Feb 20 2008
Going green doesn’t happen all at once. It’s a continuum. Every business, like every person, can do something that conserves, recycles, saves, and re-uses. How does a company create sustainability in their organization? First, assess what’s going on, to identify areas for improvement. Start small, with a recycling program, or by creating employee incentives and [...]
Dec 04 2007
Greenwashing – touting ecological benefits while hiding environmentally damaging practices – is something cleantech companies must avoid. And since cleantech companies, by definition, must make claims about the “cleanliness” of their solutions, they are particularly vulnerable to accusations of greenwashing. The fact is: if you are marketing and selling products that claim to be “green,” [...]
Dec 03 2007
“How can we plan for revenue?—we don’t have a track record!” What are best practices for revenue planning for a company that is just starting out, or bringing a new product to a market? It is challenging to predict how much you’ll sell, but it’s data that a company really needs in order to plan [...]
Nov 20 2007
At last week’s Cleantech Crossroads* event in San Francisco, architects were well-represented among the attendees. It’s clear that architects play a pivotal role in green building. They do something every day that most businesses, institutions and individuals may undertake only once a decade. Because architects design large and complex building projects that have long-lasting effects [...]
Oct 30 2007
I had the opportunity to volunteer this year with the California Clean Tech Open, a business plan competition in which fledgling cleantech businesses in six categories compete for a total of $600K in awards. The competition’s goal is to provide the winners in each category with the necessary support to get their idea from concept [...]
Oct 29 2007
In August and September of this year, full-page ads appeared in my town’s local newspaper, the Los Altos Town Crier. “Brilliant!” I thought, after glancing through the ad. The headline was targeted specifically at Los Altos and Los Altos Hills residents and contained a simple call to action: “Act Now and Save 15-20% on a [...]