who might have led an innovative or exploratory effort within a larger organization. The imperatives for entrepreneurial success are similar because often these efforts are under-funded until more reliable outcomes can be predicted. The willingness to risk the politics of potential failure within the corporate or academic environment are often a good indicator of the candidate’s ability to be successful entrepreneurially.

Finally, Wydler and the Real Green Power team shifts discussion away from the interviewee’s strengths. For instance, at a meeting with a scientist, Wydler might ask questions related to legal issues or marketing strategies. The goal is to understand how broadly the candidate thinks. The company does not hire individuals who can only comment thoughtfully in their area of expertise.

Actual data support Real Green Power’s executive search strategies. Stanford University’s continuing studies program on cleantech entrepreneurship recently conducted an informal survey. Of the 27 cleantech CEOs surveyed, nearly three quarters of the executives transferred from other industry disciplines to their current positions. The common denominator, according to the data? Entrepreneurial competencies. Some moved from legacy industries that were logical, related to their area of environmental focus.

From infotech to cleantech

Others have come from industries with no direct correlation to cleantech initiatives. Shai Agassi, CEO of Better Place, for example has built an international team of 17 executives without regard for their individual histories in the electrical transportation sector. Agassi, himself, migrated from the world of enterprise software and few  members of his leadership team joined with relevant domain experience.

The dearth of cleantech leadership is a global challenge. In Asia, for example, Boyden clients focus on adaptability, business acumen, and most importantly local business culture. These seasoned executives bring critical value to cleantech startups by “cross-pollinating” proven ideas from “old world” industries with newer, innovative solutions. Though, the pipeline of potential top executives is building. For instance, Lars Buesching, a Managing Director for Norway-based Scatec Solar, previously served as a managing director for chemical company Mankiewicz & Co. in China after beginning his career in management consulting with IBM (IBM) and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Buesching brings a healthy perspective to Scatec’s operations worldwide with his deep understanding of Asian culture and management,

CEOs who have made a shift to the cleantech sector will need to augment their companies with the essential knowledge of their core technology and distribution models. The right executives will offer CEOs significant leverage by bringing proactive management with targeted skills but must be filtered for entrepreneurial indicators that provide evidence of a candidate’s potential for success in a smaller, heavily leveraged environment.

Sims is Leader of Boyden’s Cleantech Initiative and a Managing Director with Boyden San Francisco.  Choo is a Principal with Boyden Singapore. Boyden is a leading global executive search firm with more than 70 offices in over 40 countries.

The following email was sent to a former college colleague who has decided that she is too good to speak to me anymore, and has now broken some very big laws.

So, now I’m taking matters into my own hands.

You can see what I wrote her, as I’m about to post the email.  She is a senior White House staffer.  Her name is Cassandra Butts.  Who hasn’t done as much as I have in DC or anywhere else.  She’s just got that horrific disease, called “I went to Harvard with Obama, I’ve got ‘tude, FUCK OFF you stupid cracker.”

Unfortunately that doesn’t work, is illegal and appalling.

And shows you exactly the attitude of THIS ADMINISTRATION.  And will be circulated all over the HILL, the blogosphere and where ever I have to send it.

Because she, just like everyone else in DC with power, doesn’t give a rat’s ass about anybody else.  And the only way she got that “power” also called a title on a business card and about as meaningful, was by flushing her morals down the toilet.

When they ARE PUBLIC SERVANTS.  Emphasis on the last word.  So this is just one of the lessons that dumb ass in the Oval Office is going to start learning if he keeps lying, breaking his word, and playing “I’m going to screw everyone else, give out the best bailout money to my buddies, and fuck the entire US population in the ass, so I can become a billionaire because among other things I own a shitload of pharma stock.

I WANT THAT FUCKING MEETING CASSANDRA.  NOW.

And if there are any more delays, there’s going to be further embarrassment.  If not your firing, and Obama’s impeachment.

GET IT?  Am I using small enough words?  For a “biologicially inferior piece of garbage” that the President has made sure to show his contempt for. Not to mention you.  And as for Ms. Barnes.  That goes for her too.

And the rest of the assholes in Congress  who are getting rich off of war, get bribes on the side, to vote against the interests of the people they represent on say healthcare, while we pay for their privileged lives.

That is NOT the change I voted for, nor one I believe in.  And the last thing DC needs at this point, is another clueless egomaniac on the loose, who thinks he’s the fucking Messiah.  Trust me, he’s a legend in his own fucking mind.  BUT HE’S GOING TO FUND MY FUCKING PROJECT.

SO START MAKING THE DATE PRONTO.  HE WORKS FOR ME TOO.  HE IS THE ULTIMATE PUBLIC SERVANT. NOT THE MESSIAH.

IT’S TIME HE REMEMBERED THAT.  INSTEAD OF PLAYING KING FOR A DAY, AND GETTING PISSED OFF WHEN HE IS RIGHTLY CRITICIZED FOR SPENDING FOUR TIMES WHAT THE AVERAGE AMERICAN GETS PAID ANNUALLY, IF THEY STILL HAVE A JOB THAT IS, TO TAKE THE SPOILED MISSUS TO NEW YORK.  THANKS TO OBAMA’S POLICIES ON CONTINUED OUTSOURCING, NOT TO MENTION HIS CORRUPT ECONOMIC ADVISORS.  WHO SHOULD ALL BE FIRED.

And if you think that is embarrassing, there’s plenty more to come.  You dumb clueless bitch.  Call me “privileged” again and I’m going to make you eat your fucking words.  Go ahead, bail out the banks and ruin my life.  THEY DID THIS TO ME YOU BITCH.  IS THAT YOUR DEFINITION OF PRIVILEGED?  THEN YOU ARE REALLY SICK if not morally depraved.  Oh, and I also expect a full investigation of all of the cabinet members who have threatened me, discriminated against me and you have both refused to investigate them, which is part of your job, but the IG’s who did too.

