http://www.freshdialogues.com Alison van Diggelen in conversation with leaders in business, technology and the arts Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:09:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Alison van Diggelen in conversation with leaders in business, technology and the arts - with a green focus. Alison van Diggelen in conversation with leaders in business, technology and the arts Alison van Diggelen http://www.freshdialogues.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/freshdialogues-logo-300-x-300.jpghttp://www.freshdialogues.com fresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose no fresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,roseTechnologySociety & CultureBusinessalison@freshdialogues.comAlison van Diggelen http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/09/01/batteries-101-a-venture-capitalist-view/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/09/01/batteries-101-a-venture-capitalist-view/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:47:53 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3845 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/09/01/batteries-101-a-venture-capitalist-view/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In this week’s Fresh Dialogues, Mark Platshon, an expert in battery technology with venture capitalists, Vantage Point , provides some Battery Basics. What is a battery? “Throw a dart at (two elements on) the periodic table and you can make a battery out of it…a potato and a penny can make a battery…unfortunately we have a very limited periodic table…(and remember)  Moore’s Law doesn’t apply to chemistry!” . Why is it a hot space today? “When did you see a $10 Billion market grow three orders of magnitude in 20 years?” (That’s Platshon’s prediction for the growth in the lithium ion cell market as we drive more hybrid cars and new generation Electric Vehicles). What will attract the attention of venture capitalists? “We are looking for novelty and creativity…materials, systems, cooling…no one is going to find an execution plan because you are up against Samsung and Panasonic, the gorillas. You gotta do something that is truly novel, truly different and run like hell…cos they’re after you.” . . What about grid storage? “We are very interested in the biggest market that hasn’t happened yet…grid storage is constipated with a lot of regulatory issues.” . A big Problem -Shortage of electro chemists “We graduate maybe 50 electro chemists in this country a year…(but) BYD (the China-based battery and electric vehicle company) hires about 500 a year…there’s a huge opportunity to work in this…point your kids to this cos we gotta make this happen!” . This was recorded at SDForum’s Cleantech Breakfast held at SAP headquarters in Palo Alto on June 29, 2010. The event was expertly moderated by Jeffrey Selman of Nixon Peabody and also featured VentureBeat’s Camille Ricketts, Dania Ghantous of Qnovo Corp. and Ashok Lahiri of Enovix. For interviews with Friedman, Krugman, Ballard et al…check out Fresh Dialogues archives For exclusive video interviews, check out the Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In this week’s Fresh Dialogues, Mark Platshon, an expert in battery technology with venture capitalists, Vantage Point , provides some Battery Basics. What is a battery? “Throw a dart at (two [...] alison van diggelen 5.20 battery, venture capitalist, 101, technology, freshdialogues, mark platshon, no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/08/25/carl-guardino-on-ab-32-prop-23-were-not-going-to-sit-idly-by/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/08/25/carl-guardino-on-ab-32-prop-23-were-not-going-to-sit-idly-by/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:56:07 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3827 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/08/25/carl-guardino-on-ab-32-prop-23-were-not-going-to-sit-idly-by/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues You’ve no doubt heard about the November ballot measure (Proposition 23) which aims to to scupper California’s landmark climate change legislation, AB 32. In this Fresh Dialogues interview, Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, didn’t pull any punches in his response to those behind the plan. “We’re not going to sit idly by and watch you dismantle our environmental achievements… which are also economic ones,” says Carl Guardino. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which represents over 300 major companies in the valley, including Google, Hewlett Packard and IBM (approximately one in three private sector jobs) provides a proactive voice for Silicon Valley businesses on public policy issues, locally and in Sacramento and Washington D.C. . Here’s a recap of the issue: AB 32 is the Golden State’s attempt to cap carbon emissions to 1990 levels by introducing a version of a cap-and-trade carbon tax which would hit power plants, refineries and cement manufacturers hard. What is Proposition 23? Supporters call it “The California Jobs Initiative,” and point to the high cost and potential job losses of implementing AB 32; but Proposition 23′s main impact would be to suspend (and effectively repeal) the provisions of AB 32. In turn, AB 32 supporters have launched a Stop Dirty Energy Prop Campaign to thwart the proposition. As of today, Proposition 23 is way ahead in the social media popularity index with over 4,500 Facebook “likes” for Prop 23 compared to just under 3,000 for its opponents. And here’s how Guardino describes it: “A veiled attempt to dismantle California’s environmental achievements.” . Who is behind it? Two Texas-based oil companies, Valero Energy Corporation and Tesoro Corporation, provided the initial funding to launch the campaign. Valero donated over $4 Million to the cause. Guardino’s argument “This is an economic engine not a caboose and we’re not going to let folks ruin the engine that continues to fuel the renewable energy, clean green economy. It’s not only good for our environment – and it’s critical – it’s also good for our economy and jobs; and we’ve proved that through innovation of products, processes and what we do with our people every day in Silicon Valley.” “What’s wonderful about Silicon Valley is that it’s never been an ‘either or’  -  it’s never been about the environment or the economy,” says Carl Guardino. “We can have our cake and eat it too.” . . The interview was recorded at the CreaTV studios in San Jose on April 29th 2010. At that time, Proposition 23 was not yet on the ballot, but Guardino correctly predicted it would receive sufficient support to qualify. For other Fresh Dialogues interviews re. AB 32: Former Secretary of State, George Shultz: “it would be “an unmitigated disaster” if the measure to suspend AB 32 passes in the November election.” click here Akeena Solar’s Barry Cinnamon click here For more interviews with Friedman, Krugman, Ballard et al…check out Fresh Dialogues archives For more exclusive video interviews, check out the Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues You’ve no doubt heard about the November ballot measure (Proposition 23) which aims to to scupper California’s landmark climate change legislation, AB 32. In this Fresh Dialogues interview, Carl [...] alison van diggelen 6.08 carl guardino, silicon valley, leadership group, AB 32, AB32, Prop, 23, green jobs, freshdialogues, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/07/18/reid-hoffman-on-entrepreneurship/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/07/18/reid-hoffman-on-entrepreneurship/#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:43:39 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3772 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/07/18/reid-hoffman-on-entrepreneurship/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues June 24 marked the 13th annual SDForum Visionary Awards, a celebration of the innovators and chutzpah that make Silicon Valley unique. Although the four visionaries come from diverse backgrounds, Silicon Valley was the common theme for the evening. The visionaries gave a revealing glimpse into the Silicon Valley State of Mind. What exactly is Silicon Valley? What’s its role in the world? This week, we look at Reid Hoffman’s viewpoint. He’s co-founder of LinkedIn and a renowned innovator in Silicon Valley. He had some strong words to say about the power of entrepreneurship and its ability to jumpstart the economy. The other honorees this year were Chris Shipley, Arthur Patterson and Brent Schlender. Bill Gates was also there. Alas, in virtual form only. Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn introduced Reid Hoffman as someone with a brilliant strategic mind and ability to invent the future. As well as being Executive Chairman of LinkedIn, Hoffman is also a partner with venture capitalists, Graylock Partners. Pointing to his colleague’s multidisciplinary background (Hoffman studied symbolic systems and philosophy at Stanford and Oxford respectively), Weiner concluded that education provided the building blocks to create an outstanding public thinker and social networking pioneer. Weiner reminded the audience that Hoffman understood the ability of technology to inform and connect people, inspiring him to launch Socialnet (a precursor to LinkedIn) before Facebook and MySpace existed. Hoffman walked to the podium with some reluctance, saying that listening to the introduction made him “want to run and hide”; yet he started his speech off by grounding us in time and place. “It’s an enormous privilege to be at this center fulcrum of how we change the world, that we call Silicon Valley,” he said, and posed the powerful question, “What more should we do with that?” . Talking like a true Silicon Valley techie, he suggested not two “answers,” but two “vectors” to his question. And, the visionary he is, Hoffman thinks BIG. First, he recommended leveraging entrepreneurship as a powerful way to get the world economy back on track.  Drawing from author, Tom Friedman’s thesis, Hoffman said, “We live in a world that is increasingly flat and increasingly accelerating. When you have challenges like economic turbulence and uncertainty… entrepreneurship is a really good pattern…we need to make it more available globally.” . Provoking wry laughter from the crowd, he pointed out that there is no entrepreneurs’ lobby in Washington DC, and implied there should be one to encourage entrepreneurship as part of the stimulus package, both here in the U.S. and around the world. His second “vector” or call to action was: how can we take business models to the non-profit sector? Drawing from his work at Kiva.org and Endeavor.org, he suggested hybrid models of self-sustaining nonprofits that can help spread entrepreneurship and create high impact change. “I love to play at the heart of what we do best in Silicon Valley,” said Hoffman. “To take risks, develop technologies and use financing and inspire entrepreneurship to create a lever by which we move the world.” . . Former Financial Times journalist, and popular Silicon Valley Watcher, Tom Foremski used the occasion to launch and distribute his new book, “In My Humble Opinion.” He tells me it isn’t all that humble, but you can see for yourself. Check it out here. . For more interviews with Friedman, Krugman, Ballard…check out Fresh Dialogues archives For more videos, check out the Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues June 24 marked the 13th annual SDForum Visionary Awards, a celebration of the innovators and chutzpah that make Silicon Valley unique. Although the four visionaries come from diverse backgrounds, [...] alison van diggelen 7.07 reid hoffman, entrepreneur, visionary, awards, sdforum, linkedin, jeff weiner, freshdialogues, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/07/13/guy-kawasaki-on-evangelism/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/07/13/guy-kawasaki-on-evangelism/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:15:24 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3763 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/07/13/guy-kawasaki-on-evangelism/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Guy Kawasaki, the renowned Apple evangelist shares his top tips on how to become a great evangelist and how to leverage your success. This segment is part of a longer interview which took place in front of an audience of over 500 on July 7, 2010 at UC Santa Cruz Extension, and introduced my upcoming course in Green Entrepreneurship. First up: I asked Guy for TIPS ON EVANGELIZING . “The starting point for a great evangelist is to have a great product….” e.g. the Apple iPad: how hard could that be? Guy Kawasaki . “The thing that has made me successful is that – unlike a lot of people – I’m willing to grind it out.” ie long hours, hard work. Guy Kawasaki . On leveraging your success “With a psych(ology) degree and a marketing background (diamonds), I’m living proof that you can fool most of the people all the time. I’m also living proof if you do one thing right (evangelize the Mac) – you can live off your reputation for decades.” Guy Kawasaki . . Please check back soon for more interview segments with Guy on social media, increasing your followers on Twitter ( to 200,000+) and other wisdom from the author of The Art of The Start and 8 other books on business and entrepreneurship. For more interviews with Friedman, Krugman, Ballard…check out Fresh Dialogues archives For more videos, check out the Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Guy Kawasaki, the renowned Apple evangelist shares his top tips on how to become a great evangelist and how to leverage your success. This segment is part of a longer interview which took place in [...] alison van diggelen 3.10 guy kawasaki, interview, freshdialogues, alison van diggelen, evangelism, evangelist, tip, advice, ucsc no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/28/richard-lowenthal-tesla-range-anxiety-the-role-of-charging-stations/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/28/richard-lowenthal-tesla-range-anxiety-the-role-of-charging-stations/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:58:58 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3728 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/28/richard-lowenthal-tesla-range-anxiety-the-role-of-charging-stations/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On the eve of Tesla’s IPO, Richard Lowenthal of Coulomb Technologies discusses the vital role of charging stations in creating a thriving ecosystem for electric vehicles. Lowenthal, a Silicon Valley based maker of charging stations, argues that a comprehensive network of charging stations is a vital prerequisite for the roll out of electric cars such as the Tesla, Smart Car, Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf in the next two years. Lowenthal explains why a visit to Tesla Motors inspired him to launch his green company after a successful career in high tech at StrataCom and Stardent Computers. For its part, Coulomb Technologies is still in the early stages of installing charging stations and faces competition from the larger, better funded Better Place which offers battery swaps as well as charging. However, Coulomb recently won a $15 Million grant from the Department of Energy and its ChargePoint America program is scheduled to install 4600 charging stations in nine strategic regions of the United States by September 2011. Reports indicate that despite Tesla’s questionable financials  - the company has failed to have a profitable quarter –  investors are “giddy” about today’s IPO. It seems that for some, the “cool factor” and zero to 60 in under 4 seconds trumps all….at least in the short term. . . This interview was recorded at the CreaTV Studios in Silicon Valley on April 20, 2010. For more interviews with Tesla experts click here For more Fresh Dialogues archives For more videos, check out the Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On the eve of Tesla’s IPO, Richard Lowenthal of Coulomb Technologies discusses the vital role of charging stations in creating a thriving ecosystem for electric vehicles. Lowenthal, a Silicon [...] alison van diggelen 10.04 charging stations, electric cars, tesla, range anxiety, coulomb, lowenthal, interview, freshdialogues, alison van diggelen no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/23/tom-friedman-the-clean-tech-race/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/23/tom-friedman-the-clean-tech-race/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:09:49 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3719 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/23/tom-friedman-the-clean-tech-race/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues This week, a report by the Pew Charitable Trust was released, underlining how much the United States is trailing in the clean tech race. Phyllis Cuttino, Pew’s Program Director wrote a succinct piece in the Huffington Post pointing to the fact that the United States fell far behind China in clean energy finance and investment in 2009. China’s total was over $30 billion compared to the U.S. clean energy investment of approximately $17 billion. In light of the BP oil spill and the continuing saga of disaster, both environmental and economic, she reaches a strong conclusion: “Safe and reliable clean energy can be harnessed to create new jobs, lessen our dependence on foreign energy sources and reduce global warming pollution. That is, if leaders in Washington can look past current partisan differences and work together to create an economic environment for tomorrow, in which our nation’s can-do spirit can again thrive.” An excellent time to revisit the advice of one of the most vocal advocates for a new energy policy: Author and New York Times columnist, Tom Friedman who spoke with Fresh Dialogues on the subject of energy policy and DC last year. Here’s a link to the VIDEO (Tom Friedman on China Envy) Also see Tom Friedman on Copenhagen Video “This is a problem that will be solved by innovators, not regulators.” From the archives: I caught up with Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman, at the Foothill College Celebrity Forum lecture series, where he delivered a spirited argument for why the United States must embrace a green economy. In this second part of our interview, we explore his part in driving the green agenda. Last January, he took part in a congressional hearing on green tech and economic recovery, sponsored by US Senator, Barbara Boxer. We discuss his role in that; and how he deals with critics. Click here for part one of the interview about his book, Hot Flat, and Crowded. On Friedman’s role in driving the green agenda “I use my platform as a journalist to drive this agenda that I see as important… I see a lot of things that are very exciting happening – exploding really – on a kind of small scale, but they haven’t yet reached critical mass and when you’re talking about changing the climate, you are talking about critical mass. It hasn’t yet been translated into policy at scale.” . On his action at the Congressional level in January “It was an informal hearing, sponsored by Barbara Boxer, on climate and energy. John (Doerr) and I were the two main expert witnesses…No one intervention like that is going to be decisive, it takes many more…most of all from the President.” . On dealing with critics “I think there’s a big audience for what I say and I don’t really pay attention to the critics. I keep on marching on. I hear it and it’s fine. And it’s a free country. You can say whatever you want.  But I’ve got my own bully pulpit and I use it. I don’t use it to shout back at critics; I use it to get my message out.  I’m looking forward. You know, the dogs bark and the caravan moves on. I’m in the caravan. My feeling is, I’m out there. And therefore, if you can’t take the heat, don’t be out there… Why would I waste a column writing about one of my critics? So what I always say to the critics is: ‘you may be writing about me, I really appreciate that, but don’t think for a second that I’d waste a column writing about you.’” . What drives Tom Friedman? “I’m having fun. I have the best job in the world. I get to be a tourist with an attitude…go wherever I want, write whatever I want…and they pay me for that. I wouldn’t give it up for the world. I still enjoy getting up every morning, hitching up my trousers and getting out there…opening up my laptop and taking on the world.” The interview was recorded at the Flint Center in Cupertino on September 10, [...] By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues This week, a report by the Pew Charitable Trust was released, underlining how much the United States is trailing in the clean tech race. Phyllis Cuttino, Pew’s Program Director wrote a succinct [...] alison van diggelen 4 energy policy, tom friedman, pew report, phyllis, cuttino, pew charitable, global warming, clean energy, fresh dialogues, energy efficiency, tom friedman no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/09/novacem-carbon-negative-cement/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/09/novacem-carbon-negative-cement/#comments Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:38:02 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3687 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/09/novacem-carbon-negative-cement/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues This week, we explore the progress of Novacem, the London based “green cement” manufacturer. On April 22nd, 2010, the company received an appropriate Earth Day honor: Novacem was named a Top 10 Emerging Technology by MIT’s Technology Review Magazine. “The annual TR10 spotlights the emerging technologies we find most exciting. These are the innovations most likely to alter industries, fields of research, and even the way we live and work,” said Jason Pontin, editor in chief and publisher of Technology Review magazine. “We celebrate the innovators making these accomplishments possible and look forward to their continued advancement within their respective fields.” I caught up with Novacem’s Chairman, Stuart Evans at the AlwaysOn GoingGreen Conference in Sausalito last year to explore the company’s “secret sauce” and how it plans to compete with Khosla’s “favorite child,” Los Gatos based Calera. Here is the newly released video of our conversation. . . At the conference last year, Vinod Khosla, the green investment guru, was asked to name the company with the greatest chance of becoming the next Green Microsoft  while onstage at the GoingGreen Conference in Sausalito.  