green business
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From equity, to bonds, to real estate, MissionPoint Capital Partners co-founder Jesse Fink explains how traditional capital markets can be reoriented toward a low-carbon economy. Supporting non-profits is crucial in long-term environmental thinking, says Fink, as this sector pushes policy. But only for-profit business will catalyze true market solutions with pull.
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William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, suggests that when raising money, entrepreneurs should carefully select venture investors based on the quality and value of the partnership not funding terms alone. Specifically, Sahlman argues that although all VCs claim to be value-added investors, the entrepreneurs job is to find the investors who add rather than subtract value.
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Tarun Khanna, Professor at Harvard Business School, speaks about the incredible change in aspirations among young people in India. Whereas in the past young people aspired to become government officials, today they aspire to become entrepreneurs and lift themselves out of poverty by their own actions. Khanna reflects that this change in attitudes is inspiring and very good for the country.
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According to Komisar, what distinguishes the Silicon Valley is not its successes, but the way in which it deals with failures. The Valley is about experimentation, innovation, and taking new risks. Only a small business that can deal with failure and still make money can exist in this environment. It is a model based on many, many failures and a few extraordinary successes.
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Kelley describes three important steps in starting a company: 1) Follow your passion 2) Hire great people 3) Focus on process. His passion is design, but there must be a balance between passion and business issues. People often worry too much about the financial side of the company and fail on the emotional side of the company, he says.
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To overcome the flawed model of the early PC industry (which benefited only PC companies, not consumers) Dell talks about how his company made the PC easy to use and less expensive. This approach is being used today to improve the IT industry. Dell, Inc. provides cost-effective IT services and products. In this manner, companies can spend less on maintaining their IT infrastructures and more on creating new capabilities. This allows for ne...more
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Komisar relates some of the advice that George Lucas, acclaimed director of the Star Wars series, gave him in order to create compelling and visionary ideas: It is difficult to paint on a blank canvas, but it is easier to do so when there are few dots already splashed on. The notion of innovating around inchoate concepts are applicable to the entrepreneurship business, Komisar notes.
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There are no plans at this time to make the rubber chips reusable, says Worthington. Because the chips are so cheap to produce, Fluidigm would have to charge an enormous amount for them in order to make a viable business model where the customers are reusing the product, he adds. There is also the practical consideration of using pristine materials in experiments to ensure against contamination, he notes.
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Taking its name from the early investors of classic Hollywood, Ron Conway and Mike Maples define the angel investor. In addition, they explain the differences between angel investors and venture capitalists, and point out why an angel's smaller dollars might be a better choice, as they're often paired with a network of contacts, industry expertise, a broad range of exit strategies, and tools to keep start-ups in business.
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Estin talks about the history of Packet Design and how it adapted to the downturn in the economy. Packet Design started in 2000 as a technology company with the idea of bringing researchers and developers together under the notion that they would work on 5-6 projects and either spin out or license technologies. This model was successful for 3 years, but after that more money was needed as there was no licensing business.
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Google makes money through selling targeted advertising on its site, which is more effective than broad-based advertising. In addition, they receive revenue from providing search capabilities to other companies, says co-founder Larry Page. Surprisingly, the model used today is remarkably similar to the original business model presented to venture capitalists.
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Jeff Raikes, group vice president of Productivity and Business Services (PBS) at Microsoft Corporation, explains his own background and how being open to opportunities helped him become the only undergraduate from the Engineering Economic Systems department at Stanford.  Plans change as opportunities arise, he says. He also recommends entrepreneurs look for a job they love.