And a hurry it up over at JUSTICE, where you clowns are facing CRIMINAL ASSAULT AND BATTERY CHARGES, conveniently documented by the NYPD.  With a witness to boot, so don’t even try to get Bloomberg, another criminal to try to cover that one up.

I don’t take it kindly when DOJ, “Don’t cry for me Pharmantina” Pelosi’s office and the DLCC keep hanging up on me.  That is also illegal.  Didn’t they teach you that crap at Harvard?   Because you sure look as dumb as fuck to me.  Not to mention criminal, lawbreaking bastards.  Oh, and don’t even mention the word “defamatory” because I have multiple agencies doing so much investigating at this point, with paper work to back it up, on the illegal crap Obama is turning his back on at the municipal, state and federal level,  that you are going to look like, as those who have real educations, and speak multiple languages, say, like merde.

Capiche?  And the only reason I have edited out your email, is that I still have a modicum of mercy.  Although technically it should be listed, per Obama’s promise to make government more accountable, and transparent, on the goddamned White House website.  But, silly me, he’s “adjusted his position” on that too.  Personally I think the asshole should be “adjusted out of office.”

Also called impeachment for lying his ass off on the way into office in the first place.

You see.  You gotta put your ass on the line, and your money where your mouth is.

Because among other things, I’m going to kill that fucking healthcare bill.  It’s illegal, it’s immoral and it shows EXACTLY how little Obama really thinks about the people who put their trust in him.

And I think that is disgusting.  Oh, and Rambo. FUCK OFF.  I’m not afraid of you either.

Gimp Godzilla,

Over and Out.

Poland holds back the new climate targets in Europe. Not very good in relations to ambitious goals. But is the hero the one that sets the highest goals or the one that achieves them?

Poland deserve some commend due to the fact that the country has decreased their CO2-emissions by 30 percent since 1990, during the same period Spain has increased their CO2-emissions by 50 percent…

Kind regards,

Gustav Gorecki

I am often asked what are the areas within cleantech that General Catalyst focuses on. Well, that’s kind of a hard question to answer. Despite what other VCs may try to tell you, VCs are opportunistic and would jump onto any great opportunity regardless of space. A better question might be around areas where the VCs may not invest. It is possible for VCs to write certain spaces off for good reasons: LP concerns, capital intensity, IP quagmires, regulatory risk etc…

When asked about GC cleantech investments, I like to talk about how we view our portfolio. Our investments tend to categorize in three broad buckets:

(a) Deep science projects: These are deep technology startups that often emerge out of academic labs. Many materials science based companies tend to fall into this category. Innovations tend to be in labs of faculty that have spent a long period of time investigating the space, and eventually broke ground on something that is totally disruptive and game changing. In addition to the innovation itself, our observation is that faculty that has spent a lot of time in the space (not just the past few years), tend to have a large body of knowledge/work that supports the innovation to get commercialized. These investments typically have a long gestation period before exits (tending to 6-10 yrs), and technical risk is usually high. However, the bet is on something that would truly disrupt the industry and create large value along the way. (Examples of GC investments: Mascoma, Lumenz etc)

(b) Engineering innovations: These investments tend to involve entrepreneurs who have solved one or more hard engineering problems in already well established industries. Investment revolves around commer cializing innovative solutions that would transform the industry and create long lasting disruptive change. Technology leadership in such companies could emerge out of academia as well, but often the innovators have significant practical experience in the space and leverage their intimate knowledge of the pain felt by the industry to find the ‘painkillers’. The solution could be at component or system level. Market risk is often less of a problem since industry dynamics are either well established or well understood, but in addition to technical risks around scale up etc, there is often risk around finding the right channel partners to commercialize the innovation. (Examples of GC investments: Modular Wind, Advanced Electron Beams etc)

(c) Infrastructure/projects: This is an area that VCs have typically shied away from. Project based capped returns of 15-25% IRR are not sexy for VCs. But we think there are some rather interesting opportunities here for investment. That does not mean we do typical renewable energy project development investments. We think a project development company could be a strong investment if they are working in an environment where they have some level of ability, access or control over a scarce resource – and having that creates a competitive advantage for companies that also execute well and prove they can deliver on time, budget and plan. Strong execution, plus control over a scarce resource, allows a developer to not just create value from projects on the ground but also from future pipeline of projects. (Examples of GC investments: SunBorne, C12 etc)

Using both wind and efficiency plays, Denmark leads the world in CleanTech on a GDP weighted ranking according to a recent report commissioned from the World Wildlife Fund and written by Roland Berger.  The ability to produce and sell products and services that reduce CO2 emissions is the key metric used to rank all 27 EU member states, BRIC and G7 countries.

Clean Technology recently passed pharmaceuticals for industry size, and is expected to be the third largest in the world by 2020 at (EUR 1,600 billion.) Between 2000 and 2008, wind grew at 24% and solar at 53%. It is this growth rate, and related demographic factors that form the backbone of the CleanTech investment thesis that this blog strongly supports.

Other notables: 2nd Brazil, 3rd Germany, 6^th China, 10^th Israel, 19^th USA, 20^th UK

Is Today’s Boom in Clean Energy Technologies Sustainable?

Today’s boom in clean energy technologies is sustainable. ‘Green energy’ makes economic sense now much more than ever before. Cleaner electricity and more reliable sources of transport fuels are demanded from governments, consumers and even businesses, while the emergent supply of new technology is making clean energy more commercially viable. Investment Bank Merrill Lynch believes ‘cleantech’ will ‘take off’ because of the converging necessity to moderate global warming, secure energy independence and offset rising energy costs.[1]

The increased competition for energy resources, due to the growth of the BRIC economies, together with oil capacity bottlenecks has made oil prices more volatile[2]. Developed countries want to move away from an over-reliance on Middle-Eastern supplies as oil-supply shocks become more probable when demand is high. Even though price signals might encourage efficiency and investment in new sources, governments are increasingly trying to shift away from a dependence on oil because of its nasty geopolitics and contribution to global warming.[3] In addition, demand for viable substitutes has evolved because of the increased significance of carbon emissions from fossil fuels[4]. In a bid to recognise the external costs of fossil fuels, governments ratifying the Kyoto Treaty[5] are introducing carbon levies on energy providers, which will make the relative price of renewable sources cheaper e.g. at less than 10 cents a kilowatt, solar thermal would be competitive with gas-powered electricity if carbon taxes are taken into account[6].

