Apr 11 2008
The Clean Tech Open launched its California competition this week, in the fabulous Rotunda of the new San Jose City Hall. San Jose is the hosting city, and Mayor Chuck Reed was on hand to kick off the event. He threw a challenge to the assembled group of entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders. “Bring us [...]
Feb 06 2008
I saw the first episode of the new series called “Startup Junkies” a couple of weeks ago. It’s a reality/documentary show that details the lifecycle of a startup company, in this case a company called Earth Class Mail. Two cool ideas converge here— the series itself, which for those of us addicted to entrepreneurial ideas [...]
Jan 10 2008
KJ and I recently had the opportunity to chat with Erik Blachford, the CEO of Terrapass. I think Terrapass is a fascinating business, in part, because it’s a for-profit enterprise, with a goal of being self-sustaining, rather than relying on donations. It’s a carbon-offset company, whose core value is helping people who want to take [...]
Dec 11 2007
As a company offering clean technology products, you may have a great story about how your product is better for the environment than your competitors’ offerings. But, if your message does not resonate with your target market, it will fall on deaf ears. How do you get your cleantech message across when environmental benefits are [...]
Nov 13 2007
Many clean technology vendors rely on return on investment (ROI) calculations to justify a sale. The idea is that customer makes an upfront investment and that investment (plus some) is paid back over a period of time. Many vendors will work with prospects to collect data and develop a set of assumptions about costs and [...]