He declined to name his “favorite child” but did praise Calera, the green cement maker he’s backing; and spoke about the huge potential growth in this sector. Since cement production creates 2.5 billion tons of CO2 annually,  representing  5% of manmade sources, it offers great potential in both climate change impact and market opportunity. Stuart Evans, Chairman of Novacem, shares Vinod’s bullishness about the market for green cement. This British entrepreneur has assembled a team from Imperial College, London (he dubs it the MIT of  the UK) and claims to have invented a carbon negative cement. How does Novacem technology differ from Calera’s? “The big play at Calera is that they want to go next to power stations to absorb the carbon dioxide there (carbon sequestration)… We’re making cement without a carbonate based feedstock. Vinod was talking about his materials being used in aggregate applications; we’re really replacing Portland Cement…we’re in the same space, we’re not head to head…we’re possibly even complementary. Besides, in a 2.5 billion (volume/ $150Billion) market, there are room for a couple of players…” Why is Novacem carbon negative? “Our cement doesn’t emit carbon dioxide, it absorbs carbon dioxide. We start with the material magnesium silicate (not calcium carbonate)… they have no carbon in them,  so right there we’ve got a stunning advantage. We only work at 800 degrees centigrade (compared to Portland Cement which requires 1400 degrees) so the energy sources we can use include biomass fuels which have a much greener footprint. ..We add a magic sauce to it (a mineral additive) which means that the cement absorbs carbon dioxide rather rapidly.” The importance of team “The team is everything; money is important but the team is even more important.” On Vinod Khosla’s expertise “We are tremendously flattered that Vinod is following our lead and investing in green cement.” (A display of typical British humor here) For more Fresh Dialogues interviews and transcript with Vinod Khosla, click here For other interviews recorded at the conference: Tony Perkins of AlwaysOn David Chen of Morgan Stanley The interview was recorded at the GoingGreen Conference, Sausalito on September 15, 2009. The background sound you hear is nautical ‘music’ from buoys, as container ships make their way under the Golden Gate Bridge. For more info on Green Cement, check out these links Earth2Tech The Next Big Future By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues This week, we explore the progress of Novacem, the London based “green cement” manufacturer. On April 22nd, 2010, the company received an appropriate Earth Day honor: Novacem was named a Top 10 [...] 6.30 novacem, green cement, calera, khosla, technology review, freshdialogues, alison van diggelen, green interview noAlison van Diggelen http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/03/vinod-khosla-cleantech-wisdom/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/03/vinod-khosla-cleantech-wisdom/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 23:06:17 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3672 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/06/03/vinod-khosla-cleantech-wisdom/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Vinod Khosla recently announced a new member of his Khosla Ventures team: none other than former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who has been a vocal proponent of action to combat climate change. According to reports, Blair will be a paid advisor and will add his eloquence and global connections to Khosla’s plans to change the world through cleantech investments. This from Dana Hull at the Mercury News: “I’m absolutely thrilled, honored and delighted to team up with Vinod and the people he has working for him,” Blair said before taking the stage for a “fireside chat” with executives from six companies in Khosla Ventures’ vast portfolio. ”Vinod is one of the most creative, dynamic and extraordinary people I’ve ever met in my life… the answers to climate change and energy security lies in the technological innovations. I am thrilled to play whatever small part I can.” Chances are, Blair will play much more than a “small part” in keeping global warming and the need for cleantech innovation front and center. His eloquence and British accent will no doubt help. But he’ll be keeping his distance from his fellow Brits at BP who have created an environmental disaster. Here is an interview from the Fresh Dialogues archives which explores Vinod’s motivations for investing in Bloom Energy, future predictions and his concern about cleantech bubbles. Click here for the FULL TRANSCRIPT . . . The interview was recorded at the SDForum Visionary Awards in June 2009. To see many other exclusive videos at the FRESH DIALOGUES CHANNEL  click here SEE THE VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE – A FRESH DIALOGUES EXCLUSIVE – 1. Bloom Energy: Fuel Cell Technology 2. Bloom Energy: Affordability is Essential Video 3. Bloom Energy: Mission to Change the World Video For a full archive of interviews with Tom Friedman, Paul Krugman, Martin Sheen and many others click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Vinod Khosla recently announced a new member of his Khosla Ventures team: none other than former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who has been a vocal proponent of action to combat climate change. [...] alison van diggelen 7.10 vinod, khosla, investment, cleantech, freshdialogues, alison van diggelen, bloom, bubble no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/05/19/maureen-dowd-talks-green-new-video/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/05/19/maureen-dowd-talks-green-new-video/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 20:59:34 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3644 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/05/19/maureen-dowd-talks-green-new-video/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues This week, we take a look at the Fresh Dialogues archives. Last April, I met with the enchanting Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Maureen Dowd. We had an animated conversation during a green-themed morning in downtown San Jose. Over cups of delicious mint tea, we discussed Maureen’s Irish heritage and how that inspires her fiery prose. We also discussed her belief in America’s green future. In this excerpt, we discuss fellow New York Times Columnist, Tom Friedman (whom she describes as “her office husband”) and his new book, Hot, Flat & Crowded. “I try to get advice from Tom Friedman who is Mr. Solar around our office. He’s done a new book which is very involved with energy and his whole house is solar designed… I ask him and he’s trying to coach me in how to be more environmentally correct.” . “This was the first campaign I’ve ever covered where I’d go and watch Hillary and Obama in the primary and they were both competing to come up with a plan for green jobs and for me it’s very exciting because for the eight years that Bush and Cheney were in it felt like we were going backwards in every way. You know we weren’t coming into the 21st Century and we were kinda like the Flintstones – we were just not moving forward. So I love all that.” . To read the TRANSCRIPT of the full interview click here To see many other exclusive videos at the FRESH DIALOGUES CHANNEL  click here For a full archive of interviews with Tom Friedman, Paul Krugman, Martin Sheen and many others click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues This week, we take a look at the Fresh Dialogues archives. Last April, I met with the enchanting Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Maureen Dowd. We had an animated conversation during a green-themed [...] alison van diggelen 2.2 Maureen dowd, green, talks green, green interview, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, mr solar, tom friedman, office husband, green jobs no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/05/10/jeffrey-toobin-elena-kagan-and-environment/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/05/10/jeffrey-toobin-elena-kagan-and-environment/#comments Mon, 10 May 2010 16:47:21 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3629 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/05/10/jeffrey-toobin-elena-kagan-and-environment/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Today, President Obama announced his nominee for Supreme Court to replace Justice Stevens. No surprise to Fresh Dialogues readers: it’s Elena Kagan. So what might she mean for the environment and green tech? On April 1st, just days before Justice Stevens announced his retirement, I sat down with Jeffrey Toobin to discuss the environmental record of the Supreme Court and the likely pick for Justice Stevens replacement. Toobin didn’t skip a beat: Elena Kagan. In this interview from the Fresh Dialogues archives, Toobin explains why Obama favored Kagan over the other well qualified candidates for the post and speculates about her green credentials. . Click here for an interview TRANSCRIPT Why will Obama pick Elena Kagan? “She’s former Dean of Harvard Law School (Obama’s alma mater), very much an Obama type person – moderate Democrat, a consensus builder…” . Is Elena Kagan an environmentalist? “My sense is that it’s not an issue that has come across her plate a lot…she’s someone who has written on administration law which tends to mean she’s a believer in the power of the Federal Government to regulate.” Jeffrey Toobin . The interview took place at Dick Henning’s Foothill College Celebrity Forum in Silicon Valley on April 1, 2010. For more Fresh Dialogues interviews with business leaders and experts check out Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel For more on Elena Kagan’s green credentials: check out this article at Grist.org And here is an ARCHIVE of interviews with Paul Krugman, Tom Friedman, KR Sridhar and many others By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Today, President Obama announced his nominee for Supreme Court to replace Justice Stevens. No surprise to Fresh Dialogues readers: it’s Elena Kagan. So what might she mean for the environment and [...] alison van diggelen 4.30 freshdialogues, alison van diggelen, interview, video, environment , kagan, supreme court, toobin, nominee, no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/05/06/adam-jackson-go-green-with-twitter/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/05/06/adam-jackson-go-green-with-twitter/#comments Thu, 06 May 2010 19:15:24 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3614 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/05/06/adam-jackson-go-green-with-twitter/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Twitter officianado, Adam Jackson at SDForum’s Teens Plugged in Conference last year. Since then, he’s founded TweetForMyBiz, a social media consultancy, based in San Francisco. Moderator at this year’s conference, Mike Cassidy wrote an excellent column in the San Jose Mercury News about how teens embrace fearlessness in Silicon Valley. He writes: “Tech CEOs have done plenty of hand-wringing about our schools’ declining ability to turn out the thinkers we need to keep innovation robust…The young entrepreneurs at the SDForum conference don’t make those worries go away, but they are a reason to hold onto hope. They are a generation that embraces the optimism, fearlessness and drive that have built Silicon Valley.” Adam Jackson, who uprooted from Florida to San Francisco to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams as a young teen, is a great example of this fearlessness. In this interview from the Fresh Dialogues archives, Adam talks about how to become a green influencer. “If you have an idea to be more green, help the earth, then go for it, and try it out. See what happens and talk about it. That’s how you become an influencer, that’s how you become an expert. It’s not by re-quoting other people’s things. Or by trying to figure it out, maybe dabbling in it. You just have to jump head first.” To read more on Adam, click here or here Check out the new Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Twitter officianado, Adam Jackson at SDForum’s Teens Plugged in Conference last year. Since then, he’s founded TweetForMyBiz, a social media consultancy, based in San [...] alison van diggelen 1.0 adam jackson, twitter, fresh dialogues, interview, how to become green influencer, alison van diggelen no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/28/sdforum-silicon-valley-teens-talk-green-tech/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/28/sdforum-silicon-valley-teens-talk-green-tech/#comments Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:21:16 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3587 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/28/sdforum-silicon-valley-teens-talk-green-tech/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues SDForum attendees got a glimpse of the future last Friday. Microsoft hosted the 4th Annual SDForum Teens Conference – an assembly of some of the most dynamic and creative young minds in Silicon Valley. I had the pleasure of moderating a panel of high energy high school students who are using technology to pursue their dreams of, well, simply: changing the world. Why not indeed? Katherine Nasol, a junior at Notre Dame High School, who aims to eradicate child trafficking in the Philippines through her Pagkabata Project, put it best: “In a time where youth have a bad reputation of going on Facebook all day and spending most of our time playing video games, this conference challenges that notion. Youth have the power to do anything, whether it be building a global network or changing the world views to care for the environment.” . Her colleagues were equally impressive, from Emily Gran, who wants the world to take action in response to climate change (and has created a high school syllabus to trigger that change); to Daniel Brusilovsky who founded Teens in Tech Networks to help launch young entrepreneurs in business (and wants to replace Steve Jobs at Apple when he grows up – there will be no stopping this guy !); to Veronica Hume and Diana Chen who have created the GirlsForTech site to connect techie girls around the world; to Emily Munoz and Natalie Hon, Freestyle Academy students, who made a documentary about the importance of arts education in schools. Here’s a good write up of the morning’s green agenda by Michal Lenchner of The Examiner and another by Mike Cassidy of the Mercury News; and there are many more photos at DJ Cline’s For Future Reference Panelists include, from the left: Diana Chen (Mountain View) , Veronica Hume (St. Francis), Katherine Nasol (Notre Dame), Emily Gran (Menlo Atherton) and Daniel Brusilovski (Aragon) and not photographed: Emily Munoz (Mountain View) and Nathalie Hon (Los Altos). Moderator: Alison van Diggelen Photo Credit: DJ Cline From our archives: Audio from last year’s conference with Catherine Cook, founder of MyYearbook, a teen rival to the all mighty Facebook. In this interview, Catherine discusses how her site promotes a green planet and greener teens. For more Fresh Dialogues interviews with teens, click here and for our full archive of interviews with Paul Krugman, Tom Friedman, Martin Sheen et al, click here For exclusive VIDEOS check out FRESH DIALOGUES YOUTUBE CHANNEL Excellent to note Microsoft’s green credentials – the campus is powered with a 480kW solar installation. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues SDForum attendees got a glimpse of the future last Friday. Microsoft hosted the 4th Annual SDForum Teens Conference – an assembly of some of the most dynamic and creative young minds in Silicon [...] alison van diggelen 4.45 catherine cook, myyearbook, teens, green, interview, teens, sdforum, tech teens, freshdialogues, alison van diggelen, interview no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/21/solar-the-economic-argument/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/21/solar-the-economic-argument/#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:00:09 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3575 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/21/solar-the-economic-argument/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On the Eve of Earth Day, it’s telling to look at the green motivations of one of Silicon Valley’s leaders in solar technology: CEO of Akeena Solar, Barry Cinnamon. He’s been a solar advocate since the 1970′s when he studied the science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); however, he’s emphatic in his belief: economics trumps environmental arguments for going solar. So much so, that Cinnamon chose to avoid the color green in his company logo and vehicles. What motivated Cinnamon to explore solar energy in the 1970′s? “In the 1970′s we had the energy crisis and …(President) Jimmy Carter said ‘the energy crisis is the moral equivalent of war.’  …there was no environmental consciousness about fossil fuels being bad; nobody had ever heard of Green House Gases…We were all worried about nuclear winter.” . On becoming a green entrepreneur “It was a really FEEL GOOD THING….We knew we were doing the right thing for the environment…” . On the economics of going solar “Customers want to do it for the environment or for our country’s energy independence….but if the numbers don’t pencil out, they almost never do it…you’ve got to make a decent economic case.” . . . How does “belief” in Global Warming alter the sales pitch? “Some people don’t ‘believe’ it, and it’s a religious thing…’green’ works well in the Bay Area….but (elsewhere) customers would avoid a company who’s main pitch is green…but if you hit them with the economic argument or the energy independence argument – we don’t need to buy any energy from the Persian Gulf – it works just fine.” . Could there be a repeat of the 1970′s boom then bust in alternative energy? “In the 70′s/early 80′s, the crisis went away, tax credits went away…if energy prices suddenly plummeted again….it’ll happen again. We don’t have the political will to artificially support oil or gas prices….(but) because the world  demand for oil and gas is so high and the supply is generally limited…economics is going to reduce the chances that it will happen again…but it’s not impossible.” By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On the Eve of Earth Day, it’s telling to look at the green motivations of one of Silicon Valley’s leaders in solar technology: CEO of Akeena Solar, Barry Cinnamon. He’s been a solar advocate [...] alison van diggelen 7.11 freshdialogues, alison van diggelen, solar, akeena, barry cinnamon, interview, video,economic, environment, economic argument, global warming , green interview no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/12/jeffrey-toobin-transcript-kagan-supreme-court-environment/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/12/jeffrey-toobin-transcript-kagan-supreme-court-environment/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:28:00 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3546 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/12/jeffrey-toobin-transcript-kagan-supreme-court-environment/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Fresh Dialogues (TM) is an interview series with a green focus: Fresh Questions, Fresh Answers. This video interview took place at  Foothill College Celebrity Forum on April 1, 2010, just one week before Justice Stevens announced his retirement. Check out the new Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel more exclusive interviews. ALISON VAN DIGGELEN: Hello and welcome. Today on Fresh Dialogues: Jeffrey Toobin. Jeffrey – thank you so much for joining me on Fresh Dialogues. Let’s go on to your specialty: The Supreme Court. In 2009, they decided against environmentalists in a lot of cases… JEFFREY TOOBIN: Six out of six. ALISON VAN DIGGELEN: Yes. What are your thoughts on that, moving forward? Is this going to continue…this anti-environmental stance of the Supreme Court? JEFFREY TOOBIN: I think that the court as currently constituted will likely continue in that direction. I don’t think it’s a particular hostility to the environment per se. I think it is a general sympathy for corporate defendants in all cases, environmental cases being one category of cases where the corporations are the defendants.  