Overwhelming scientific opinion and grassroots support for greenhouse gas mitigation have also stirred governments to provide incentives to reflect the real costs of energy. Scientists believe that externalities from fossil fuels in the form of carbon emissions threaten the environment with an irreversible tipping point[7]. The Stern Review forecasts that the world economy will suffer a cost of between 5% and 20% of GDP if climate change continues unabated[8]. More recently, 2,500 climate researchers from 80 countries concluded that emissions have already risen faster than predicted and that the ‘worst-case IPCC scenario trajectories are being realised’[9]. To counter this threat, the US EPA has recently labelled CO2 a hazardous pollutant strengthening the Obama administration’s preparations for a carbon-constrained future with a proposed Cap and Trade policy[10].

As governments press for emission reductions and energy independence measures, demand from more informed and increasingly eco-conscious consumers has risen also. This has led to requirements for innovative solutions to provide green energy, just as its commercial viability has become apparent, especially when taking the cost of carbon into consideration. Renewables are projected to contribute 29% to power generation and 7% of transport fuel worldwide by 2030[11]. The liberalization of energy markets worldwide, developments in multi-directional power flows, micropower generation and battery technology will allow the energy industry to stand on the shoulders of the IT revolution to create more efficient use of existing infrastructure. A recent McKinsey report asserts that 70% of the technologies needed to de-carbonise are commercially viable today or likely to be in the coming decade[12].

Investment in renewable energy was prompted by policy responses to the oil crises of the 70’s, however, the existing clean energy revolution is different because the reasons for it are greater; competition for resources is more intense, emissions reductions are required and investment in technology and infrastructure is much more sophisticated and commercially viable. The growth in hydropower production, biomass supply and geothermal slowed in the 90’s after the oil price collapse meant they were comparatively expensive to sustain[13]. OPEC does not have the capacity to repeat such a feat today[14].

The continued investment in clean energy is threatened because of the reduced energy demand and tight credit caused by the economic downturn. However, this may not warrant alarm as the CAFE laws[15] demonstrated that economic output can be decoupled from energy use and allow for efficiency and experimentation. Increasing the ‘carbon-productivity’ of the economy can help shift to a clean-energy economy while continuing economic growth9[16].

Cleantech is still risky, as the biofuel industry downturn attests. Pilot projects in solar have been funded but full-scale commercialization of some technologies are not yet there and a funding gap persists for many. However, it is hoped that stimulus money from governments worldwide supporting green industries money will be able to boost full scale commercialization[17].

The political, economic and social will to move towards a more sustainable growth path, coupled with the fact that most of the technology needed is within our grasp tends to an inflection point. At its core the boom in cleaner technology is more sustainable because the inputs needed are infinite, whereas there is only so much coal and oil in the ground, which is becoming more costly to extract. As Victor Hugo wrote, ‘No power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come’.

[2] VV Vaitheeswaren, Zoom: Ch.5 The Axis of Oil

[3] Steady as She Goes, The Economist, April 20^th, 2006

[4] VV Vaitheeswaren, Power to the People: Ch.5 Welcome to Global Weirding

[5] UNFCC (1997) KYOTO PROTOCOL TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE. IN UN (Ed.) (COP3).

[6] Shrinking the cost for solar power, Michael Kanellos, CNET News, May 11, 2007

[7] MEADOWS, D. H., RANDERS, J. & MEADOWS, D. L. (2004) Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update, Vermont, Chelsea Green.

[8] Stern, N. (2006) The Stern Review on the Economics Climate Change. London, HM Treasury.

[9] Key Messages from the Climate Change Congress, Copenhagen, 10-12 March, 2009

http://climatecongress.ku.dk/newsroom/congress_key_messages/

[10] U.S. in Historic Shift on CO2, Jonathan Weisman & Siobhan Hughes, WSJ, APRIL 18, 2009

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123997738881429275.html

[11] World Energy Outlook (WEO) Alternative Policy Scenario 2007, IEA

[12] Not Sky-High, Newsweek, J Oppenheim, E Beinhicker and D. Farrell, Nov 24, 2008

[13] IEA RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKETS – FACT SHEET 2005 http://www.iea.org/textbase/papers/2005/renew.pdf

[14] Saudi Arabia and Oil, What If? The Economist May 17^th, 2004

[15] VV Vaitheeswaren, Zoom: Ch. 6 The Slumbering Giant Awakes

[16] Not Sky-High, Newsweek, J Oppenheim, E Beinhicker and D. Farrell, Nov 24, 2008

[17] Green growth is essential to any stimulus, By Ban Ki-moon and Al Gore, FT, February 16 2009

Winter indoor cycling classes are well underway as the hazard of black ice from snow thaw and freeze pulls me off the streets. Despite the “safe” indoor cycling environment, the relentless enthusiasm and intensity of our coach Chris Chiapella can lead to the loss of one’s periphery vision and, without relief, to the loss of one’s consciousness. At the beginning of the class, prior to the point where it gets difficult to talk moving from zone 3 to zone 4, a fellow cyclist asked me about the potential of electric vehicles (EVs).

My very big picture summary is that either EVs or manmade-algae-fueled vehicles will either both propel us or one will win out over the other. One of the reasons for stating this is that we already have a significant amount of infrastructure in place to deliver electrons or algae-based fuel to vehicles. Over 25% of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are from oil-based transportation.

