So back in November it was announced that Al Gore was made partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. KPCB is one of Silicone Valley's oldest and most-leveraged venture capital groups. (www.kpcb.com) Gore will be heading up their climate change solutions group.
In Inc.com's February issue (www.inc.com), the magazine for entrepreneurs asked a group of five business leaders what they would like to see from Gore's involvement with KPCB. The first four answered reasonably, yet typically.
1. Invest in H2O (water is a limited resource)
2. Invent the Electrinet (the electric grid is not optimized well through technology - adding more coal and gas-fired plants is the current solution)
3. Focus on Micromanufacturing (biocomposites, soy-based polymers, etc.)
4. Think as Big as Big Oil
But the last response was the most interesting. Shayne McQuade is the CEO of Voltaic Systems (www.voltaicsystems.com) a company that makes back packs witht solar cells that charge hand-held electronic devices. "Alternative energy is the right place to start. Solar, wind, and wave all need to be pursued. But really, I just want Al Gore to make a fortune, because if he does, a lot more resources will flow into the industry... There's this sense that the environmental movement is supposed to be not-for-profit, and I disagree with that. We need Gore to get righ, and then we'll end up with even the Bush family investing in businesses that make ethanol from switchgrass."
I couldn't agree with that more.
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