They are also generally – the conservative majority –  fairly hostile to government regulatory efforts…and the environment is one area, not the only area. So if the court stays as it currently is, I think you’ll see a lot more cases like that. ALISON VAN DIGGELEN: So would you say, it’s moving more pro-business? JEFFREY TOOBIN: Clearly ALISON VAN DIGGELEN: And the environment losing out as a result? JEFFREY TOOBIN: That’s certainly how the environmentalists see it. ALISON VAN DIGGELEN: And how do you see it? JEFFREY TOOBIN: Again, not a field of great expertise of mine, but I see who wins the cases and who loses them. And it’s the polluters who keep winning. ALISON VAN DIGGELEN: And what about the future? Justice Stevens is due to retire shortly… JEFFREY TOOBIN: He hasn’t said so officially but I think he will retire this Spring. ALISON VAN DIGGELEN: So how is that going to change things? What are your predictions? JEFFREY TOOBIN: I think he is a key member of the liberal four on the court, he will likely be replaced by another liberal. So in terms of the outcome of  cases in the next few years, probably not a huge impact, but I often like to quote Byron White the late Justice, who said if you change one Justice, you don’t just change one Justice, you change the whole court. If you start to have an energized liberal group of young  - by Supreme Court standards -Justices like Sonia Sotomayor, like the next Obama appointee, the wind could start to be at their back. And if Obama gets re-elected, you could see more appointments…so it’s a big deal. ALISON VAN DIGGELEN: And who is your No. 1 candidate for that appointment? JEFFREY TOOBIN: Elena Kagan, the Solicitor General, former Dean of Harvard Law School. Very much an Obama type person – moderate Democrat, a consensus builder… ALISON VAN DIGGELEN: Do you know if she’s an environmentalist? JEFFREY TOOBIN: I don’t… I just don’t know. My sense is, it’s just not an issue that has come across her plate a lot…she is someone who has written on administration law, which tends to mean she’s a believer in the power of the Federal Government to regulate. But I wouldn’t… A – I don’t know what she thinks…and B – I don’t… A is enough. I don’t know what she thinks about these issues…(laughter) ALISON VAN DIGGELEN:  (laughter) OK. Jeffrey Toobin I really appreciate your taking the time for Fresh Dialogues. JEFFREY TOOBIN: My pleasure. Nice to see you. For more Fresh Dialogues Video interviews click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Fresh Dialogues (TM) is an interview series with a green focus: Fresh Questions, Fresh Answers. This video interview took place at  Foothill College Celebrity Forum on April 1, 2010, just one week [...] alison van diggelen 4.14 jeffrey, toobin, supreme court, justices, environmental record, kagan, nominee, obama, energy policy, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, environment, green interview, sustainability no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/12/jeffrey-toobin-supreme-court-environment/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/12/jeffrey-toobin-supreme-court-environment/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:13:43 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3539 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/12/jeffrey-toobin-supreme-court-environment/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I sat down with Supreme Court expert, Jeffrey Toobin, to discuss the court’s environmental record and Obama’s likely pick for the Supreme Court to replace Justice Stevens. Without skipping a beat, Toobin said his No. 1 pick is Solicitor General, Elena Kagan. Just one week later, Justice Stevens announced his retirement and Toobin’s pick became the front runner. Time will tell if he’s right. Obama is expected to  announce his nominee very soon. Click here for an interview TRANSCRIPT Why will Obama pick Elena Kagan? “She’s former Dean of Harvard Law School (Obama’s alma mater), very much an Obama type person – moderate Democrat, a consensus builder…” . Is Elena Kagan an environmentalist? “My sense is that it’s not an issue that has come across her plate a lot…she’s someone who has written on administration law which tends to mean she’s a believer in the power of the Federal Government to regulate.” Jeffrey Toobin . . The interview took place at Dick Henning’s Foothill College Celebrity Forum in Silicon Valley on April 1, 2010. For more Fresh Dialogues interviews with business leaders and experts check out Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel And here is an ARCHIVE of interviews with Paul Krugman, Tom Friedman, KR Sridhar and many others By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I sat down with Supreme Court expert, Jeffrey Toobin, to discuss the court’s environmental record and Obama’s likely pick for the Supreme Court to replace Justice Stevens. Without skipping a [...] alison van diggelen 4.13 jeffrey toobin, kagan, supreme court, nominee, environmental record, stevens retirement, alison van diggelen, fresh dialogues, green interview, sustainability no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/06/jeffrey-toobin-on-obamas-offshore-drilling-plan/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/06/jeffrey-toobin-on-obamas-offshore-drilling-plan/#comments Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:45:46 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3517 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/04/06/jeffrey-toobin-on-obamas-offshore-drilling-plan/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last week, President Obama announced a surprise decision to allow oil and gas drilling off the East Coast of the United States. The world was at once outraged and confused. What many analysts overlooked is that Obama also said in his speech, “For the sake of the planet and our energy independence, we need to begin the transition to cleaner fuels now.”  There was much for both sides to analyze and to debate. I sat down with CNN’s senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin before his Foothill College Celebrity Forum appearance, to try to make sense of Obama’s announcement. Toobin is best-selling author of The Nine (On the secret world of the Supreme Court Justices), and two of the most high profile political controversies: Too Close to Call (the Bush-Gore Presidential Recount) and A Vast Conspiracy (the Clinton-Lewinsky Affair), so I figured he’d provide some good insights into Obama’s latest political strategy. See also Huffington Post coverage On the Obama Offshore Oil Drilling Announcement “It’s a bit peculiar frankly…it seems on one level that he’s negotiating with himself…conceding something to the pro-development forces before the negotiations have really begun in earnest…but there may be some larger political game at work…that this shows how accommodating he is… ” On the Republican Reaction “Gestures of good faith to Republicans have generally been met over the last year and a half with non responsive actions.” . . On the EPA Regulating Greenhouse Gases as Pollutants “That’s a campaign promise that Obama appears to be keeping…they have already started the process.” On Health Care Reform “It’s a historic moment for Obama, for the country…It’s going to give the Democrats a tremendous shot in the arm for the mid-term elections… This is going to change the country…it’s done.” Check back soon for Part II of the Toobin Interview when we discuss the environmental record of the Supreme Court and Toobin’s pick for Justice Stevens’s successor. For more exclusive interviews check out Fresh Dialogues GREEN INTERVIEW SERIES ARCHIVES or Fresh Dialogues YOUTUBE CHANNEL By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last week, President Obama announced a surprise decision to allow oil and gas drilling off the East Coast of the United States. The world was at once outraged and confused. What many analysts [...] alison van diggelen 5.16 jeffrey, toobin, offshore, oil, drilling, obama, energy policy, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, environment, green interview, sutstainability no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/31/morton-grosser-the-secret-of-silicon-valleys-success/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/31/morton-grosser-the-secret-of-silicon-valleys-success/#comments Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:09:25 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3491 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/31/morton-grosser-the-secret-of-silicon-valleys-success/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues There are countless Silicon Valley wannabes all over the world, from Silicon Wadi in Israel to Silicon Glen in Scotland, but none rival Silicon Valley’s track record. Why is Silicon Valley the premier center of innovation? What is the secret of Silicon Valley’s success? I joined Morton Grosser, a Silicon Valley venture investor, consultant and inventor in his Menlo Park workshop to discuss the history of Silicon Valley and the key ingredients that allow innovation to flourish here. As a former director of eight high-tech companies and strategy advisor to such stalwarts as Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Kleiner Perkins and many Fortune 100 companies, Grosser (or Mort, as he prefers) provides a unique perspective on what makes Silicon Valley successful. Why did Silicon Valley grow here? “Silicon Valley has an extraordinary meritocracy culture…it’s an accident of time and place.” What is the Vital Ingredient? “We’ve had a unique surplus of the four things that are necessary for an entrepreneurial culture…a great university or universities, smart young entrepreneurs, a source of capital, but most leave out the most important part: What you really need is a culture of meritocracy. You need horizontality.” The Father of Silicon Valley, Fred Terman‘s epiphany “He noticed that science and engineering seminars were taught by 23-year-old graduate students, because those are the people making the progress…this was anomalous for the industrial world… Terman noticed this 70 years ago and he wrote about it in “Steeples of Excellence.” He said, if you could move this principle out of academia into industry you would have an enormous advantage  over many other companies.” How to build innovation – the Silicon Valley Way “It’s not just the capital…it’s the intellectual environment, the ambiance, the acceptance, it isn’t merely mentoring it’s accepting…To build a culture that is unique; in which industrial companies would have the same structure, where young people have a voice, where new and creative ideas … flourish.” On Creativity “You don’t have to teach children creativity, you just have to get out of their way.” Want to learn more? The book “Regional Advantage” by Berkeley’s Dean of the School of Information, AnnaLee Saxenian, compares Route 128 (the Boston innovation hub) with Route 280 (Silicon Valley) and explores the reasons, as Mort puts it, “Why Silicon Valley succeeded and Route 128 did not… It comes down to the difference between horizontality and verticality.” In summary: Boston developed a system dominated by independent, self-sufficient corporations, whereas Silicon Valley developed a decentralized but cooperative industrial system. Check out the video: The SECRET History of Silicon Valley by Steve Blank To explore more exclusive Fresh Dialogues interviews, here are the ARCHIVES Check back soon for more highlights from the Morton Grosser interview By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues There are countless Silicon Valley wannabes all over the world, from Silicon Wadi in Israel to Silicon Glen in Scotland, but none rival Silicon Valley’s track record. Why is Silicon Valley the [...] alison van diggelen 5.59 morton grosser, silicon valley, success, secret, innovation, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, meritocracy, horizontality, entrepreneur, expert, pioneer no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/23/barry-cinnamon-akeena-solar-on-ab-32-and-government-policy/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/23/barry-cinnamon-akeena-solar-on-ab-32-and-government-policy/#comments Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:54:32 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3471 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/23/barry-cinnamon-akeena-solar-on-ab-32-and-government-policy/feed/ 4 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Ask Akeena Solar CEO Barry Cinnamon about the current brouhaha on repealing AB 32 and he’s likely to “get political.”  Since the 1970′s, he’s been a strong advocate for solar power and is an active member of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. I met with Barry at the Los Gatos headquarters of the solar designer-installer and he had strong words for the Governor and the two gubernatorial candidates, Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner: 1. Is Governor Schwarzenegger doing enough to stimulate the green economy? “Nobody’s done enough.” 2. Advice to Governor Schwarzenegger on Gubernatorial candidates, Meg Whitman’s and Steve Poizner’s stance on AB 32 … that it’s killing jobs and should be repealed. “Governor Schwarzenegger should pick up the phone to Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner and tell them to back off their inane commentary on AB 32. That it’s killing jobs….that’s just prima facie false.” “Message to Governor Schwarzenegger: fantastic job that he’s done on behalf of solar …but as a leader of the Republican Party,  I’d encourage him to work out a little bit on the Republican candidates… explain to them that our state and Silicon Valley has become a leader in clean tech because of the State’s strong support for (alternative) energy. It would be disastrous if it was suspended in any way.” 3. Will the Whitman/ Poizner stance on AB 32 backfire? “That policy (proposal) is going to galvanize every person and every company involved in clean tech to vote for (Gubernatorial candidate) Jerry Brown.” To see more exclusive Fresh Dialogues interviews on solar power click here and for a full interview archive click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Ask Akeena Solar CEO Barry Cinnamon about the current brouhaha on repealing AB 32 and he’s likely to “get political.”  Since the 1970′s, he’s been a strong advocate for solar power and is [...] alison van diggelen 4.59 akeena, cinnamon, ceo, ab32, ab 32, jobs, freshdialogues, alison van diggelen, green interview, solar, green job no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/17/tom-friedman-china-envy-video/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/17/tom-friedman-china-envy-video/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:16:23 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3456 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/17/tom-friedman-china-envy-video/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I sat down with Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman, just before he delivered a lecture to an expectant Foothill College Celebrity Forum audience at the Flint Center in Silicon Valley.  We discussed his bestselling book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded and why he thinks the U.S. government MUST jump-start the green economy. According to Tom, creating the right ecosystem is key: funding research, setting price signals and creating incentives to encourage green innovation. Tom admitted to some China envy in that regard. (see below or check out the transcript) He also has some thoughtful words on the Van Jones resignation and dealing with loud critics. Are you listening Van Jones? In this video excerpt, Tom explains his China envy and why he said “Am I a bad guy for wanting to be China for a day?” I asked him, in light of Van Jones’s resignation (and the climate of such criticism), does he consider himself a bad guy? Tom has some strong words for his critics….people like Glenn Beck et al:  ”If you’re criticizing me, God Bless you…I’m not above criticism. My focus is on my ideas with my audience…You may be writing about me, but don’t think for a second I’m going to waste a column on you!” For more interviews with Paul Krugman, Martin Sheen, Charlie Rose, Vinod Khosla et al, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I sat down with Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman, just before he delivered a lecture to an expectant Foothill College Celebrity Forum audience at the Flint Center in Silicon Valley.  We [...] alison van diggelen 4.5 tom friedman, china, china envy, energy, green, interview, green interview, alison van diggelen, fresh dialogues, van jones, glenn beck no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/09/bloom-box-affordability-is-essential/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/09/bloom-box-affordability-is-essential/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:44:20 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3428 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/09/bloom-box-affordability-is-essential/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In Part Two of my Bloom Energy interview with CEO KR Sridhar, we discuss the affordability of the Bloom Box and what barriers to entry make the fuel cell sector difficult to penetrate. As CNET’s Brooke Crothers emphasized in his recent article there are many fuel cell manufacturers with expensive products; Bloom has to prove itself special by making its fuel cells SIGNIFICANTLY more affordable. It’s a long road from $800,000 (Google and eBay’s beta Bloom Boxes’ price tag) to $3,000 -which KR says is the backyard-box goal). The BBC’s correspondent, Maggie Shiel underlines affordability in her post on Bloom’s reach for energy Nirvana; and Grist’s Todd Woody expounds further on the challenges Bloom faces and Walmart’s role in driving down costs. New York Times columnist Tom Friedman has a unique take on the Bloom story in a recent column called “Dreaming the Impossible Dream.” This from Bloom CEO, KR Sridhar: “Our goal is clearly to make it affordable. It needs mass market adoption, … If it’s not affordable, it’ll be the niche market…it’ll be a Tesla.  We need it to be a Honda Civic.” More videos Part One SEE THE VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH KR SRIDHAR HERE : Fuel Cell Technology and Efficiency Also Part Two Bloom Energy: Affordability is Essential Video Part Three Bloom Energy: Mission to Change the World Video KR Sridhar on barriers to entry: Technical “It’s a very complex interdisciplinary field…it requires knowledge in a significant number of engineering, science, and material science disciplines. And the development of all the process know-how is fairly complex.” Financial “There’s a significant amount of capital that need to be invested over a long period of time to get it to where it needs to be.” (Reportedly over $400 Million has been invested in Bloom Energy since 2002, from several venture capital firms, led by Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr.) To see Part I of the Bloom Energy interview where KR discusses the company’s technology and efficiency click here To check out more VIDEO interview segments at the Fresh Dialogues Channel click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In Part Two of my Bloom Energy interview with CEO KR Sridhar, we discuss the affordability of the Bloom Box and what barriers to entry make the fuel cell sector difficult to penetrate. As [...] alison van diggelen 2.42 bloom energy, video interview, green interview, kr, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, pollution, fuel cell, efficiency, gas station no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/03/bloom-energy-how-to-change-the-world/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/03/bloom-energy-how-to-change-the-world/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:20:34 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3413 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/03/03/bloom-energy-how-to-change-the-world/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Like most ambitious entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar wants to change the world. Now where have we heard that line before? It’s the ubiquitous rally cry for thousands of Google/ Facebook/eBay wannabes around the world.  But what makes KR Sridhar different? How about $400 Million in venture capital from the likes of Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr; a 100-strong team of PhD. rocket scientists (like himself) and top engineers from multiple disciplines who’ve been working secretly for eight years; and a client list that includes Google, eBay, Staples and FedEx. Add to that, enthusiastic backing from Arnold Schwarzenegger, splashy coverage from CBS’s 60 Minutes, and Time Magazine which last December dubbed him one of eight “Tech pioneers who will change your life.” Yet, it does sound too good to be true. Not surprisingly, the naysayers are aplenty.  A skeptical article in the Economist said there were many reasons for questioning the company’s “hype”, including the difficulty of shrinking the fuel cell components, and competition from the likes of GE. In a typically British fashion, it mocked Bloom Energy’s ambitions, referring to “flower power” and “fuel’s gold” in the article. But if we look back a few years; before KR Sridhar emerged from stealth to become the Steve Jobs of Green Energy – more substantive information emerges. He was quoted in Tom Friedman’s New York Times column as saying,“We are thrivers. Thrivers are constantly looking for new opportunities to seize and lead and be number one. That is what America is about.” In an exclusive interview at the Bloom Energy headquarters, I asked him to explain this comment, his motivations and why he believes his company really can change the world. Distributed power that is reliable, and affordable are key parts of his strategy. To see Part I of the Bloom Energy interview where KR discusses the company’s technology and efficiency click here Excerpt from the Interview Transcript “This is a mission about changing the world because energy is a passport to a better living. For the rest of the world that does not have access to power, access to electricity, to give them that is empowering them to a better life. So if the solution works and you make it affordable and you can distribute it all over the world then definitely you have changed the world. So … if that’s your goal and you achieve that goal, clearly given the size of the energy market, it’s in trillions not in billions and given how many people you can impact with this kind of stuff, this has to be a prominent company. So, I would say being the number one corporation is an offshoot of achieving your larger mission.” KR Sridhar, CEO Bloom Energy To check out more exclusive Fresh Dialogues interviews with Tom Friedman, Vinod Khosla, Paul Krugman, and many other leaders click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Like most ambitious entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar wants to change the world. Now where have we heard that line before? It’s the ubiquitous rally cry for thousands of [...] alison van diggelen 4.20 reshdialogues, alison van diggelen, kr, kr sridhar, bloom, bloom energy, mission, fuel cell, change the world, green interview no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/23/kr-sridhar-bloom-energy-technology-video-exclusive/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/23/kr-sridhar-bloom-energy-technology-video-exclusive/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:56:30 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3393 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/23/kr-sridhar-bloom-energy-technology-video-exclusive/feed/ 1 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar is a man with a mission to change the world. His fuel cell company is already powering Google, so that should make any skeptic take note. Check out the new Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel to see this exclusive interview. VIDEO LINK  A former NASA advisor who developed technologies to sustain life on Mars, this earnest scientist is now harnessing his visionary skills and a large team of engineers to solve the energy crisis. His ambitious goal? To revolutionize the energy industry, just like cell phones revolutionized the communications industry. His team is developing  high efficiency fuel cells to provide a global distributed system of electricity supply at low cost and a low (and ultimately zero) carbon footprint. Clients include Google, eBay, Fedex and Walmart. Not too shabby. The company has been in stealth mode for the last eight years and industry speculation has been rife about its future plans. Thanks to a CBS 60 Minutes Report by Lesley Stahl on February 21st, and the official Bloom Energy unveiling, many more details are now available of this potentially revolutionary product. Even before opening his doors to 60 Minutes, KR agreed to discuss Bloom Energy’s progress in this exclusive and detailed Fresh Dialogues interview, recorded in 2009. To read the interview transcript click here   . . Why is energy the focus of KR Sridhar’s mission? “Energy is a passport to a better living. For the rest of the world that doesn’t have access to power, to electricity; to give them that is empowering them to a better life. If your solution works and you make it affordable and you distribute it all over the world, then you have definitely changed the world….You give power to the people.” What’s in the Bloom Box? “It takes the chemical energy from the fuel and converts that to electrons with no in between conversion. So you are changing your currency only once. It’s an electro-chemical reaction..like a battery…but the big difference is it’s a power generator so you keep supplying the fuel in and you’ll keep getting the electrons out – most importantly without combustion. It’s a one step conversion… high efficiency…you burn less fuel – less greenhouse gases -and eliminate all the combustion related polluting gases.” What’s the link with transportation? “Transportation can potentially go in two directions in the future. One is a hydrogen infrastructure for the car, the other one is an electrical infrastructure for the car…plug-in hybrids…Our device can either produce the electricity that’ll charge the car or provide you hydrogen if the transportation becomes hydrogen based. So we’ve sort of become the gas station for the transportation industry.” There are still many unanswered questions about Bloom Energy, but here are some more clues. To check out more Fresh Dialogues VIDEO interview segments click here and check back next week for ANOTHER video interview segment with lots more PRODUCT AND BUSINESS PLAN DETAIL about Bloom Energy. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar is a man with a mission to change the world. His fuel cell company is already powering Google, so that should make any skeptic take note. Check out the new Fresh [...] alison van diggelen 8.24 bloom energy, video interview, green interview, kr, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, pollution, fuel cell, efficiency, gas station no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/17/rolf-papsdorf-alternative-energy-brings-power-to-people/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/17/rolf-papsdorf-alternative-energy-brings-power-to-people/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:54:53 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3381 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/17/rolf-papsdorf-alternative-energy-brings-power-to-people/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, Host of Fresh Dialogues Rolf Papsdorf, President of the Alternative Energy Development Corporation was a recipient of the 2009 Tech Awards in Silicon Valley, for bringing renewable energy (zinc fuel cells) and empowerment to a small community in South Africa. Check out this exclusive interview with Mr. Papsdorf who discusses how to create a carbon neutral community, the advantages of zinc fuel cells (portability is a big plus) and why he wants to meet Al Gore. Read more from the orginial post here And enjoy the video of the affable Mr. Papsdorf: For more exclusive Fresh Dialogues interviews click here By Alison van Diggelen, Host of Fresh Dialogues Rolf Papsdorf, President of the Alternative Energy Development Corporation was a recipient of the 2009 Tech Awards in Silicon Valley, for bringing renewable energy (zinc fuel cells) and empowerment [...] alison van diggelen 4.19 rolf papsdorf, alison van diggelen, fresh dialogues, alternative energy, tech award, green, africa, interview, zinc, zinc-air, fuel cell, silicon valley no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/10/how-can-obama-jumpstart-clean-tech-silicon-valley-experts-respond/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/10/how-can-obama-jumpstart-clean-tech-silicon-valley-experts-respond/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:14:07 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3356 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/10/how-can-obama-jumpstart-clean-tech-silicon-valley-experts-respond/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues The Obama administration ought to have sent an envoy to the FountainBlue State of Clean Green Conference on January 29, 2010. A panel of Silicon Valley clean tech experts had much to share in response to Moderator Greentech Media’s Eric Wesoff’s question…if you had Department of Energy Secretary, Steve Chu’s job, what would you do? In other words, how can Obama better jumpstart the clean tech economy? Tim Woodward, Managing Director, Nth Power said the government needs to create market demand,  and recommends that every government building should have solar power and be retrofitted for energy efficiency; but warned, “There’s a little too much of a ‘large check mandate’ in the Federal Government that picks technologies and stifles innovation at lower levels: figure out how to get smaller dollars into the innovation engine of smaller companies.” Laurie Yoler, Managing Director, GrowthPoint Technology Partners said, “I look at the pricing and incentivizing through market pricing. We’re still subsidizing imported oil without putting the investment into alternative energies…I think we should put a tax on imported oil and use it to help pay off some of the defense spending we’re using to protect the transmission of that oil. We need to forge ahead with cap and trade legislation… until we have a price on carbon it’s hard for the markets to plan and have any certainty.” Elise Zoli, Partner and Chair, Energy Practice, Goodwin Procter said that the Department of Energy needs to improve the low commercialization rate of national labs and is excited about a new national initiative to create virtual access to all the labs’ technology…”so you can  see the technology, acquire it and begin to commercialize it.” “The DoE has a fantastic lab structure, producing some really innovative technologies… (we need to ) leave them there and help them – through public/private partnerships – and take that technology out of the labs…” But “There are things they (the DoE) do terribly and being a bank is one of them.” And Elise has one last piece of advice if you have a green energy technology you think the Feds can use, contact Richard Kidd at the Federal Energy Management Program: ”Richard Kidd will not know you exist unless you call him…send an email to Richard’s team and use my name!” Note: Richard’s email is richard.kidd@ee.doe.gov, 202-586-5772  - tell him Elise sent you…And check out the Program’s website contact page for more info. Other panelists included Dan Adler, President, California Clean Energy Fund, and Matt Maloney, Head of Relationship Management, Silicon Valley Bank Related Fresh Dialogues interviews with Emmett Carson, CEO of the $1.7 Billion Silicon Valley Community Foundation on “How to Create a Green Jobs Mecca” with Laurie Yoler on Tesla and the State of the Union Address with Elise Zoli, In Defense of Nuclear By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues The Obama administration ought to have sent an envoy to the FountainBlue State of Clean Green Conference on January 29, 2010. A panel of Silicon Valley clean tech experts had much to share in response [...] alison van diggelen 5.00 clean tech, green, silicon valley, DoE, elise zoli, laurie yoler, carbon, price, advice, alison van Diggelen, freshdialogues no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/03/laurie-yoler-on-tesla-venture-capital-and-obama/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/03/laurie-yoler-on-tesla-venture-capital-and-obama/#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:33:03 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3338 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/02/03/laurie-yoler-on-tesla-venture-capital-and-obama/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Laurie Yoler, a managing director of Growth Point Technology Partners, was a founding board member of Tesla Motors and currently serves on its advisory board. I met with her at the FountainBlue Clean Green Annual Conference on Friday January 29th, the day Tesla announced its planned IPO. Needless to say, Yoler was bullish about Tesla’s prospects this year. We also discussed President Obama’s State of the Union Speech on January 27th and the government’s role in stimulating green technology. Good news for Green Tech Venture Capitalists in State of Union Speech? “Rather than what our president said that night, I look at what’s actually taking place, the changes I’m seeing. President Obama as a president has embraced sustainability throughout his tenure.” Obama’s role: could he do more? “He wants to embrace things that have already happened at the grassroots level, instead of mandating across the board. He does have to step forward and the longer he waits to put in Federal goals, the states are going to be further and further along and it’s going to be even messier to sort out. So I think it has to continue to be a priority but so far it seems to be.” Government’s Role in Green Tech? Demand Side “The government can be a huge customer for many of these technologies… In the advanced transportation, advanced vehicle sector the DoE stepped in where the VCs stepped out. The DoE provided $8.5 Billion in funding in the the advanced vehicle technologies last year. The entire venture industry only invested $670 Million, so more than 10 X: government jumping in saying, ‘No no no, we want to incent advanced vehicles, fuel efficient vehicles, so we want to jump in.’” Legislative side “It’s been tough getting some very big things through the system. I think there is continued interest but I’m not sure that we’re going to see the regulation happen as fast as many would like. But it is happening at the state level, 29 states have renewable energy standards that they have set and six more in process.” On Tesla’s prospects in 2010 “We’ve seen the continued success and momentum of Tesla…I get giddy every time I see one on the road. I think we’ve seen all the large auto manufacturers now make a commitment to electric vehicles, flex fuel vehicles, hybrid and battery technologies. So if we look across the automotive ecosystem, we see that there is sustained momentum and so I would hope Tesla would benefit from that, being one of the pioneers.” To hear more Fresh Dialogues interviews with Laurie Yoler, click here For a full list of Fresh Dialogues interviews including Tom Friedman, Paul Krugman and Jack Welch, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Laurie Yoler, a managing director of Growth Point Technology Partners, was a founding board member of Tesla Motors and currently serves on its advisory board. I met with her at the FountainBlue Clean [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/01/20/emmett-carson-how-to-create-a-green-jobs-mecca/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/01/20/emmett-carson-how-to-create-a-green-jobs-mecca/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:02:10 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3270 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/01/20/emmett-carson-how-to-create-a-green-jobs-mecca/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Check out this audio-only version which captures Emmett Carson’s off-camera exuberance and humor. Last week, I sat down with Emmett Carson, President and CEO of the  Silicon Valley Community Foundation. In a wide ranging conversation on green jobs, the Obama White House, education and financial literacy, we focused in on the role of the $1.7 Billion Foundation in addressing the immediate job crisis in Silicon Valley. How should coalitions of green minded people come together to create a green jobs mecca in the Bay Area? How do you jump start a green jobs explosion? According to Emmett, it’s all about forging informed dialogues between powerful coalitions. On Creating a Green Jobs Mecca “There has to be a group of people who are going to make some strategic investments…There are coalitions of green folk who are already meeting… where government officials can help, where foundations folk can help and be attuned and listen to what they say they need and where there opportunities will be. So that you start to say to the community colleges, ‘here are the kinds of jobs to train people for.’ What are the jobs that are going to stay around for a ten year cycle? This is the more thoughtful, longer term thinking that we need all of our public leaders to engage in…if we’re really going to have that green jobs explosion.” On Mayor Chuck Reed’s Green Vision “I know this is high on Mayor Reed’s priority list and as you said, he points to a number of initiatives (Green Vision). He wants this to be the (green jobs) center but he can’t do it ALONE, he needs both the State in concert but he also needs real time dialogue with community colleges.” Check back soon for other interview segments when Emmett Carson gives advice to President Obama, shares wisdom on merging two foundations and talks about the Foundation’s social media strategy and how its Facebook page is a vital part. For more exclusive interviews with Paul Krugman, Tom Friedman and Martin Sheen, check out our interview list and the Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Check out this audio-only version which captures Emmett Carson’s off-camera exuberance and humor. Last week, I sat down with Emmett Carson, President and CEO of the  Silicon Valley Community [...] alison van diggelen 7.03 emmett carson, silicon valley, community foundation, green jobs, green interview, chuck reed, fresh dialogues no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/01/13/elise-zoli-in-defense-of-nuclear-power/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/01/13/elise-zoli-in-defense-of-nuclear-power/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:31:29 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3248 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/01/13/elise-zoli-in-defense-of-nuclear-power/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Elise Zoli, a partner with Goodwin Procter, is a specialist in energy  and clean tech law; and teaches at MIT. I caught up with her at a Fountain Blue Green Transport Event where we discussed two hot areas in clean tech: energy storage and nuclear power. Elise explains the important role of energy storage in making solar and wind energy more reliable; and why she’d like to redefine energy storage to make it sexy. She’s coining a new phrase: “dispatchable renewable power.” On making energy storage sexy “Energy storage sounds like something that you don’t want to talk about, something that belongs in the closet. But the idea is to enable renewables (solar and wind) to have a greater chunk of the American demand…integrated storage flattens out the intermittency issues.” On nuclear power “The N word is difficult in the context of renewable …but most experts who look at climate change and energy security believe there is a significant role for nuclear. “ On nuclear waste and other impacts “Nuclear has a favorable balance of environmental impacts. Every technology, even solar and wind, have their externalities. On balance, does it advance our climate change goals? The technology deserves to be considered.” On the traveling wave reactor or TWR “For the traveling wave reactor they actually consume waste as fuel. The promise of the technology is to reduce waste…The material will be managed in place as opposed to having a long term waste repository.” This is Part Two of the interview. To check out Part One, where Elise explores the government’s role in clean tech and the stimulus package, click here. The interview was recorded at the FountainBlue Clean Green Transport Conference in Santa Clara on July 6, 2009. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Elise Zoli, a partner with Goodwin Procter, is a specialist in energy  and clean tech law; and teaches at MIT. I caught up with her at a Fountain Blue Green Transport Event where we discussed two hot [...] alison van diggelen 5.12 elise zoli, nuclear, energy storage, dispatchable power, innovative nuclear, green interview, energy no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/01/06/rolf-papsdorf-powering-rural-africa/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/01/06/rolf-papsdorf-powering-rural-africa/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:09:20 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3208 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2010/01/06/rolf-papsdorf-powering-rural-africa/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Rolf Papsdorf is bringing green power to the people of Africa. Thanks to the Silicon Valley based Tech Awards 2009, the rest of the world is hearing about it. His company Alternative Energy Development Corporation manufactures zinc-air fuel cells to generate off the grid electricity for rural communities. His zinc-air fuel cell project, described as the largest in the world,  brings light and energy to the village of Guyuni in South Africa, as well as job creation and online education to the community’s youth. This project echoes – in a small way – the aims of Bloom Energy’s KR Sridhar, who aims to bring Power to the People with its fuel cell design. On the fuel cells technology “We’re the only company in the world which produces a low cost zinc-air fuel cells manually rechargeable…we’re proud to say that we have no carbon footprint and are totally renewable. We recycle the zinc oxide to make new zinc using solar energy.” On how he’s empowering South Africa “Our passion really is empowerment. We supply them with basic electricity, we have skills development programs so that they can earn an income…only 3% of (the community) income goes towards energy, the rest is disposable income.” Rolf Papsdorf Check back soon for the VIDEO of this exclusive Fresh Dialogues interview By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Rolf Papsdorf is bringing green power to the people of Africa. Thanks to the Silicon Valley based Tech Awards 2009, the rest of the world is hearing about it. His company Alternative Energy [...] alison van diggelen 2.0 rolf papsdorf, alternative energy, tech award, green, africa, interview, green interview zinc, zinc-air, fuel cell, silicon valley no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/30/kr-sridhar-time-magazine-award/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/30/kr-sridhar-time-magazine-award/#comments Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:55:50 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3183 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/30/kr-sridhar-time-magazine-award/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host Fresh Dialogues This month Bloom Energy CEO, KR Sridhar was picked as one of Time Magazine’s Tech Pioneers Who Will Change Your Life The Time article references a recent Fresh Dialogues feature, Power to the People SEE A RARE FRESH DIALOGUES VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH KR HERE Read the transcript and listen to this exclusive Fresh Dialogues interview - KR explains how the Bloom Energy fuel cell will change the world and give power to the people. SEE THE VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE – A FRESH DIALOGUES EXCLUSIVE 1. Bloom Energy: Fuel Cell Technology 2. Bloom Energy: Affordability is Essential Video 3. Bloom Energy: Mission to Change the World Video To listen to an exclusive Fresh Dialogues interview with Kevin Surace, another Time Magazine Tech Pioneer Who Will Change Your Life click here By Alison van Diggelen, host Fresh Dialogues This month Bloom Energy CEO, KR Sridhar was picked as one of Time Magazine’s Tech Pioneers Who Will Change Your Life The Time article references a recent Fresh Dialogues feature, Power to the People [...] alison van diggelen 10 bloom energy kr sridhar interview fuel cell no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/23/kevin-surace-green-rock-star-entrepreneur-of-year/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/23/kevin-surace-green-rock-star-entrepreneur-of-year/#comments Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:55:19 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3135 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/23/kevin-surace-green-rock-star-entrepreneur-of-year/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Silicon Valley’s Kevin Surace has just achieved Rock Star status – of the Green Biz variety. The CEO of Serious Materials was picked as Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine and joined Time Magazine‘s list of Tech Pioneers Who Will Change Your Life, along with another Silicon Valley Green Rock Star: Bloom Energy’s KR Sridhar. It’s an incongruous status for someone from the mundane world of building products, but Kevin is being described as ‘savior of the world’, ‘the Larry Ellison of green’ and has even turned down an invitation to the White House. He knows he’ll be invited back. In an exclusive Fresh Dialogues interview recorded before the accolades descended, Kevin revealed his motivations for waging war on climate change and the lessons learned in building a green company. He discussed the influence of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth in helping create a market for green products; how Serious Materials changed its focus; and whether consumers are willing to pay a premium for green. Kevin outlined how his company uses new media to get its message out and what the future holds for this rapidly expanding company. On Kevin’s motivations for wanting to help save the planet “When you have children, you start to think what world are you leaving them? I think that affects everybody.” When did he focus on energy saving products at Serious Materials? “If I sat here and said in 2002 I had the great vision to design energy saving building materials – there was no market in 2002 – people would think I was nuts.  