If you are a non-believer or interested in leapfrogging toward EV enlightenment read “Strategies for Electric Vehicle Deployment in the San Francisco Bay Area” by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley.

The short story is that electric vehicle batteries can store energy generated from renewables and deliver energy to utilites at peak demand for electricity. Vehicles are idle (not idling) 95% of the time. If EV batteries are connected to the grid while they are idle, electrons can flow in both directions to charge batteries and to provide relief to utilities on those rare occasions each year when spikes in electricity demand occur. Today these spikes in demand are met with billion dollar electricity generating plants (plural) that are largely idling (not idle) most of the time. As more and more renewable electricity generating capacity is added to the grid, electric vehicles will operate cleaner and cleaner.

One home town favorite to supply EV batteries is A123Systems in Watertown, Massachusetts. A123 has been in the news as of late with a $249 million advanced battery research and manufacturing stimulus award to build a manufacturing plant in Michigan followed by a successful $381 million IPO. I plan to write a separate post on A123’s Nanophosphate technology and investigate the availability and recyclability of lithium ion batteries.

Despite the fact that the average distance travelled daily by car is about 35 miles, well within the range of an EV, many people are concerned about their batteries discharging (dying seems like too strong a word). Better Place is addressing this problem by offering EV infrastructure in the form of battery switching stations. Switching stations cost about $500 million as opposed to $1 to $1.5 billion for gas stations. These battery depositories can be connected to renewable energy generation and the grid for charging and discharging purposes respectively.

In order to get a sense of what takes place at a battery switching station, take a look at Better Place’s prototype battery switching station demonstration in Japan. The car releases it’s discharged battery onto a hydraulically raised steel platform and picks up a charged battery from a second raised platform. It takes less time to switch batteries than it takes to fill your tank with gas.

Better Place is actively engaged in building the infrastructure required for EVs in Israel. This is the first of several “islands” of operation for Better Place. Denmark is next in line to adopt this approach.

Perhaps the most difficult challenge to the cleanest vehicle transformation is to simultaneously develop:

- renewable electricity generation on a massive scale
- charging and battery switching station infrastructure
- EV mass production
- two-way smart grid connectivity

Actually they’ve been coming for the past 5 years to Silicon Valley Open Doors – an investor conference sponsored by AmBAR for Russian and Russian-American entrepreneurs. This is my fourth year attending and I’ve found it insightful in terms of the dynamics of innovation and migration of innovation centers. An interesting example was a company that presented in 2006 which designed a product for India, manufactured it in China and came to Silicon Valley for funding – the company was based in Israel.

This year has been notable in terms of the sophistication of the investor presentations and also in the complexity of the offerings. It’s not just twenty-somethings with a Web 2.0 application they coded in their dorm room. There’s more gray hair, more serial entrepreneurs and not so many hockey stick revenue projections.

What’s interesting this year is the migration of financing. A US-based company that started to flounder after receiving its Series A funding went to Russia for its next round of funding. It received funding from Troika Dialog (Russia) and DoCoMo (Japan). It was then able to close a sizable Series B round from Morgenthaler Ventures.

In addition to learning about entrepreneurial activity in former Soviet Union states, there are always nuggets to be gleaned from the high quality VC speakers they secure. A few highlights from my perspective are noted below:

The second day included a one hour Q&A session with Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures who offered his point of view across a wide area of topics but some particularly interesting ones on CleanTech:

And after 18 presentations culled from 80 submissions the winner was announced….The winner is….PTP Group Americas.

Looking forward to SVOD 2010.

“And I to him: I wish thee still to teach me,
And make a gift to me of further speech.

Farinata and Tegghiaio, once so worthy,
Jacopo Rusticucci, Arrigo, and Mosca,
And others who on good deeds set their thoughts,

Say where they are, and cause that I may know them;
For great desire constraineth me to learn
If Heaven doth sweeten them, or Hell envenom.”
^{Dante Aligheri, The Divine Comedy, The Inferno,}

New York City’s Welfare System is a walking lawsuit.

Or hell, depending on your perspective.

Or both.  They don’t have to be mutually exclusive descriptions.

Actually there are at least three class actions pending now.  Not counting the one I’m about to file.  And just to make you mad as hell, got bailout money anyway….so down another corrupt rat hole your tax dollars go.  Brought to you by the “brilliance” of the “business acumen” and “superior management prowess” of our current Mayor who just bought himself a much despised third term in office with his billions in the bank.  Also called Oligarchy and the power of dollars over votes.

Even then Hizzonner only barely squeaked to a win, and I’m sure they were counting dead bodies somewhere because I can’t believe there were enough New Yorkers breathing, stupid enough to vote for him.

And welfare was just praised by none other than Senator Gillibrand our new Democratic Senator appointed by our Governor, and who Obama so thoughtfully, “cleared the field” for us dumb New Yorkers for in the Democratic primaries next year.  Because we can’t be counted on to vote for the Senator HE wants.

He needs to keep his cotton picking hands off of our state, thanks all the same.  Obama has other things to focus on.  Like say, uh, the economy, for starters.  Don’t you think?

Of course, Ms. Gillibrand never answered my email about the corruption in the state, and her problematic endorsement of federal bailout funding going to a totally corrupt program.  What do constituents matter when you are named the winner in a “Democratic election” by the President?  Kingmakers count more than constituents, right?  That’s what “Democracy” is all about.

Right?

But welfare is so corrupt and mismanaged that I can and am filing a class action against the agency on multiple counts myself, just on the paperwork I have now that I’ve sunk to the new lows of poverty and economic destruction that former college colleague and anti- apartheid organizing buddy,

now Deputy White House Counsel Cassandra Butts managed, somehow to call me “privileged” when I called to congratulate her on her new gig, and then she promptly managed to lose me as quickly as a mutt shakes off fleas from its’ hind leg.

