The Grass is "Greener"

You mean Billion?... No Million.

A great piece by Tom Friedman, providing another example of the sheer difference in scale between East and West when undertaking innovation in clean energy. Once again the US is falling far behind in promoting innovation and progress of the clean (and other innovation) sectors. 

...Congress... is reluctant to appropriate the full $25 million for each (clean energy innovation) center..... “You mean billion,” Kishore asks? “No,” I say. “We’re talking about $25 million.” “Billion,” he repeats. “No. Million,” I insist. The Singaporean is aghast. He simply can’t believe that at a time when his little city-state has invested more than a billion dollars to make Singapore a biomedical science hub and attract the world’s best talent, America is debating about spending mere millions on game-changing energy research."

Richard Branson speaking at the Carbon War Room last week

Last week the Clinton Global Initiative took place. Here's an interview with Richard Branson, who founded the Carbon War Room 4 years ago. He speaks about his continued commitment to the cause, and activities being undertaken.

 

The lighter side of how Israelis can bring in investors and win clients...

These guys are really brilliant.  

Disclosure - unfortunately there's not much money to be made from high-jacking my fan page...

Milken Institute Global Conference Sessions

Videos from all the sessions at the recent Milken Institute Global Conference are available here:

http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/gcprogram.taf?function=detail&EvID=2085&eventid=GC10

Interesting discussion with 

Ted Turner and T. Boone Pickens on America's Energy Future here:

"We have to go to wind and solar eventually. Why not now?" asked Ted Turner of Turner Enterprises during a panel on America's energy future. Joining the debate are philanthropist T. Boone Pickens, left, and the Milken Institute's Michael Milken, center.

CICC Cleantech Summit 2010 - Additional Photos

Here are some additional pics from the CICC Cleantech Summit 2010:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=232778&id=275311723134

"Through its Cleantech Initiative CICC accelerated 10 Israeli companies in April providing them unique access to industry giants, utilities, venture capital and cleantech experts in California. On April 27 at PARC Palo Alto over 200 gathered to view the Israeli companies and their tech solutions in Solar, water, smart grid, energy efficiency etc."

CICC Cleantech Event in the Valley 2010

Here's a good article covering the recent CICC Cleantech Event (California Israel Chamber of Commerce), in which I led a very interesting panel discussion on how to build business models for growth in the water sector. Will hopefully have a video to follow shortly... 

 

Israeli cleantech companies sparkle in Silicon Valley | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California. 

 

Panel on "Israel: How to replicate a successful Business Model"

Here's the link to the recent panel on bridging the gap between Israel and the Valley, which I recently participated on in Stanford. This was part of an Italian business plan competition.

Israel Cleantech Tour to Silicon Valley + Water Industry Business Models Panel

Today the CICC has announced their selection of the 10 Israeli companies that will present at the upcoming Cleantech tour in the valley later this month. Its a great list, and I'm looking forward to see how these players have progressed in the market. 

Also, during this event (on the 27th April) I'll be moderating a panel on the topic of: "Water Industry Business Models – Creating Platforms for Growth in the Industry ".

The panelist will include:

• Peter Williams, Chief Technology Officer, Big Green Innovations, IBM
• Christopher Spain, Chairman & Chief Strategy Officer, HydroPoint Data Systems, and
• Ken Epstein, Principal at NewCap Partners, Inc., Advisor to Mobius Water (China/Middle East) and former Dow Executive in Corporate Ventures 

This should be a great discussion.

Israel Cleantech Tour 2010

I'm currently helping the California Israel Chamber of Commerce finalize this year's "Israel Cleantech Tour Event".

On the 27th of April there will be a day long showcase of Israeli companies involved with clean energy / water, along with some very interesting speakers from the industry.

If you're interested in the sector, its a great opportunity to learn more about the industry and activities, and meet with people in the industry. Registration is possible here. 

That afternoon, I'll be moderating a panel titled "Water Industry Business Models – Creating Platforms for Growth in the Industry". We've got some great speakers lined up, and I'm looking forward to a very interesting discussion.

Green Police

My favorite Superbowl ad...

Imagine H2O's Water Innovators Showcase -

For those interested in innovation, entrepreneurship, or investing across the water ecosystem - The Imagine H2O's Water Innovation competition Showcase will take place on March 11th in San Francisco.

I'm on the judging panel for this competition. We've reviewed over 50 teams from around the world. The winner will be revealed at this event.

To sign up: http://imagineh2o.eventbrite.com/

A question:
People often speak about Israel's tremendous entrepreneurial spirit and success - what in your view is the key challenge to maintaining this success in the future?

Please feel free to share your opinion in the comments.
I'm speaking on a panel this coming Monday and it would be interesting to share some of these inputs.

The panel topic is:
"Silicon Wadi Meets Silicon Valley: Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Israel and the U.S" and it will take place at San Jose State University, 8 February at 5:30pm (feel free to join if in the area).
On the panel with me will be Jason Wolf, VP Business Development at Better Place, and David Perlmutter, Executive Vice President at Intel.

To (continue to) blog or not to blog...
Typepad just asked for new payment details, which got me thinking about this given that I haven't posted in a while.

I decided to give it another try - a few things helped:
1. The new interface on typepad - makes posting small, twitter like comments very easy - which has been a significant barrier in getting me writing.
2. The seamless Facebook / Twitter link is cool.
3. The short status updates on facebook don't really work for me... whereas long blog posts are too much hassle. This way I'll try to find a comfortable middle ground...

Lets see how it goes.

Water Savings

This one came in from Brazil...

I guess you can call it clean - tech (?)

 

Technorati Tags: Water Technology,water conservation,Brazil

Energy Giant

I really liked this one...

 

It rings true in many parts of the (renewable) energy industry, where size is one of the key competitive differentiations (providing companies the ability to lock in supply agreements, receive significant financing (debt and equity), win large contracts from utilities, etc.). These are all key to building a successful business in the space, and areas entrepreneurs of new ventures must consider carefully when thinking about which markets they plan to address...