By 2005, the climate issue had come to the front of minds:  on scientists’ minds, at the United Nations, in the world. By ’06, we began coming out with energy efficient windows… ” On the relative importance of buildings vs. cars in CO2 emissions Kevin argues that residential and commercial buildings account for the largest proportion of CO2 emissions (52% of world emissions for buildings and their operations) compared to passenger cars which only make up only 9% of world CO2 emissions. On how An Inconvenient Truth helped create a green market “When that movie came out, it allowed the American public to get the story in a way they never got it before and that’s when I could step back and say: there’s an opportunity here to actually make a difference…LEED took off, green buildings took off…that had a profound impact on the entire industry.” On the pace of global warming “When you look at the raw data, everything’s happening five to ten times faster than the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) said it was going to. So this is extremely scary and wakes you up. So  have to do something.” Are consumers willing to pay a premium for green? “I don’t think they’ll ever be willing to pay a premium. That’s been our thinking from Day One.” How does Serious Materials use New Media? “We blog, we Twitter, we Facebook, we do an awful lot with the web, that’s unusual in the building materials space …. Our constituents  are educated, they get it. They want to see video, hear audio, you’re on the web: that is new media today. Many of the eyeballs -and ears- have moved to the web, and we have to go with that. ” What does the future hold for Serious Materials? “This is a venture backed company… they need to ultimately see an exit…you build these companies towards a potential IPO… you are ready for whatever life brings you: if that’s M&A, if that’s independence, an IPO…whatever. Over the next five years, one of those things will surely happen… We’ve increased our capacity ten X  over a year ago and are ready for the onslaught here. Our business keeps growing…our products save people money.” The interview was recorded on June 30, 2009 at Serious Materials in Sunnyvale, California. To hear an exclusive interview with Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar, No. 4 on Time [...] By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Silicon Valley’s Kevin Surace has just achieved Rock Star status – of the Green Biz variety. The CEO of Serious Materials was picked as Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine and joined Time [...] alison van diggelen 12.30 kevin, surace, serious, materials, eco, interview, entrepreneur, freshdialogues no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/16/joseph-adelegan-cows-to-kilowatts-tech-award-winner/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/16/joseph-adelegan-cows-to-kilowatts-tech-award-winner/#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:01:25 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3077 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/16/joseph-adelegan-cows-to-kilowatts-tech-award-winner/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues The catchy title “Cows to Kilowatts” certainly won the attention of the crowds at the 2009 Tech Awards Gala in Silicon Valley, but the project won accolades for more than mere words. Dr. Joseph Adelegan, an Ashoka Fellow is a charismatic engineer who has found an effective way to harness the energy from slaughterhouse waste and won the $50,000 Intel Environment Award . He and his team at the Nigeria based Global Network for Environment and Economic Development Research, are creating cooking gas and electricity from effluent that might otherwise lead to harmful pollution. What does the Tech Award mean to Dr. Adelegan? “We’ve received several awards… so it’s not really receiving the award… but the opportunity to network, to  meet great minds in Silicon Valley… see people who’ve gone through the same as you’ve gone through…We’ve seen scientists and inventors, visited Microsoft and Intel..we’ve seen people doing some encouraging things…Sometimes you think you are crazy doing this type of stuff, but you see that people are as crazy as you. You have to be crazy to be creative….” (We agreed there were LOTS of crazy creative people in Silicon Valley) Why does Al Gore inspire him? “To me, he’s a motivator and like a mentor. If someone like him can stand up and fight the cause of climate change and global warming and win the Nobel Prize, I think there’s a future for some of us, because we see him up there. What we are doing is also combating climate change… water pollution, so we think, in years to come we have a future.” What is the ultimate vision for Cows to Kilowatts?  “To spread this innovation across Nigeria, most parts of Africa and other developing countries…The big innovation we have is to apply this technology to other types of waste, any organic waste…two years ago, we won an award from the World Bank. Currently we’re talking to breweries, dairy product companies so that their waste can be converted to electricity.” The interview was recorded at the Silicon Valley Tech Awards on November 19, 2009. To read and hear more about the Tech Awards, including Al Gore’s rousing speech, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues The catchy title “Cows to Kilowatts” certainly won the attention of the crowds at the 2009 Tech Awards Gala in Silicon Valley, but the project won accolades for more than mere words. Dr. Joseph [...] alison van diggelen 6.11 cows to kilowatts, tech award, 2009, silicon valley, nigeria, biogas, energy, green, al gore clean http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/09/paul-krugman-will-climate-legislation-kill-the-economy/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/09/paul-krugman-will-climate-legislation-kill-the-economy/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:40:24 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3089 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/09/paul-krugman-will-climate-legislation-kill-the-economy/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues As delegates gather in Copenhagen this week to thrash out a global treaty on climate change, the shrill from skeptics intensifies. It’s useful to listen to wisdom from Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman. In a recent interview, I asked Paul the question on many lips: Will climate legislation kill the economy?     “If history is any guide… it’s just not a big deal,” says Krugman, citing the example of acid rain legislation which many people also said would kill the economy.  “Dealing with it was cheaper than most estimates had suggested,” he says. “Given the incentives; the private sector found ways to generate a whole lot less acid rain.” Krugman thinks the same will be true of carbon limits and has already explained his preference for cap and trade in a previous Fresh Dialogues segment. We also discuss the power of his New York Times column and his influence on the Obama Administration. “We’re speaking across the transom…when I argue with them in my column this is a serious discussion…people in the administration do call me…it’s no longer this sort of Cold War as it was during the Bush years.” And how does he view his role? “I’m trying to make this progressive moment in American history a success,” says Krugman. But why not take a position within the administration to be more effective? “I’m never going to be an insider type. You have to do bureaucratic maneuvering, be pretty good at being polite… reasonably organized…,” says the Pulitzer prize- winning columnist. “I’m none of those things. I can move into a pristine office and within three days it will look like a grenade went off.” To read this segment transcript, click here. The interview was recorded in Silicon Valley on November 12, 2009 To read and hear more interview segments  click here for Krugman on Climate and China  click here for Krugman’s on Obama’s  job summit. Click here to hear Tom Friedman answer the question: Will Copenhagen be a waste of time? By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues As delegates gather in Copenhagen this week to thrash out a global treaty on climate change, the shrill from skeptics intensifies. It’s useful to listen to wisdom from Nobel Prize winning economist, [...] alison van diggelen 6.00 krugman, economy, kill, climate, legislation, cap and trade, copenhagen clean http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/02/scott-hublou-ecofactor-cleantech-award-winner-2009/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/02/scott-hublou-ecofactor-cleantech-award-winner-2009/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:02:55 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=3046 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/12/02/scott-hublou-ecofactor-cleantech-award-winner-2009/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On November 17, I attended the CleanTech Open Awards Gala at the Masonic Center in San Francisco and enjoyed keynotes from Lesa Mitchell from the Kaufman Foundation, Bill Weihl, Google’s Energy Czar and Nancy Pfund, of DBL Investors. Minutes after his company was picked as the National Award Winner. I sat down with Scott Hublou, co-founder of EcoFactor. His three-year-old start-up has created an energy management system for the home that uses weather data to optimize heating and cooling. Scott claims savings of between 20 to 30% are achievable. Sounds pretty attractive in this tough economy, and the judges thought so too. How did the CleanTech Open and its mentoring help you? “It forces deep thinking around various different business models. Because there are actual deadlines, it’s kinda like being back in school again where you have to have deliverables… You’re presenting to your peers and potential investors, so you always want to make a good impression… think about sustainability, and good market strategies.”   The Pitch, in layman’s terms “We talk to a thermostat  in your home…that thermostat talks to our energy management servers in the cloud…and connects to outside weather information. We optimize your HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system. Every day, we’re making 20 to 30 little adjustments and at the end of the month, you’re saving 20-30% of your HVAC spending.” If you want to save money, isn’t there a comfort sacrifice? “In sustainability… energy conservation, it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a sacrifice of comfort or quality or convenience for the consumer. We’re hands-on energy management, so consumers can be completely hands-off. You don’t have to be doing anything to generate savings.” PowerPoint Tips -How to keep it simple? “My greatest indicator was my wife. As I get deep into the science, her eyes glaze over, just as 90% of the consumer market would. So I have to say, OK, how am I going to present in such a way that she gets it?” The interview was recorded on November 17, 2009, at the Masonic Center in San Francisco. To check out the Tech Awards in Silicon Valley on November 19, 2009 click here. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On November 17, I attended the CleanTech Open Awards Gala at the Masonic Center in San Francisco and enjoyed keynotes from Lesa Mitchell from the Kaufman Foundation, Bill Weihl, Google’s Energy Czar [...] alison van diggelen 5.04 cleantech, cleantech open, winner, ecofactor, freshdialogues, interview, powerpoint tip, energy, green, energy management no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/25/al-gore-what-were-you-thinking/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/25/al-gore-what-were-you-thinking/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:55:42 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2989 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/25/al-gore-what-were-you-thinking/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues (Note: I had the opportunity to talk briefly to Vice President Al Gore off mic, before his speech and look forward to interviewing him for Fresh Dialogues in the new year. These audio and video links feature highlights from his rousing speech.) Here’s the VIDEO . . Former Vice President, Al Gore showed his passion in front of a rapturous Silicon Valley crowd at the 2009 Tech Awards on November 19th. He described a “day of reckoning” and suggested future generations may look back one day and ask, “What were you thinking?  Were you watching Dancing with the Stars? Did you care?” Dancing? A little dig here to Silicon Valley luminary and co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, who took part in the dance contest last Fall (you really ain’t seen nothing yet…) Gore then echoed the hope in his new book “Our Choice” – that this generation that will develop a sense of shared purpose, and do what needs to be done to combat climate change. Gore described his deep belief that future generations will instead ask, “How did you find the moral courage to shake off the lethargy… seize the responsibility and act in time to solve the crisis?” Gore’s speech emphasized the connection between generations, rich communities and vulnerable ones; while a montage of spectacular landscape photos from Frans Lanting et al played on the screen behind him. Gore urged the crowd to take action. “It’s time to get political about this,” Gore said. “Are we capable of recognizing, absorbing the responsibility that is on our shoulders? This is the moment…we have to awaken…make a conscious choice to solve this problem.” Before he left the stage, he announced this apt rallying cry, “Remember, political will is a renewable resource!” And the crowd of over 1400 Silicon Valley ‘royalty’ rose to its feet to applaud and cheer. Though some attendees weren’t so enthusiastic. Check back soon for video highlights and interviews with Tech Award winners, Cows for Kilowatts founder Dr. Joseph Adelagan and Rolf Papsdorf of South Africa’s Alternative Energy Development Corp. Click to listen to Fresh Dialogues interviews with Tom Friedman on the need to act on climate change Vinod Khosla on his motivations for finding clean energy solutions And Martin Sheen on why we must care about future generations By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues (Note: I had the opportunity to talk briefly to Vice President Al Gore off mic, before his speech and look forward to interviewing him for Fresh Dialogues in the new year. These audio and video links [...] Alison van Diggelen 6.35 Al Gore, passion, climate change, global warming, tech award, silicon valley no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/16/paul-krugman-on-china-climate-change/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/16/paul-krugman-on-china-climate-change/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:18:08 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2943 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/16/paul-krugman-on-china-climate-change/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Here’s the transcript.  SEE VIDEO of Part One (Part Two coming soon) In advance of Obama’s trip to China this week, Nobel Prize winner, Paul Krugman gave a short, sharp economics lesson on climate change and China during our exclusive interview in Silicon Valley, November 12. What does he think the US and Chinese governments should be doing to combat climate change and stimulate the green sector? Why is he not concerned about China’s lead in clean energy technology? Krugman explains why negotiating with China over CO2 emissions would be preferable to trying to enforce a carbon tax. Hear all this and more in this Fresh Dialogues interview. Here are selected quotes: “Climate change is the mother of all externalities…left without any government intervention, we’re going to basically par-boil the planet.” “You don’t want to get hung up on the specific sexy technologies (like wind turbines)…look at the history of information technology…nobody gets a monopoly for very long.” “If we say to the Chinese, we want you to have a carbon tax – how can we really tell it’s enforced? But if we negotiate with the Chinese that they will have total CO2 emissions of so much, we can monitor that pretty well.” For Part One of the Paul Krugman interview – on Obama’s Job Summit click here The interview was recorded at Foothill College Celebrity Forum Series on November 12, 2009. With special thanks to Dick Henning. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Here’s the transcript.  SEE VIDEO of Part One (Part Two coming soon) In advance of Obama’s trip to China this week, Nobel Prize winner, Paul Krugman gave a short, sharp economics lesson on [...] alison van Diggelen 4.45 krugman, china, climate change, advice, obama, interview, fresh dialogues no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/13/paul-krugman-advice-for-obamas-job-summit/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/13/paul-krugman-advice-for-obamas-job-summit/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:29:22 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2889 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/13/paul-krugman-advice-for-obamas-job-summit/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On Thursday November 12, I had an exclusive interview with Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman. Just hours after President Obama announced the Job Summit, I sought out Krugman’s wisdom and he gave some radical advice to the President. Emphasising that “the Job Summit can’t be an empty exercise,” the renowned economics expert recommends a minimum of $300 Billion be spent by the government to encourage job creation, with a focus on job tax credits and subsidies for companies that retain jobs. For a transcript of the interview, click here or watch video This is part of a longer interview in which we discussed green jobs, Krugman’s impact on government policy, his future plans and what gives him that “missionary zeal.” Click here for Part Two on China and Climate Change. Check back soon for more interview segments on Fresh Dialogues. The interview was recorded on November 12, 2009 at the Flint Center, De Anza College, Cupertino. Dr. Krugman was in Silicon Valley to deliver a lecture as part of the Foothill College Celebrity Forum Series. To check out exclusive Fresh Dialogues interviews with Tom Friedman, click here; Martin Sheen, click here, Jack Welch, click here and Guy Kawasaki. Here’s the full collection of interviews – take your pick! Krugman’s advice on stimulating green jobs in particular “Well OK, green jobs I think is going to be a much harder thing to get going. That’s going to take time. That really waits on climate legislation which we won’t get till next year, if we’re lucky.” What specific measures should Obama’s Job Summit champion? “What he needs to do is get some actual targeted job measures, we need some policies that are aimed at encouraging job creation directly: probably a job tax credit and maybe some subsidies for firms that hang on to jobs. We can learn a little bit from European countries (like) Germany which have been relatively successful in containing the job losses…We just have to get something going…. If I had my druthers, if there were no limits politically, I’d say actually let’s just have a really massive second stimulus plan to get the economy going, but since that’s not going to happen we need some measures that are cheaper, don’t maybe do as much for GDP but create a lot of jobs.” On Obama’s cautious approach in the past “This jobs summit can’t be an empty exercise…he can’t come out with a proposal for $10 or $20 Billion of stuff because people will view that as a joke. There has to be a significant job proposal… ”  What’s the minimum he ought to spend? “There’s no hard and fast number, but if it isn’t several hundred billion dollars…OK, probably it’s not going to be as big as the first stimulus bill and not going to be as big as I think it should be… But I have in mind something like $300 Billion, you could do quite a lot that’s actually targeted on jobs.” By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On Thursday November 12, I had an exclusive interview with Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman. Just hours after President Obama announced the Job Summit, I sought out Krugman’s wisdom and [...] alison van diggelen 5.12 paul krugman, job summit, unemployment, advice, interview, obama, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/04/kr-sridhar-bloom-energy-timeline-and-team/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/04/kr-sridhar-bloom-energy-timeline-and-team/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:42:33 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2807 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/04/kr-sridhar-bloom-energy-timeline-and-team/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Bloom Energy has been in stealth mode since 2003 and little has been released about the fuel cell company’s technology and timeline. KR Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy agreed to sit down with me to discuss the company’s technology and team. We explore the importance of the Bloom Box affordability; as well as the company’s timeline. KR also explains why he doesn’t want to add to the hype surrounding the company. This is Part Two of my interview which was recorded on September 30, 2009. Here’s the transcript and check back next week for Tom Friedman’s views on Bloom Energy To check out the Part One post summary click here, and to read the Part One Transcript click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Bloom Energy has been in stealth mode since 2003 and little has been released about the fuel cell company’s technology and timeline. KR Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy agreed to sit down with me to [...] alison van diggelen 06.20 kr sridhar, bloom, energy, interview, fuel cell, pricing, timeline, hype no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/28/guy-kawasaki-venture-capital-insights/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/28/guy-kawasaki-venture-capital-insights/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:44 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2788 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/28/guy-kawasaki-venture-capital-insights/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues This week, we feature an interview with Apple evangelist and venture capitalist at Garage Technology Ventures, Guy Kawasaki. He shares his candid thoughts on the venture capital industry; the fragile economy and why he sees light at the end of the tunnel. On the stock market and VC investing “If you are investing in two people in a garage today, it doesn’t matter what the Dow Jones Industrial Average is at all…if you say ‘the market is down so I’m not going to invest in a startup today,’ there’s something ass backward about that. It matters what it (the stockmarket) is in five years.” Is there light at the end of the tunnel? “There’s always light at the end of the tunnel because it’s cyclical. I don’t know how slow the earth is turning. ..It can’t be that we will always be in this funk. If you believe that there’s never going to be another IPO of a startup you should get out of the VC business.” On economic experts “These so called experts…if they are so frickin’ smart, how come they didn’t call the downturn?” On the sub-prime mortgage meltdown “How come so many smart people – all those MBAs, all those bankers, all of New York – were thinking, this is a good business? How can that be?” On the VC Model and Startups “I think the venture capital model is fundamentally broken, but for different reasons. It’s not the lack of exits. A series of forces: including open source, the recession - so there’s lots of people available for very low prices and cheaper commercial real estate…You can start a company for a lot less today than ever. Life is good in that sense. ..You really don’t need $2 million to build a prototype…I’m talking about a certain type of company…a web 2.0 content, social network something… I’m not talking about finding a cure for cancer.”  