Of course, she never even showed up to build the damned shanties, we used as the central icon in the most effective anti apartheid protest in the country,

Yeah, that’s me on the right front up there, got arrested,

Multiple times,

much less, like say me, put her academic scholarship on the line, or say had the Klan or the State FBI stake out HER house, because she was not co-founder of the group, and really only showed up for rallies when she felt like it (i.e. when she knew she would have her picture taken) in the most kick ass student protest of the eighties, that eventually forced the entire STATE of North Carolina to divest all pension and scholarship funds in racist South Africa under the helm of Republican and Senior U.S. Senator, currently serving as head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relation’s Committee, Jesse “No” Helms.

But boy, does it look good on her resume.  The truth is lost to history.  And of course, not letting me anywhere near the White House doesn’t hurt either.

I’m still trying to figure out if Cassandra was referring to my financial status, (destroyed) my lost EMBA from the best international Ivy on the planet that my ex employer, who fired me illegally would have picked up the tab for, and got billions (twice) from Congress for ruining our economy, or my new, visible neurological disability, which they also caused, which gets me called “retard” to my face, and essentially makes me unemployable for the rest of my life.

That apparently the President thinks is so funny that he makes jokes about retards on national TV.  Or maybe it was my skin color that elicited Cassandra’s response.

I don’t know.

All I know is that I’ve gotten to remember what it’s like to “live poor” again.  While Cassandra makes six figures, brags about her limited edition sports cars, and Melody Barnes, another UNC grad of my tenure, also doesn’t bother to return my calls.

I guess I’m “too privileged” for her to remember too.  She’s making DC’s best dressed list these days.  And unlike Cassandra, never bothered to even show up for rallies at UNC divestment campaigns.  Sorority parties and shopping, were far more important.

I’ll probably spend the rest of my life in abject poverty.  I’m 42 years old.  And my life has just been thrown away.

I was making six figures before I was fired.  With an EMBA from Columbia, in cleantech, with the specialties I have, six to seven figures is not an unreasonable salary range and expectation.  Even as a girl.   I would have had that this spring.

But now?

I’m unemployable.  With no rights.  And get called “retard” to my face.  And face that reality for the rest of my life.

They don’t give opportunity, much less equal opportunity, equal pay, equal rights, or even affirmative action to gimps.  We’re walking pieces of garbage.  Except when we’re the convenient photo op and special presidential appointment. The rest of us twenty percent of America, can rot in hell.  With a 90% unemployment rate, most live in poverty, with substandard everything.  That the president doesn’t give a rat’s ass about, and hasn’t done shit about.  It’s not only America’s Apartheid.  It’s Obama’s greatest sin.

It’s not a fun experience, especially with now two of the rarest and one of the most painful neurological disabilities on the planet that the shit called Medicaid doesn’t even cover.  And the best medication for, marijuana, is still illegal.  Much less most of the doctors who take the insurance don’t even know how to spell just one, let alone both of the disabilities I have, much less treat the co morbidities.

Arach what?  You have giant spiders in your head?  Dystomia?  What’s that?  Can you spell it?

Welcome to my world.  It’s almost funny if it weren’t a scene from Dante.

But I have in this hell of an existence I’ve sunk to, as the Federal EEOC takes its time in investigating my case against a mega monster of a bank, (who’s gotten bailed out twice, now in the billions of dollars from the government, while I’ve gotten nothing but ‘tude, discrimination and crap) at this point from the same, while waiting over two years and counting, and almost three now without a paying gig, gotten to know New York welfare pretty well.  While every federal, state and city agency also violates my civil, due process and Constitutional rights.  And Obama’s goon squad beat the shit out of me.  Literally.  That the Federal Justice Department refuses to investigate.  And I can’t get proper medical attention for.

Yet despite the initial hell that it was to negotiate, and my life is right now, you always find someone in the system that is your lucky star.   That’s how even Hell operates.

Your North Star.  It’s how you find sanity in a world that goes topsy turvy.

I learned that the first time my world went upside down.  When I lost my father and we were homeless the first time.

I was 11.

I had just tested into the Best Grammar School as they call them in England, or magnet schools as they call them in the US that sends more students to University than Eton, which is where the English Royalty send their prodigy, for big bucks.  Except that Grammar schools are totally free, and based on meritocracy.  My social worker then was a little old lady, with a neat gray bun in the back of her head, and made sure that we were put in a “good” halfway house, a clean, one room refuge, with three army issue bunk beds, grey covers, army issue, of course, a half stove with two burners, a half kitchenette, and a “French door” as she laughed with us, that led out to a postage size gardenette.

So we could grow some veggies.  Across the street was where the milkman filled up their three wheeled, or in some cases, four wheeled electric trucks at the local dairy, so that’s where we got our milk, butter and bread.  Cleantech in the seventies in the UK anyone?

On food stamps of course.  And I got free lunch at school.

That’s how we lived.  I was going to school with millionaires kids, and we were so poor that we lived in literal poverty.  Poorer than even Michelle Obama.  With two parents with disabilities.  One I had just lost……

and one I was about to lose.  To another disability.  Who may have been famous, but came close to destroying me.  To an untreated disability, and alcoholism.   Not too much holiday cheer, I fear, but something America needs to face.  About a legal drug that is far more dangerous, and one we outlaw that would help thousands instead, called pot.  That will have a very deleterious effect not only on my health, but my pocketbook.  And yourself as well.  Not to mention our foreign policy.

But Ms. Nowell, my social worker, didn’t care about the fame of my family.  Or the obvious alcoholism of my mother, even then.  Cheers anyone?

But while my mom was out to lunch, my social worker worked for me.  She worked the system.  That half way house was also less than half a mile’s walk from my Grammar School.  She was determined that no matter what happened, I was going to go to Henrietta Barnett.  Even if my family had just fallen apart.  She knew absolutely, and in fact sat me down one afternoon, after a particularly brutal session with the court, there is no easy way out for kids when your family falls apart, that I would be going to the best Grammar School in England.  I had tested into it, and earned it she said to me, and if she had anything to do with it, I deserved to go there.  Over her dead body, was what she said was I not going to go.  It was in the spirit of the schools’ founder.  It was the least she could do.

I had never seen such determination in a woman before, especially one I didn’t even know.  A tiny, little old lady, with a neat grey bun in her hair.  And that was her promise to me.  And that was something I could count on.

My North Star, as she put it.  A promise she kept.

A promise that changed my life.

I went back to England many years later, to find her, and thank her.  My letter telling her I was en route to England reached her three weeks after she died.  I was taking a year off from college.

I got a letter back from a very kind man in British social services who wrote back telling me of her death.  That she never saw the letter, but he knew that she would have appreciated it.   That she was a special lady who helped many children find their way out of the dark abyss of family tragedies.

What I face today, is sort of like that.  And New York Welfare is far more brutal than British social services will ever be.   Brutal is the only way to describe New York’s system.  Or what America’s social net has become.  Thanks Mr. Mayor, you sadist.   And Obama for perpetuating it.  And Clinton and Bush, and every American politician for allowing this to happen.

And I’m dealing with a system that is so discriminatory it is hard to describe.  On every level.  Municipal, state and federal.

But I went in today, to the North Star I’ve found in New York’s fetid and corrupt Welfare system.  Bloomberg you are an evil man.  You deserve to rot in whatever hell you believe in.  And so do you, Obama, for selling us all out, for forgetting the dreams of those who put you in office.  I imagine you both in a place like this for your sins.  Think about this picture below….

….before either one of you attends or toasts anymore extravaganzas that are, as we all know, pretty damned corrupt.  Like this one, for example.

But in the midst of hell, there are angels.  And I’ve found mine.

Her name is Miss M.  I can’t give her full name.

In that amazing ability black women have, or African American, whatever they prefer to be called (some like to be called Black, some like to be called African American, it’s a personal preference), but there is this incredible beauty to them.

I was raised to believe that black skin was more beautiful than white.

My mother’s Caldecott Award Winning Children’s Book, A Story A Story,

is dedicated to me and all my black brothers and sisters too.

And published just a year after the Supreme Court mandated school desegregation, and even BANNED in some parts of the South, because it was the first commercially published children’s book ever published in this country (1970) to feature a black God.

And thus of course highly controversial fare for those who believed that black people are, like the President’s chief economics’ advisor, Mr. Summers, and apparently Mr. Obama himself, just in hiring the bastard, currently believes about women, of all colors, to be “biologically inferior.”

I was raised with the DNA to believe that black is beautiful.  In fact I remember saying when Obama announced his presidency, “if that man with that name wins, America is finally willing to start saying ‘I’m sorry’ about a lot of things.”

Boy was I wrong.

But as I look at Ms. M. today, I also know that I was right too.

Because at least there is one person, pathetic as I am now, and probably to most of you reading this, that to me, Miss M. is beautiful.

Her skin shines with that beauty of just reserved kindness.  This Ebony, black to the bone beauty.  Combined with reserved strength born of suffering, but I will make it through the worst anyway, born of toughness that is necessary to survive a still racist and increasingly classist America, where fairness is nonexistent, meritocracy is absent, and the only way you make it is by extreme luck combined with extreme corruption.

But in Ms. M. you don’t see that.  You see the true recipe for greatness.  What I have always sought for in a leader I respect.  An incredibly nurturing instinct that is so beautiful and gentle when it is there for you.  Male or female, it doesn’t matter.  It’s there when you need it.

That is the REAL definition of the security state.  It takes care of its citizens.  It doesn’t destroy them.  And they don’t destroy or abuse it.  They nurture it, and it in turn nurtures them back.  Because everyone knows that we all fall down sometimes.  And your life should not be destroyed by that.  That is the definition of community.  Of the state.

And because of what this country, in particular has done to Black people in general, when you find that trait in a black woman, black women shine.  It’s impossible to describe it.

And Miss M. did today, what she has done for me consistently this year.  She alone, amidst the bureaucracy and red tape, sorted out in two seconds flat what could have been yet another major headache, as I was headed out, again, and for too many times this year, to the post office, with a three inch pile of complaints to various federal agencies, about both federal and state agencies’ appalling discriminatory behavior and my appeals thereof.

So thank you Ms. M.  For being my North Star Today.  I toast you with all the holiday cheer I can muster, however figuratively.

Again.  Cheers to you.  I’d buy you a drink if I could afford it.

You are nameless and probably will never be properly thanked.  Your picture will never be taken by Time Magazine.  Much less Vogue.  Or say Glamor.  Even though you deserve to be.

You probably will never make it to the Oval Office for a signing of a bill, much less have you ever expected to go there for commendation for doing a thankless, underpaid job, you deserve national recognition for doing.

You have never been paid what you are really worth. Or offered the opportunity to follow your dreams.  That is why you are so kind to those who are watching theirs get smashed on the rocks in front of you.  And know it, and can’t do anything about it, except process this damned girl’s pitiful “benefits.”  And tell her it will all get better.  When you know damned well, that it probably won’t.  You’ve seen too many downward spirals like this before.

I know those things because I see them in your eyes.

That is what my experience teaches me about you.

And I may never get this stupid business off the ground because Obama has better things to do with his time.  Like play golf. Or meet with Tiger Woods.  Or the UNC basketball team. Or declare War on Iran.  Or take his Nobel, wrapped with fries to go, pissing off most of Europe and waking them up to exactly what kind of man he is.

But Ms. M. is the real reason I voted for Obama, if you really want to know.

She is the reason I am so angry at him now.

She could be anywhere from 45-60, in that amazing ability that black women alone have, of aging with that beautiful, timeless grace that white women just don’t possess.  In that same ability to project ageless beauty of say Marilyn Monroe had when she wasn’t caught in one of her sluttier poses.   Or more sexy ones, which Eve Arnold also took.  But still aren’t my favorite, but of course more famous…like this one….

But these are some of my favorite “unknown” photos of Monroe.

One of the great secrets of Marilyn’s photogenic timelessness, a secret passed down to me from my father’s first wife, Eve Arnold, the woman who discovered her,

was that Marilyn had this soft fur all over her skin, that captured the light, and Eve knew how to manipulate that, so that Marilyn literally glowed in every photo Eve took of her.  A trick male photographers never learned, and why Eve became Marilyn’s favorite and most trusted photographer.

But Eve learned that trick from originally photographing black women.  She got her first professional gig, if you look at this link, as Magnum’s first female photographer, by photographing black fashion shows in Harlem.

And sent those pictures to an old school “chum” of my dad’s in England.  It blew them away.  They’d never seen anything like it before.  That’s how Eve eventually won her OBE.  And all of the other honors that followed.

You see, Black women have that glow naturally.

Michelle Obama has it in spades.

She is a very beautiful woman if you really study her features.

She glows.

That is why it is so hard for me to criticize her.  And it is.

When I first heard her speak on the campaign trail last year, she just blew me away.

She is the embodiment of beauty if you only look at her and not what she does.  Or only listen to her speeches and not look behind them.

But it is precisely when you look under the cover, behind the cover shot, that is where she falls down.  Just like her husband.

I have long ago learned not to judge a book by its cover.  Or a magazine for that matter.  And I am not fooled that behind the veneer, and under the covers, is a woman who sold out, in a way that is rotten to the core.

Perhaps it sounds odd to hear a woman praise another woman’s beauty, especially a straight woman.  But not for an artist’s child.  Who grew up looking at people of all kinds as beautiful.   As individuals.  And of course, black skin was always considered beautiful in my family.  But especially so to one who knows that wearing it, also incurs the stain of  a lifetime of lost opportunity for most, or opportunity never had; dealing with insults and slurs, and disappointments so great, that I look at Ms. M.’s face, at this woman, who works in the welfare department.  At the Parks section of the welfare system in New York, (which is the lowest, slummiest, crappiest jobs section of the entire system, and therefore largest section of welfare, so Ms. M. is the big boss, but also the person there I have met with the kindest heart and the one who knows how the system works best.)

And she was my North Star today.  As she has been since I have met her.

And if I had to choose between a black heroine, with more grace and compassion and someone I look up to, than say Mrs. Obama, with her Ivies and her designer duds, and her cover glamour shots and her arrogance and Ms. M., there is no contest.

Ms. M. wins hands down.  Cheers.  And another round.  On the house, lady.

I told her today that if I can get my project off the ground, I’m hiring her.  At three times what she makes.  At least.  You see Ms. M. treats everyone with dignity and compassion.  Even though she probably makes barely minimum wage.

And I, in this madhouse called life, am equally distant from Mrs. Obama, literally one phone call, and Ms. M.

Ms. M. laughed and thought I was crazy when I told her what I did today. And maybe I am. But I believe in what I’m doing.  Call it the audacity of hope.  That is what I have always fought for.  That’s where the message of the campaign connected you see.  It’s the execution that’s lacking.

And that is unforgiveable.

You see Bloomberg pays city workers like Ms. M. nothing.  And has undercut their pensions too.  Unlike Wall Street Millionaires, City Worker’s salaries are certainly negotiable to the powers that be.  Because to the political elite, people like Ms. M. don’t count.  Not to mention their pensions.  So Ms. M. faces a good chance of “retiring” in poverty.  Thanks to Mr. Obama’s current policies.

When people say I am “angry” it is because I think about people like Ms. M.

I have never forgotten they exist.  And I’ve always known they counted.

These are the people who Obama and the Missus are throwing away.  Somehow he never learned they existed.  And Michelle, wants to forget that they do.

How come?

That was his supposed MO.  And her attraction to him.  So if that’s false, what’s true about the two of them?

Were they just a convenient photo op?  A campaign backdrop?

Another marriage arranged for political and career convenience?

If that’s so outrageous, then why did Cassandra Butts even mention it last year as an issue in a televised interview on national TV?  Or mentioned say in this article that came out rather later.

I mean, I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t afford a wedding dress like that.  Much less the wedding it looks like those two paid for.  On the crappy non-profit salary I was making.

That is the cruelest irony of all.

Both Obamas’ not to mention their staff, seem to tell a great story, but it’s all on the surface.  Or if Obama or the Missus forgot what they were about, which it is obvious that they have, then they were never truly stories and identities burned into their souls, but ones they would rather forget.  And Michelle’s convenient story of a past she wants to ignore, not embrace.  Except you never forget that.  And if you learn your lessons about it, you never perpetuate such conditions on other people.  And that is just as bad.

Because in specifically Obama’s case, it means he’s a fake.   The Buppy Oreo on the make, who wants to see himself on the cover of “Men’s Fitness,” as he sends more young men and women to get blown to smithereens, without even providing proper healthcare for them.  While selling America down the drain.  And in the Missus’ case, it appears she suffers what many people in twelve step recovery programs suffer from – that “Denial is not a River in Egypt.”  In other words you don’t ever forget where you came from.

But it is people like Ms. M., in her modest dignity, who have always won my heart with her quiet nobility, who have helped me find my North Star in my darkest hour, who get my respect, more than any Ivy Leagued Buppy.

People like her, I never forget.  Who get my cheers, and any drink bought, at any bar, for any occasion.

Total strangers in the wilderness who showed compassion to me.  To whom I probably seem totally spoiled and yes “privileged” to quote Cassandra.

But you see, unlike Cassandra, who can forget me, I can never forget Ms. M.  And Ms. M. never forgets me.  She always remembers me every time I come in.

And I will take her with me, in some way, wherever I go.

That’s why I’m honoring her by writing about her.

She deserves at least that.  And I toast, as much as I don’t drink.

Literally and or figuratively, as much as I am able, as I will always take a piece of her with me.  Just like I will always take my first social worker, Ms. Nowell, in a place in my heart with me too.  She has become, just like Ms. M.

And that, in a world, spinning with its insanity, of law suits and nutcases, and people who are corrupt when they have no right to be, and overwhelming issues, is my North Star to sanity.  In a world of hell.

Thank you Ms. M.  You get my vote for America’s REAL First Lady.  And have been a North Star to me this year, when I really needed one.  And probably for another year or so to go, as the EEOC, plods through my case for the third year in a row.  I don’t even know if I’ll have a lawyer for Christ’s sakes.  The state is so screwed up that they’ve interfered in my federal case.

But Ms. M. doesn’t know that.  Day in and day out, she goes into a crappy city office, for no pay, and works with people who society has thrown away.  And does it with a compassion that I rarely see.  And gives dignity to the most downtrodden.

Obama?  He only meets with rich people and movie stars.  What an asshole.

But people like Ms. M. are the people in America who are important to me.

These are the people who I “rant” for.  Not to mention fight for.  Because nobody fights for them.  And they, fundamentally, have always been the ones who have made the greatest difference, when the hour is darkest, for the most of us.

And these are the people who I am fighting for, as I take my three inch packets of investigative crap, about the latest infraction of “caught you in the act” and mail it wherever it needs to go.

Because eventually there will be a showdown between El Numero Uno and Myself.  One way or the other.

And the Elephant in the Living Room is going to be Ms. M.  She is the face of my North Star in this fight.

For she is the person that Obama forgot, as soon as he decided to become King.

Or maybe she was always a ghost for him that substituted as a conscience.  She’s always been a real person for me.  Scattered here and there throughout my lifetime.  It’s the Ms. M.s of this world who taught me how to find my North Star in a world filled with hatred, and bigotry, those who forget what their promises are.

And that is not the change I believe in, or was voting for.

Ms. M. you get my vote for America’s REAL First Lady.  And are the embodiment of class in the act.  Not to mention get my toast any day of the week, raised in honor of you, this holiday season, for among other things, NOT letting my life descend another level into literal hell.  That you, if not the bloggers reading this, really do understand.  And took the time and compassion to save me from.

“And I: Through midst of Tuscany there wanders
A streamlet that is born in Falterona,
And not a hundred miles of course suffice it;

From thereupon do I this body bring.
To tell you who I am were speech in vain,
Because my name as yet makes no great noise.”
^{Dante Aligheri, The Divine Comedy, Purgatorio}

Tel Aviv, 19 y 20 de enero de 2010

El Instituto Español de Comercio Exterior (ICEX), en colaboración con la Oficina Económica y Comercial de la Embajada de España en Tel Aviv, organiza un Encuentro Empresarial España-Israel, que tendrá lugar los días 19 y 20 de enero de 2010 en la ciudad de Tel Aviv.

El objetivo principal de este Encuentro Empresarial es facilitar la identificación de oportunidades de inversión y cooperación empresarial, así como de potenciales socios en Israel. En este sentido, durante la celebración del mismo, usted podrá tener un contacto directo con empresarios israelíes interesados en establecer alianzas estratégicas con empresas españolas, y conocer de primera mano a la Administración local y los planes de inversión de Israel en infraestructuras para los  próximos años.

Este Encuentro Empresarial persigue reforzar la imagen exterior que desea ofrecer el ICEX de una España industrial, poseedora de un entramado empresarial cada vez más internacionalizado.

La participación en este Encuentro Empresarial permite, por un lado, consolidar la presencia de aquellas empresas establecidas en este mercado con el respaldo de las instituciones del Estado, y, por otro, impulsar las actividades de aquellas empresas participantes que inician su trayectoria a través de este programa.

Los sectores y subsectores que han sido elegidos como prioritarios en este Encuentro Empresarial son los siguientes: Telecomunicaciones, Software, Tecnologías limpias, Medioambiente, Equipamiento Médico, Energía solar, Biotecnología, Automoción eléctrica, Financiero (capital riesgo), Infraestructuras y obras públicas, Ferroviario y Tratamiento de Aguas.

Si desea participar en el Encuentro Empresarial España-Israel deberá rellenar el formulario adjunto de forma detallada y enviarlo, a la máxima brevedad posible, a la siguiente dirección:

Dpto. de Cooperación Empresarial – ICEX

Paseo de la Castellana, 16

28046 Madrid

Tel.: 91 349 6483

Fax: 91 575 9618

Cooperacion.Empresarial@icex.es

Formulario Inscripcion Israel

This is cool.  One of my articles on Strategic Positioning just got posted on Best Thinking: http://ow.ly/KITL

According to their site, Best Thinking is a “free open access Website focused on quality content, transparency and collaboration, where identity verified experts share reliable knowledge on a great variety of topics.  BestThinking is for topics where there are no definitive answers, only the current best thinking by today’s best minds.”

I’m pleased to be a part of this great networking group–and glad they share my interest in good strategic positioning and competitive differentiation work.  

All too often companies view their strategic positioning as something that happens as a result of their ad agency’s work designing an ad campaign and tag line. Or, they hire a consultant that interviews the executive team, and develops a strategy that they try to push down into the organization. Some have even tried internal strategy “brainstorming” sessions. But those ways of getting to strategy often fall short. Why? Because the first two examples are both “outside in”. The third example is all “inside out”. These methods are often abstract, usually not very structured and thus do not yield tangible, targeted results.  But when you do get your strategic positioning right, it actually becomes a sustainability initiative.  It eliminates waste and “do-overs” on printed collateral, Website,  and other business  materials.  You save time, energy, and paper–all important in today’s economy.  So, give it some thought–linking strategy to sustainability is not such a bad idea.

Best Thinking has also been nominated for “best site for publishers” at mashable.com.  If you like them as much as I do you should vote for them here.

I’ve uploaded a full copy of my article here: Strategy–Your First Sustainability Initiative

Hope you enjoy the read!