Is Sand Hill Road’s supremacy under threat? “It’s an upward spiral because the best stuff comes to Silicon Valley, so we invest in the best stuff, so it creates the best stuff so more people come..I don’t know if that model will last forever, but I don’t see it changing immediately.” Why is the Venture Capital industry a beautiful business? “It’s a business with very high barriers to exit. You raise a $500 Million fund, and you get 2.5% of that every year come hell or high water, sitting on your ass or not, picking good stuff or not…if you hit home runs you can make tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s for you to go to cocktail parties… and all the entrepreneurs are sucking up to you and you’re getting interviewed : ‘what’s your view of green? What would you recommend to green entrepreneurs?‘….it takes five to seven years to figure out if you’re a bozo or not. Have I not just described a beautiful business? Why would you leave that business?” The interview was recorded on April 8, 2009 when the DJIA stood at 7837 To hear or read more Fresh Dialogues interviews with Guy Kawasaki… Click here for rules for Green Revolutionaries Click here for Guy’s views on Prius and electric cars Click here for Guy’s views on ebooks and the Kindle To read transcripts click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues This week, we feature an interview with Apple evangelist and venture capitalist at Garage Technology Ventures, Guy Kawasaki. He shares his candid thoughts on the venture capital industry; the fragile [...] alison van Diggelen 9.50 guy kawasaki, vc, venture capital, insight, model, startup, sandhill no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/21/tom-friedman-driving-the-green-agenda/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/21/tom-friedman-driving-the-green-agenda/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:16:44 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2738 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/21/tom-friedman-driving-the-green-agenda/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman, at the Foothill College Celebrity Forum lecture series last month, where he delivered a spirited argument for why the United States must embrace a green economy. In this second part of our interview, we explore his part in driving the green agenda. This January, he took part in a congressional hearing on green tech and economic recovery, sponsored by US Senator, Barbara Boxer. We discuss his role in that; how he deals with critics; and why he enjoys daiquiris with New York Times colleague, Maureen Dowd. Click here for part one of the interview about his book, Hot Flat, and Crowded. On Friedman’s role in driving the green agenda I use my platform as a journalist to drive this agenda that I see as important… I see a lot of things that are very exciting happening – exploding really – on a kind of small scale, but they haven’t yet reached critical mass and when you’re talking about changing the climate, you are talking about critical mass. It hasn’t yet been translated into policy at scale. On his action at the Congressional level in January It was an informal hearing, sponsored by Barbara Boxer, on climate and energy. John (Doerr) and I were the two main expert witnesses…No one intervention like that is going to be decisive, it takes many more…most of all from the President. On dealing with critics I think there’s a big audience for what I say and I don’t really pay attention to the critics. I keep on marching on. I hear it and it’s fine. And it’s a free country. You can say whatever you want.  But I’ve got my own bully pulpit and I use it. I don’t use it to shout back at critics; I use it to get my message out.  I’m looking forward. You know, the dogs bark and the caravan moves on. I’m in the caravan. My feeling is, I’m out there. And therefore, if you can’t take the heat, don’t be out there… Why would I waste a column writing about one of my critics? So what I always say to the critics is: ‘you may be writing about me, I really appreciate that, but don’t think for a second that I’d waste a column writing about you.’ What drives Tom Friedman? I’m having fun. I have the best job in the world. I get to be a tourist with an attitude…go wherever I want, write whatever I want…and they pay me for that. I wouldn’t give it up for the world. I still enjoy getting up every morning, hitching up my trousers and getting out there…opening up my laptop and taking on the world. The interview was recorded at the Flint Center in Cupertino on September 10, 2009 For Part One of the interview, click here For Part One transcript, click here For Part Two transcript, check back soon By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman, at the Foothill College Celebrity Forum lecture series last month, where he delivered a spirited argument for why the United States must [...] alison van Diggelen 9.12 tom friedman, green, platform, agenda, interview, future of journalism no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/14/david-chen-government-catalyst-for-green-tech/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/14/david-chen-government-catalyst-for-green-tech/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:52:58 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2718 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/14/david-chen-government-catalyst-for-green-tech/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with David Chen, an executive director at Morgan Stanley, while attending the AlwaysOn Going Green Conference 2009 in Sausalito. Chen, a specialist in the green tech investment sector, discussed the morale of investors; and why he’s expecting a bumpy ride ahead. He also explains the key differences between high tech and green tech business plans; and how the government plays a vital  role as catalyst in the development and commercialization of the green economy. On the mood of investors “We’re coming out of a year of tough project finance and corporate finance opportunities…You don’t have the hype feel you had last time we were here; there was this frothy sense of exuberance…bubble making. Now people are a lot more realistic…(there is) cautious optimism.” (Note: last year’s conference coincided with the collapse of Lehman Brothers) On the bumpy ride ahead “There’s a general sense in the broader capital markets that we’re set for a bumpy ride over the next 18-24 months. We’re not out of the woods yet in terms of fundamentals of the economy…That means a low growth expectation environment but low volatility…There’s good opportunity whether M&A or financing; you are looking for market stability and I think we’re going to have that.” On government stimulus: An Obama bubble? “The government has done a great job of re-instilling confidence in the financial system. The government is a necessary catalyst for the clean tech industry, like it or not…Obama has done a phenomenal job.” (David Chen cites thin film solar manufacturer, Solyndra as a good example of a company supported at a critical stage by $535 Million in Federal loan guarantees) On high tech and clean tech business plans – how they differ “The big problem in the clean tech market is, though it’s called ‘tech’ they’re really just large industrial markets, all of which will dwarf the overall IT sector…and these markets are fundamentally driven by the project finance industry. You really need a catalyst to effectively close the gap between a company that has very interesting technology but doesn’t have the track record to prove the system will last 25 years - and the natural gas plant with 50 years of operating history… and reliability performance set of data.” On Tesla: its achievements, challenges and future (Note: At the conference, Vinod Khosla’s predicted that green solutions need to be economical to reach the mass market) “At the end of the day, Tesla Motors is the only company to go from start to finish, a full electric vehicle system… Tesla has done the industry a great service..in terms of paving the way. Their plan is to build a manufacturing plant and commercialize the design for the S Class Sedan ..it can be a practical car. If they can get the manufacturing process down in a cost effective way… at some price point, they can hit some semblance of demand and wider audience, then I think they could survive.” The interview was recorded on September 15, 2009 at the AlwaysOn Going Green Conference 2009, in Sausalito California. Please excuse the intermittent whistling wind and other nautical sounds; the interview was recorded at Cavallo Point, near the Golden Gate Bridge on a blustery afternoon. For other interviews recorded at the conference: Tony Perkins of AlwaysOn Stuart Evans of Novacem By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with David Chen, an executive director at Morgan Stanley, while attending the AlwaysOn Going Green Conference 2009 in Sausalito. Chen, a specialist in the green tech investment sector, [...] Alison van Diggelen 11.02 david chen, clean tech, investment, interview, alison van Diggelen, fresh dialogues, solyndra, tesla no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/07/kr-sridhar-power-to-the-people-with-bloom-energy/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/07/kr-sridhar-power-to-the-people-with-bloom-energy/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:55:56 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2661 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/10/07/kr-sridhar-power-to-the-people-with-bloom-energy/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues SEE THE VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH KR SRIDHAR HERE – A FRESH DIALOGUES EXCLUSIVE Part One: Fuel Cell Technology and Efficiency Also Part Two Bloom Energy: Affordability is Essential Video Part Three Bloom Energy: Mission to Change the World Video Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar is a man with a mission to change the world. A former NASA advisor who developed technologies to sustain life on Mars, this earnest scientist is now harnessing his visionary skills and a large team of engineers to solve the energy crisis. His ambitious goal? To revolutionize the energy industry, just like cell phones revolutionized the communications industry. His team is developing  high efficiency fuel cells to provide a global distributed system of electricity supply at low cost. Although the company is still in stealth mode industry speculation is rife about its future plans. KR agreed to discuss Bloom Energy’s progress in this exclusive Fresh Dialogues interview recorded on September 30, 2009. To read the interview transcript click here . . Why is energy the focus of KR Sridhar’s mission? “Energy is a passport to a better living. For the rest of the world that doesn’t have access to power, to electricity; to give them that is empowering them to a better life. If your solution works and you make it affordable and you distribute it all over the world, then you have definitely changed the world….You give power to the people.” What’s in the Bloom Box? “It takes the chemical energy from the fuel and converts that to electrons with no in between conversion. So you are changing your currency only once. It’s an electro-chemical reaction..like a battery…but the big difference is it’s a power generator so you keep supplying the fuel in and you’ll keep getting the electrons out – most importantly without combustion. It’s a one step conversion… high efficiency…you burn less fuel – less greenhouse gases -and eliminate all the combustion related polluting gases.” What’s the link with transportation? “Transportation can potentially go in two directions in the future. One is a hydrogen infrastructure for the car, the other one is an electrical infrastructure for the car…plug-in hybrids…Our device can either produce the electricity that’ll charge the car or provide you hydrogen if the transportation becomes hydrogen based. So we’ve sort of become the gas station for the transportation industry.” Bloom Energy’s road map and schedule “We’re building both the bridge and the future destination…There’s a sense of urgency, you feel like you need to do it faster than humanly possible. This is a big scale issue. It’s not a microchip. These are huge devices and they need to be build in very large quantities…factories, machines for factories. These things don’t happen overnight.  It’s going to be slower than what the bits and bites people in Silicon Valley think because it’s not like software that you’re just going to copy a million times instantly and distribute…You are not talking about eight quarters. You are talking longer than that.” (Note: Bloom Energy filed its first patent in 2003. To check out the patents, click here) What motivates KR? “The driver that makes you wake up in the morning …comes from something very fundamental. Any parent knows that… anywhere in the world…if there’s one thing they have in common: they want a better life for their children than what they had. I deeply believe, unless we solve this energy issue and not make it a zero sum game… then we cannot promise our future generations a better life that what we had.” How are the Tennessee trials going? “We’re very optimistic about where it’s going and we feel very good about where it is and it’ll get there.” Note: Bloom Energy was Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers’ first clean tech investment.  Industry reports say the company [...] By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues SEE THE VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH KR SRIDHAR HERE – A FRESH DIALOGUES EXCLUSIVE Part One: Fuel Cell Technology and Efficiency Also Part Two Bloom Energy: Affordability is Essential Video Part [...] Alison van Diggelen 17.32 kr sridhar, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, bloom energy, power, fuel cell no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/30/stuart-evans-green-cement-and-vinod-khosla/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/30/stuart-evans-green-cement-and-vinod-khosla/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:26:48 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2630 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/30/stuart-evans-green-cement-and-vinod-khosla/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Vinod Khosla, the green investment guru, was asked to name the company with the greatest chance of becoming the next Green Microsoft  while onstage at the GoingGreen Conference in Sausalito.  He declined to name his “favorite child” but did praise Calera, the green cement maker he’s backing; and spoke about the huge potential growth in this sector. Since cement production creates 2.5 billion tons of CO2 annually,  representing  5% of manmade sources, it offers great potential in both climate change impact and market opportunity. I caught up with Stuart Evans, Chairman of Novacem, who shares Vinod’s bullishness about the market for green cement. This British entrepreneur has assembled a team from Imperial College, London (he dubs it the MIT of  the UK) and claims to have invented a carbon negative cement.   How does Novacem technology differ from Calera’s? “The big play at Calera is that they want to go next to power stations to absorb the carbon dioxide there (carbon sequestration)… We’re making cement without a carbonate based feedstock. Vinod was talking about his materials being used in aggregate applications; we’re really replacing Portland Cement…we’re in the same space, we’re not head to head…we’re possibly even complementary. Besides, in a 2.5 billion (volume/ $150Billion) market, there are room for a couple of players…”   Why is Novacem carbon negative? “Our cement doesn’t emit carbon dioxide, it absorbs carbon dioxide. We start with the material magnesium silicate (not calcium carbonate)… they have no carbon in them,  so right there we’ve got a stunning advantage. We only work at 800 degrees centigrade (compared to Portland Cement which requires 1400 degrees) so the energy sources we can use include biomass fuels which have a much greener footprint. ..We add a magic sauce to it (a mineral additive) which means that the cement absorbs carbon dioxide rather rapidly.” The importance of team “The team is everything; money is important but the team is even more important.” On Vinod Khosla’s expertise “We are tremendously flattered that Vinod is following our lead and investing in green cement.” (A display of typical British humor here)  For more Fresh Dialogues interviews and transcript with Vinod Khosla, click here       For other interviews recorded at the conference: Tony Perkins of AlwaysOn David Chen of Morgan Stanley             The interview was recorded at the GoingGreen Conference, Sausalito on September 15, 2009. The background sound you hear is nautical ‘music’ from buoys, as container ships make their way under the Golden Gate Bridge. For more info on Green Cement, check out these links Earth2Tech The Next Big Future By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Vinod Khosla, the green investment guru, was asked to name the company with the greatest chance of becoming the next Green Microsoft  while onstage at the GoingGreen Conference in Sausalito.  He [...] alison van Diggelen 5.57 green cement, vinod khosla, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, novacem no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/23/tony-perkins-green-bubble-or-obama-bubble/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/23/tony-perkins-green-bubble-or-obama-bubble/#comments Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:07:24 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2518 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/23/tony-perkins-green-bubble-or-obama-bubble/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Tony Perkins, founder of AlwaysOn and Red Herring Magazine, just before he opened the third annual GoingGreen Conference in Sausalito, California. He agreed to talk for five minutes but well, we got talking…about what’s hot in the green sector, the downside of going green, and his thoughts on a Green bubble …and an Obama bubble. The online media pioneer also shared his predictions for 2010:  citing online video as the highest growth area. On the power of the green economy “We’re probably on the steepest innovation curve we’ve ever seen and of course, it’s always the innovation driven companies that create the most growth in the economy and the most new jobs. It’s clear that the world is becoming more committed to being kinder and gentler to itself and that’s going to create a tremendous amount of entrepreneurial opportunities.” Predictions for 2010: the hot green sectors “Hopefully we’ll see a lot of new IPO activity, generally in the energy space. The solar space will continue to be the leading, more mature part of this world. Underneath that, water restoration is becoming a really big deal…The whole green movement has been moving aggressively into the building and materials space. Biofuels and nanotechnology will be a little more out on the horizon.” On the downside of going green “A lot of industries are going to be destroyed by new ways of doing things over the Internet and by people turning away from old habits and moving into more green habits.” (e.g. the newspaper and auto industries) Predictions for 2010 – Online Media “You are going to continue to see an explosion in what we call open media (social media, blogging etc)…now it’s about creating and sharing content. I think online video is going to continue to be the highest growth area and of course the advertising world is going to have to wake up and say, ‘hey – newspaper, movies and TV are going to be a shadow of themselves when this is all over… so we need to start moving our ad dollars online.’ ” You wrote ‘The Internet Bubble’ and predicted the dot com bust, are you at work on ‘The Green Bubble’? “I think the Green Movement is here to stay and there’s a lot of legs…Right now, I’m working on ‘The Obama Bubble’…he came with a lot of fanfare but some would say he’s spending money like a drunken sailor and I’m seeing a pretty large backlash right now in Silicon Valley…a big concern about the whole movement toward centralization of government. I also see them playing with ideas for regulating the venture capital industry…and that would be a major mistake. I would say the greatest threat to the global Silicon Valley is too much central power and too much spending…screwing up the free market environment. Using the bully pulpit to encourage people to be more green is a very good thing for the government to do but when they start trying to create markets, it gets a little dicey.” On the $465,000 government loan guarantee to Tesla Motors “For years, people were really concerned about its business model because it was producing nifty little cars, but extremely expensive… and they lined up government backing. Is that a good investment for our tax payers’ money? Or is that propping up a company that still needed to prove its business model?” The interview was recorded at the GoingGreen Conference, Cavallo Point, Sausalito on Monday September 14, 2009. Check back soon for other featured interviews and wisdom garnered at the conference from Jim Woolsey of Vantage Point, Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, David Chen of Morgan Stanley, JB Straubel of Tesla Motors, and Stuart Evans of NovaCem. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Tony Perkins, founder of AlwaysOn and Red Herring Magazine, just before he opened the third annual GoingGreen Conference in Sausalito, California. He agreed to talk for five minutes [...] alison van Diggelen 8.50 tony perkins, alwayson, green, green bubble, obama bubble, fresh dialogues, alison van Diggelen, no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/16/tom-friedman-china-envy-explained/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/16/tom-friedman-china-envy-explained/#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:38:39 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2461 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/16/tom-friedman-china-envy-explained/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last week, I sat down with Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman, just before he delivered a lecture to an expectant Foothill College Celebrity Forum audience at the Flint Center in Silicon Valley.  We discussed his bestselling book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded and why he thinks it’s imperative that the U.S. government jump-start the green economy. According to Tom, creating the right ecosystem is key: funding research, setting price signals and creating incentives to encourage green innovation. Tom admitted to some China envy in that regard. (see below or check out the transcript) On his motivations for writing “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” “My concern is about America…imagine if Microsoft were a French company; Google were a Chinese company…What would our standard of living be like? If Energy Technology (ET) is the next big thing, we need to be at the head of the line…By being big in the next big thing, we’ll be seen by the rest of the world as working on the most important problem in the world.” . On the need for Energy Technology “Demand for clean energy, clean fuel and energy efficiency is clearly going to explode; it’s going to be the next great global industry. I know that as sure as I know that I’m sitting here at De Anza College talking to you.” Why do we need government action? “Research needs to be funded, and that’s government’s role…(we need) really scale answers to clean energy and climate change.” Why Tom says: ‘Change your leaders not your light bulbs’ “(We need) people who can write the rules, set the taxes, incentives…people who are really committed to launching the ecosystem of green innovation.” Can the US government get its act together on climate change? “Government has a huge role…if the government is divided against itself – red states, blue states – we’re not going to get where we need to be.” Does he have China envy? “You detect the envy of someone who wants his own government to act democratically with the same effectiveness that China can do autocratically.” If President Obama asked him to be his Green Czar, what would he say? “I’d say: I get my aggravation playing golf.” The interview was recorded in Silicon Valley on September 10, 2009. Click here for transcript, and check back soon for video and more interview highlights. Check out Part Two of our interview when  Friedman discusses the Van Jones resignation, how he deals with critics; the future of journalism and daiquiris with Maureen Dowd. Here’s a transcript extract from Part Two on Dealing with Critics Alison van Diggelen: “In that environment of criticism (that Van Jones bowed to), do you feel you are a ‘bad guy’?” Tom Friedman: “I don’t really care. I say what I say. I think there’s a big audience for what I say and I don’t really pay attention to the critics.” Alison:  “Right. So you just turn a deaf ear?” Tom: “I keep on marching on. I hear it and it’s fine. And it’s a free country. You can say whatever you want.  But I’ve got my own bully pulpit and I use it. I don’t use it to shout back at critics; I use it to get my message out.  I’m looking forward. You know, the dogs bark and the caravan moves on. I’m in the caravan.” Alison: “But you don’t feel that distraction…that Glenn Beck and his ilk… are getting stronger and are going to be energized by the Van Jones resignation?” Tom: “The Glenn Becks and the other opponents of these ideas will have their audience and I have mine…and let the best man win. I don’t spend my time dealing with my critics. I’ve got a great podium and if you’re criticizing me, God bless you. I’m not above criticism. My focus is on my ideas with my audience. ” Alison: “I’m not intending to criticize you. But I’m just curious…” Tom: “I’m telling you this is just my philosophy…My feeling is, I’m out [...] By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last week, I sat down with Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman, just before he delivered a lecture to an expectant Foothill College Celebrity Forum audience at the Flint Center in Silicon Valley.  [...] alison van diggelen 6.57 tom friedman, green innovation, energy technology, china envy, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/09/linda-holroyd/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/09/linda-holroyd/#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:44:54 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2440 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/09/linda-holroyd/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Earlier this year, I met with Linda Holroyd, CEO of FountainBlue, a Silicon Valley based forum that brings together top experts and entrepreneurs in green tech. We discussed why her company is thriving because of the down economy; and why she has faith in the resiliency of green tech. Given that oil and gas prices have tumbled, is there still a pressing case for clean energy and green tech investment? We discuss: The mood of FountainBlue’s clean energy group Her expectations for President Barack Obama’s  stimulus package and her advice to our president.   What local VCs like John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and authors like Thomas Friedman are doing to green the minds of Washington DC On investing in Green Energy “There are a lot of people with a lot of money and they don’t know what to invest in. I think clean green is a good option. …Previous investments were kind of ’frilly’ …but the learnings from the last decade of investments will serve us well.” The Stimulus Package – why should the Federal Government be involved in green energy? “We need to invest in our infrastructure… clean green investments will create jobs. It’s more about R&D than kickbacks for individuals or organizations…you want to incentivize the R&D so that more companies can sell and make larger margins.” On Linda’s impetus for founding FountainBlue in 2006 “Being fed up with the bozos in charge…incompetent people who don’t have the integrity to lead well. I knew a lot of competent people with great integrity and I wanted to create a community to help them to succeed and start new companies.” Why her company thrives because of the down economy “People have the time to look at their passion and do that transition to where there heart is.” The interview was recorded in Silicon Valley on January 9,2009.  Check back soon for Part 2 of Linda Holroyd’s interview when we discuss the Clean Tech Open, and how the Silicon Valley ecosystem supports entrepreneurs. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Earlier this year, I met with Linda Holroyd, CEO of FountainBlue, a Silicon Valley based forum that brings together top experts and entrepreneurs in green tech. We discussed why her company is [...] alison van Diggelen 7.39 LINDA HOLROYD, alison van diggelen, freshdialogues, silicon valley, green, fountainblue, clean energy no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/02/maureen-dowd-obama-camus-and-a-cocktail-waitress/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/02/maureen-dowd-obama-camus-and-a-cocktail-waitress/#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:00:50 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2428 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/09/02/maureen-dowd-obama-camus-and-a-cocktail-waitress/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In this interview with Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, Maureen Dowd, we discuss her unique take on the Obamas; what Barack’s pop culture preferences reveal about him; and how Michelle is embracing the First Lady role in a refreshing way. Maureen explains her saucy writing style, who inspires her and she reveals her radical Plan B: if the future of journalism isn’t as rosy as she anticipates. She’s been described as “The Queen of Snark” – what’s her reaction?  “I prefer the word saucy to snarky. It’s more just irreverence. An inspiration for me was Jonathan Swift…he wrote about abuses of power in England. ..I think humor is a great way to get across hard truths sometimes. That’s what I’m aiming for.” On Barack Obama’s desire to avoid the Angry Black Man stereotype “He’s like a Camus character…he’s very Zen-like…Any morning I expect to turn on the TV and see him teaching the nation yoga and meditation.” On the Obama Presidency “It’s a fun time in history to actually be able to cover the first African American President and First Lady. Sometimes we lose sight of the amazingness of it because Obama doesn’t stress it.” On being denied interviews “I don’t think it’s a gender thing…they’re a little afraid I’ll be a little acerbic. It’s just my style versus a more earnest style that they’re more comfortable with.” On being described as ‘hot, irresistable to men, bewitching and intimidating.’ “I haven’t heard about any of this, but I’m flattered.” This interview was recorded at the Fairmont Hotel in Silicon Valley on April 2, 2009. To hear more Fresh Dialogues interviews with Maureen click here, or for a transcript click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In this interview with Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, Maureen Dowd, we discuss her unique take on the Obamas; what Barack’s pop culture preferences reveal about him; and how Michelle is embracing [...] alison van Diggelen maureen dowd,fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, michelle obama, zen, cocktail waitress, snark no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/26/guy-kawasaki-prius-are-ugly/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/26/guy-kawasaki-prius-are-ugly/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:24:14 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2417 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/26/guy-kawasaki-prius-are-ugly/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Apple evangelist and venture capitalist, Guy Kawasaki discusses the aesthetics of hybrid cars, Tesla Motors, and nuclear power. He also delivers a very memorable lesson about keeping on the good side of the media in this Fresh Dialogues interview.  While discussing the relative merits of his Audi R8 and a Toyota Prius hybrid, he lets his candid attitude prevail, and calls the Prius “ugly.” “So I just insulted the interviewer?” Guy Kawasaki Listen to this interview and find out how Guy tries to redeem himself.  “Maybe I’m too insecure to drive an ugly car and you’re not.” Guy Kawasaki On Tesla Motors “I’ve no desire on a Tesla… along the lines of the Kindle… it’s just one more thing to get charged every day, right? You’re just pushing me over the edge.” On nuclear power “I think nuclear power is something we should explore…yeah I know about Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, but every car out there is killing us too.” The interview was recorded at Guy’s Garage Technology Ventures office in downtown Palo Alto on April 8, 2009. For more interviews with Guy, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Apple evangelist and venture capitalist, Guy Kawasaki discusses the aesthetics of hybrid cars, Tesla Motors, and nuclear power. He also delivers a very memorable lesson about keeping on the good side [...] alison van Diggelen 3.34 guy kawasaki, interview, alison van diggelen, fresh dialogues, prius, ugly no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/19/lena-wilson-scotlands-low-carbon-ambition/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/19/lena-wilson-scotlands-low-carbon-ambition/#comments Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:32:23 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2390 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/19/lena-wilson-scotlands-low-carbon-ambition/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Lena Wilson has been described as one of the most powerful women in Scotland. She’s CEO of both Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International, two publicly funded organizations focused on stimulating sustainable growth in Scotland. The country has an ambitious target to provide 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. I caught up with Lena on a recent trip to Scotland and discussed her role as “Scotland’s chief salesperson.”   She explained the political will for its energy targets and described the green strategy:  focus on a low carbon future and leverage Scotland’s natural advantages: 25% of Europe’s wind and wave power potential,  cool climate;  infrastructure and research strengths. On Scotland’s value proposition “Scotland has moved significantly up the value chain. It isn’t about cheap assembly plants anymore…Scotland has natural assets, talent, a business infrastructure and science base that can make it the most competitive business location for R & D.” Who is the Al Gore of Scotland?   Is it First Minister, Alex Salmond? “I don’t know if Alex Salmond would like to be known as the Al Gore of Scotland; but  he is absolutely the champion for a low carbon Scotland. That passion absolutely infects everyone else.” On the political will for Scotland’s ambitious 50% renewable energy goal “Politically we have a government that is very committed to a low carbon Scotland. It pervades through the whole economic strategy.” On public attitudes to wind turbines and green policies “There are lots of debates about the visible statement of green…but in Scotland, Whitelees is Europe’s biggest wind farm and a local gentleman in his 70′s admitted it was going to take a bit of getting used to but said ‘I’m very proud that we’re doing this.’ I think the NIMBY mentality is going… I think it’s a popular agenda. ” On Lena’s green motivations “Whilst I want to save my planet, my compelling push is that economically this makes sense and I think in terms of recovery… green jobs…one of the lowest carbon economies…that’s got to be a winning combination.” On the country’s  reputation for… bad weather “Yes, there are advantages to wind and rain and cool weather…I’m talking to companies (Microsoft and HP) about green data centers (in Scotland).” Check back soon for Part Two of the interview when Lena discusses the Scottish based European Marine Energy Center – the only testing center for tidal and wave power in the world; how Scotland is leveraging its oil and gas industry expertise for offshore wind and wave power development and what ‘draconian’ policies are pursued to ensure Scottish civil servants adopt green practices. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Lena Wilson has been described as one of the most powerful women in Scotland. She’s CEO of both Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International, two publicly funded organizations focused [...] alison van Diggelen 9.57 scotland fresh dialogues lena wilson sdi scottish enterprise green renewable energy windpower no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/12/michael-krasny-why-green-forums-matter/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/12/michael-krasny-why-green-forums-matter/#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:59:02 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2371 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/12/michael-krasny-why-green-forums-matter/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Earlier this year, I had the chance to turn the tables on celebrated Forum Host, Michael Krasny, and interview him for Fresh Dialogues. He was surprisingly candid about how how he fights feelings of inadequacy and is driven to prepare thoroughly for each interview. The focus of this segment is the environment and why he has cause for optimism. He explains why he regularly chooses green topics for Forum and sees organizations like Sustainable Silicon Valley as providing good models for bringing businesses, government and NGOs  together to create a greener future. On carbon footprints “I meet people in the corporate sector and they’re really genuinely, passionately concerned about the environment and want to be good corporate citizens and want to…do whatever they can to bring down the carbon footprint.” On hypocracy and reasons for optimism “There’s a lot of hypocracy out there in both the political and business world…those who don’t exactly see the green revolution as anything other than too much government control…I’m encouraged though on environmental issues…particularly because I see a lot of young people who care about the environment.” On smart growth and forums “What they do in Holland is exemplory. They have business interests, environmentalist interests, government interests actually sit down and look at what they can do to bring about common consensus and move forward progressively…. There really has to be a coming together.” On doing more – like becoming a vegetatarian or riding a bike - to reduce his carbon footprint “I know it’s better for the environment. I know all these things deep in my bones…is it hypocritical that I know them and can’t act on them? I don’t know. It’s something that I wrestle with.”  To hear more Fresh Dialogues with Michael Krasny – on how he expunged his bad boy reputation to become a top public radio host - click here The interview was recorded on April 21st, 2009 at the KQED Studios in San Francisco. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Earlier this year, I had the chance to turn the tables on celebrated Forum Host, Michael Krasny, and interview him for Fresh Dialogues. He was surprisingly candid about how how he fights feelings of [...] alison van Diggelen 10.52 michael krasny, interview, green, environment, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, gavin newsom no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/05/rob-lamkin-why-solar-is-the-solution/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/05/rob-lamkin-why-solar-is-the-solution/#comments Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:54:42 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2297 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/08/05/rob-lamkin-why-solar-is-the-solution/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Here are the highlights of my discussion with Rob Lamkin, CEO of Cool Earth Solar, a concentrated photovoltaic startup based in Livermore. Why is solar the solution to global warming and energy security? “Solar energy is the only thing we have in near enough abundance to solve the energy problems we have.” On hiring new team members Technical skills are not enough, passion for clean energy  is a prerequisite. “Passion is a filter for us.”   On wind power “These windmills you can see on this hillside behind you; I look at them and see beauty…they’re displacing the need to burn more fossil fuels, build power plants.”  This interview features  highlights from an interview recorded on January 28, 2009. To listen to the full interview, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Here are the highlights of my discussion with Rob Lamkin, CEO of Cool Earth Solar, a concentrated photovoltaic startup based in Livermore. Why is solar the solution to global warming and energy [...] Alison van Diggelen 3.58 rob lamkin, cool earth solar, alison van Diggelen, fresh dialogues, green, solar, hiring, passion no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/29/adam-jackson-how-twitter-is-going-green/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/29/adam-jackson-how-twitter-is-going-green/#comments Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:06:32 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2286 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/29/adam-jackson-how-twitter-is-going-green/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Twitter officianado, Adam Jackson at SDForum’s Teens Plugged in Conference. He talks about how Twitter is going green and how his new book, 140 Characters, a style guide to Twitter, will be released as an iPhone App – a greener and cheaper option than a traditional book. On Twitter’s green credentials “If you use Skype to have a conversation instead of flying across the country, you’ve saved money and saved the environment.” On his book, 140 Characters “I think a lot of our sales will come from the $4 for a virtual app….its selling point is that it comes instantly … but it’s also a great thing for the earth.” “It tells you how to post links to get the most clicks.” On his upcoming book #2 “The other one I can’t talk about yet…but it’s about status updates for MySpace and Facebook. The subtitle is ‘How a social media nobody changed the world with just the status update.’” To listen to Adam talk about how to become a green influencer, click here Adam blogged about his Fresh Dialogues experience here This interview was recorded on May 13, 2009 at HP Auditorium in Palo Alto By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Twitter officianado, Adam Jackson at SDForum’s Teens Plugged in Conference. He talks about how Twitter is going green and how his new book, 140 Characters, a style guide to Twitter, [...] Alison van Diggelen 3.09 twitter, fresh dialogues, adam jackson, alison van Diggelen, green, interview no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/22/elise-zoli-governments-role-in-clean-tech/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/22/elise-zoli-governments-role-in-clean-tech/#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:10:29 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2359 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/22/elise-zoli-governments-role-in-clean-tech/feed/ 0 Elise Zoli holding the Waxman Markey Bill she helped to write By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Elise Zoli at FountainBlue’s Forum on Clean Green Transportation this month. Elise is a Boston based partner with law firm, Goodwin Procter, but is a frequently in Silicon Valley to serve her local clients. She specializes in energy, climate change and clean tech law. We discussed: Government - Its role as the Grinch and Santa Claus  “The Grinch side is limiting traditional industry and allowing new sectors, new technologies to emerge…with emissions standards, fuel tax…The Santa Claus side - direct funding – grants, loans, loan guarantees, tax subsidies…make a more favorable environment for emerging companies.” On getting a slice of the stimulus package $16.8 Billion allocated to clean tech “It’s a bit like the Nobel Prize where you get it once you’re already successful… Some of the companies that actually are going to receive stimulus funds are companies that probably would have succeeded of themselves…those that can make a difference tomorrow in the economy.” On her contribution to the Waxman Markey Climate Change Bill Creating regional innovations hubs: public-private partnerships for innovation, modeled after the MIT’s Dashponde Center This is part one of my interview with Elise Zoli. Check back soon for Part Two when Elise describes two hot areas to watch in clean tech and why she wants to redefine the term energy storage, because it’s “not sexy.” Her new expression? Dispatchable renewable power. The interview was recorded at the the FountainBlue Forum, Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara on July 6, 2009. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Elise Zoli at FountainBlue’s Forum on Clean Green Transportation this month. Elise is a Boston based partner with law firm, Goodwin Procter, but is a frequently in Silicon Valley [...] alison van Diggelen 08.12 elise zoli. stimulus package, clean tech, green, interview, alison van Diggelen, fresh dialogues no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/15/kevin-surace-building-climate-change-solutions/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/15/kevin-surace-building-climate-change-solutions/#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:42:37 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2340 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/15/kevin-surace-building-climate-change-solutions/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Kevin Surace is serious about tackling global warming and argues that producing energy saving building materials can go a long way to cutting down CO2 emissions and reducing energy consumption in the United States. He’s CEO of Serious Materials, a Sunnyvale based maker of eco drywall, windows and other building materials; and frequent speaker * on global warming and the built environment. *His TED speech is worth checking out. We discussed the influence of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth in helping create a market for green products; the pace of global warming; and whether consumers are willing to pay a premium for green. Kevin outlined how his company uses new media to get its message out and why his company is growing rapidly, despite the shrinking economy. On how climate awareness grew in 2005  “By 2005, there was much more awareness of the climate change issue, but even clean tech wasn’t a term before that. By 2005, the climate issue had come to the front of minds:  on scientists’ minds, at the United Nations, in the world.” On the relative importance of buildings vs. cars in CO2 emissions Kevin argues that residential and commercial buildings account for the largest proportion of CO2 emissions (52% of world emissions for buildings and their operations) compared to passanger cars which only make up only 9% of world CO2 emissions. On the influence of An Inconvenient Truth “It allowed the American public to get the story in a way they never got it before and that’s when I could step back and say: there’s an opportunity here to actually make a difference.” On the pace of global warming “When you look at the raw data, everything’s happening five or ten times faster than the IPCC  (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) said it was going to. So this is extremely scary and wakes you up.” Are consumers willing to pay a premium for green? “I don’t think they’ll ever be willing to pay a premium. That’s been our thinking from Day One.” The interview was recorded on June 30, 2009 at Serious Materials in Sunnyvale, California. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Kevin Surace is serious about tackling global warming and argues that producing energy saving building materials can go a long way to cutting down CO2 emissions and reducing energy consumption in the [...] alison van Diggelen 12.47 kevin surace, serious materials, green, interview, alison van diggelen, fresh dialogues no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/08/judy-estrin-closing-the-green-innovation-gap/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/08/judy-estrin-closing-the-green-innovation-gap/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:59:50 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2311 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/08/judy-estrin-closing-the-green-innovation-gap/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues   Judy Estrin is an influential tech entrepreneur, CEO of JLabs, and author of Closing the Innovation Gap. I caught up with her at SD Forum’s 12th annual Visionary Awards in Atherton, where she was one of four recipients. We talked about whether clean energy solutions can save the planet; the importance of new innovation in revitalizing the economy; and the role of government in making it happen. “For an industry to take off, you need a grand challenge, or a grand problem that needs to be solved and you need research and scientific discovery…In the area of clean energy, it’s a problem that must be solved and it’s very broad in nature.” Can clean energy save the planet? “The real question is: will we as a people, our government as leaders, and will our business leaders all have the courage and commitment to understand that along with new technologies and forms of energy has to come behavioral change? It’s not just about inventing something new, it’s going to take change from everybody.”   Should the government be doing more? “The government’s role should be funding research, using the bully pulpitto rally people around the new industry. I do not believe the government should pick winners, but it needs to evaluate policy… encourage the behavioral change that needs to happen.” On behavioral change “Corporations need to look at how they’re using energy. Do you need the air conditioning on all the time? Do you need the lights? ?” What are the ingredients of a healthy and sustainable innovation ecosystem? Research, commercialization, and a willingness to take risk. “Real sustainable innovation and a foundation of growth takes time. We’re going to have to try a number of different things. There are a number of industries that over time will provide the growth to reinvigorate the economy ..including clean energy.” “Clean energy won’t just drive new products; it’ll drive research, products, applications community…along a broad spectrum of industry.” The interview was recorded at SD Forum’s Visionary Awards, hosted by Heidi Roizen on June 25, 2009. To hear more Fresh Dialogues interviews at the Visionary Awards, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues   Judy Estrin is an influential tech entrepreneur, CEO of JLabs, and author of Closing the Innovation Gap. I caught up with her at SD Forum’s 12th annual Visionary Awards in Atherton, where she [...] alison van Diggelen 8.36 judy estrin, visionary, alison van diggelen, fresh dialogues, interview, clean energy, innovation no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/07/mayor-chuck-reed/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/07/mayor-chuck-reed/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:26:40 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2304 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/07/mayor-chuck-reed/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Our Green Mayor was in fine form at SD Forum’s Visionary Awards on June 25th. He made a convincing pitch about why innovators  and visionaries should locate in San Jose. In this photo,  he’s pointing out his Economic Development team to the high profile crowd gathered in Atherton; but I think the subliminal message is: WE NEED YOU! Chuck’s team is working hard to encourage innnovation in San Jose, yet San Jose didn’t make the top ten Green Cities in the U.S. this year, as ranked by Mother Nature Network. Why not? Are these other cities, like Portland (#1) and San Francisco (#2) really doing more, or are they just talking louder about their green achievements? Perhaps San Jose needs an ‘artist in residence at its recycling facilities’ like Mayor Newsom has in San Francisco? In this Fresh Green Minute highlight, the mayor outlines why a little clean tech startup from, say Kansas, should relocate to San Jose. Of course, the Green Mayor can only be delighted about Tesla’s recent announcement that it secured a $465 Million Federal loan. That news puts the proposed – then shelved – transmission plant in San Jose potentially back on the table.  The interview was recorded on November 7, 2008 at City Hall. To listen to more Fresh Dialogues with Chuck Reed, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Our Green Mayor was in fine form at SD Forum’s Visionary Awards on June 25th. He made a convincing pitch about why innovators  and visionaries should locate in San Jose. In this photo,  [...] alison van Diggelen 2.02 mayor chuck reed, green mayor, alison van Diggelen, fresh Dialogues, interview, clean tech. locate in Silicon Valley no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/01/vinod-khosla-passion-for-green-tech/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/01/vinod-khosla-passion-for-green-tech/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:38:21 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2248 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/07/01/vinod-khosla-passion-for-green-tech/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Vinod Khosla at SD Forum’s Visionary Awards. In this exclusive interview, Vinod, a pioneer in clean tech investment, describes how in 2000, he started “looking for something new, something difficult and something large to invest in.” He found his first clean tech investment in Bloom Energy and has since gone on to invest and nurture dozens of clean tech businesses including Ausra, AltaRock and Stion KR  Sridhar of Bloom Energy introduced Vinod by saying: “We all need to root for his success, because his success is this planet’s success.” And Vinod’s recipe for success? The freedom to fail.  “The Silicon Valley ecosystem allows me to fail…you get more shots at goal.” Vinod Khosla . . He’s been described as a “risk junky” but  Vinod describes his successful formula thus:  ”we muddle through until we find the right answer.” But was Vinod’s motivation to save the planet, ensure energy independence or was it purely economic? This question and many more are discussed during this seven minute interview, including his views on a clean tech bubble, biofuels and nurturing entrepreneurs. I also interviewed the smart and articulate Visionary Award winner Judy Estrin. Check back soon for that Fresh Dialogues interview. Excellent discussions also with her fellow Visionary, Kay Koplovitz ; Business  Week bureau manager, Robert Hof; & Silicon Valley Watcher, Tom Foremski, who has a good post on Vinod. The interview took place in the library of Heidi Roizen’s home in Atherton. Please excuse the champagne popping party atmosphere of this recording. Click here for the full transcript of the interview More on Vinod Khosla and Bloom Energy By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I caught up with Vinod Khosla at SD Forum’s Visionary Awards. In this exclusive interview, Vinod, a pioneer in clean tech investment, describes how in 2000, he started “looking for something new, [...] Alison van Diggelen 7.37 fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen, interview, vinod khosla, green, solar, energy, global warming no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/30/martin-sheen-our-responsibility-to-future-generations/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/30/martin-sheen-our-responsibility-to-future-generations/#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:41:30 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2236 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/30/martin-sheen-our-responsibility-to-future-generations/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I talked to acclaimed actor and activist, Martin Sheen about how he chooses which causes to support and why he thinks we all have a responsibility to do something about the environment.  His views are especially topical today in light of the historic Climate Change Bill that went to the House last week . Although the vote passed, 212 representatives voted no; something Paul Krugman describes as treason against our planet. After speaking with Martin Sheen, I think he’d also agree with that description. “We have to be aware of our responsibility to future generations…he who hath offspring giveth hostages to the future. Well I’ve given children and grandchildren, so they own that future.”   On getting the green message out, does he think we should leave it all to Al Gore? “It’s incumbent on all of us to share as much information and DO as much as we can.” Martin Sheen The interview was recorded at the Flint Center in Cupertino, on November 19, 2008 For the full interview, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I talked to acclaimed actor and activist, Martin Sheen about how he chooses which causes to support and why he thinks we all have a responsibility to do something about the environment.  His views [...] Alison van Diggelen 2.06 martin sheen, green, environment, interview, fresh dialogues, al gore, alison van diggelen no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/24/guy-kawasaki-talks-kindle/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/24/guy-kawasaki-talks-kindle/#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:45:30 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2221 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/24/guy-kawasaki-talks-kindle/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I talked to Alltop cofounder, Guy Kawasaki at his Garage Technology Partners office in downtown Palo Alto and we discussed Amazon’s Kindle. Although he’s not yet a Kindle user, he can see the attraction to users, especially for reference books. What would persuade him to use a Kindle? “I don’t use a Kindle because I have to keep so many things charged in my life. I prefer when I travel not to have to carry 15 lbs of extension cords and adaptors.” “I do believe these things will take off. Will they eliminate books? I don’t think so, not in my lifetime.” Guy Kawasaki     This is part two of my interview with Guy which was recorded on April 8, 2009. Here’s the transcript. To listen to part one, when he discusses evangelism, the iPhone and green revolutionaries, click here and for the transcript, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I talked to Alltop cofounder, Guy Kawasaki at his Garage Technology Partners office in downtown Palo Alto and we discussed Amazon’s Kindle. Although he’s not yet a Kindle user, he can see the [...] Alison van Diggelen 5.05 guy kawasaki, interview, kindle, alison van diggelen, fresh dialogues, green no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/23/scotland-offers-ten-million-pound-prize/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/23/scotland-offers-ten-million-pound-prize/#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:37:43 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2214 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/23/scotland-offers-ten-million-pound-prize/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Paul O’Brien, renewable energy expert at Scottish Development International discusses details of the Saltire Prize, a Ten Million Pound Prize for the best marine energy technology. “It’s not so much about the money, it’s about the kudos of winning the prize; the recognition from the global marine energy industry.”  Paul O’Brien, Scottish Development International The interview was recorded on February 19, 2009 in Scotland. To listen to the full interview, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Paul O’Brien, renewable energy expert at Scottish Development International discusses details of the Saltire Prize, a Ten Million Pound Prize for the best marine energy technology. “It’s not so [...] Alison van Diggelen 2.20 saltire prize, marine energy, alison van diggelen, fresh dialogues, scottish development international no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/17/rob-bernard-microsofts-green-czar-why-company-light-green/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/17/rob-bernard-microsofts-green-czar-why-company-light-green/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:57:31 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2190 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/17/rob-bernard-microsofts-green-czar-why-company-light-green/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I met with Rob Bernard, Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Strategist, at – appropriately enough – Green’s Restaurant in San Francisco to discuss the company’s green strategy and why it was late to embrace its green credentials. What motivated Microsoft to appoint a Green Czar? Why isn’t Microsoft more prominently green? “This is not a competition issue for us. This is about literally lightening up the entire ecosystem of the IT industry; and we see it as a collective approach as opposed to an individual company, A or B.” Rob Bernard   We also discussed: The GreenPeace scorecard, and why Microsoft ranks so low Microsoft’s partnership with Princeton, Oxford and Cambridge Universities to study climate change Partnership with the Clinton Foundation to measure the carbon footprint of major cities, as part of the Kyoto Agreement commitments. Rob’s advice for CIOs? Look up your power bill and check CPU utilization (He says 85% haven’t yet done so) Future green plans include leveraging Microsoft’s 400,000 partners around the world and boosting environment-based  startups with its Ingenuity Point Incubator.  ”The urgency of this issue is kind of an ‘all hands on deck.’ ” Rob Bernard This is Part Two of my interview with Rob Bernard, recorded on March 23, 2009. To listen to Part One Click Here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I met with Rob Bernard, Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Strategist, at – appropriately enough – Green’s Restaurant in San Francisco to discuss the company’s green strategy and why it was [...] Alison van Diggelen 10.43 microsoft, green czar, alison van Diggelen, fresh dialogues, interview, clinton foundation no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/16/laurie-yoler-tesla-green-motivations/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/16/laurie-yoler-tesla-green-motivations/#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:48:49 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2180 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/16/laurie-yoler-tesla-green-motivations/feed/ 0 by Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Laurie Yoler was an early enthusiast and angel investor for  Tesla Motors, the pioneering electric car maker. She talked to me about her rationale for backing green technology and Tesla. Laurie doesn’t believe we should be green at any cost. Instead she focuses on the great opportunity to find innovative businesses and make (a lot of) money. Laurie points to General Electric which has a long standing history in clean energy innovation, inspired by the profit motive. “The reason I’m involved in Tesla and I’m passionate about green technologies is I feel you can both be solving the world’s problems and making a profit at the same time.” Laurie Yoler This is an extract of an interview recorded on October 15, 2008 at the WITI conference in Silicon Valley. For the full interview click here for Part One and here for Part Two by Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Laurie Yoler was an early enthusiast and angel investor for  Tesla Motors, the pioneering electric car maker. She talked to me about her rationale for backing green technology and Tesla. Laurie [...] Alison van Diggelen 2.51 laurie yoler, interview, green, tesla, alison van Diggelen, fresh dialogues no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/10/matt-smith-greenbox-energy-savers/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/10/matt-smith-greenbox-energy-savers/#comments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:47:02 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2167 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/10/matt-smith-greenbox-energy-savers/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues   Matthew Smith of Greenbox, a maker of web-based energy management systems for homes, sat down with me at the company’s San Bruno based headquarters to discuss how his team plans to change our energy consumption habits, save us money and save the planet. By providing an “energy dashboard” for homes, he claims the company offers consumers the potential to reduce electricity bills by 10-15% by taking small, easy steps. Founded by a team of tech leaders of Flash/Macromedia fame, Greenbox has been featured on the front page of Entrepreneur Magazine and in San Francisco Magazine. Matthew Smith and I also discussed: The impact of Google’s Power Meter launch on the startup The Obama administration’s stimulus package, its focus on smart grid, alternative energy and efficiency; and how Greenbox aims to get a slice of the action. Partnership with Precourt Energy Efficiency Center at Stanford University Matthew’s MBA in sustainable management degree at the Presidio School of Management and how that equipped him for the job. His advice for green entrepreneurs The interview was recorded on May 20, 2009 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues   Matthew Smith of Greenbox, a maker of web-based energy management systems for homes, sat down with me at the company’s San Bruno based headquarters to discuss how his team plans to change our [...] Alison van Diggelen 16.20 greenbox, matt smith, energy, meters, fresh dialogues, alison van diggelen no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/09/maureen-dowd-her-green-inspiration/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/09/maureen-dowd-her-green-inspiration/#comments Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:01:30 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2160 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/09/maureen-dowd-her-green-inspiration/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist, Maureen Dowd, talked to me about her green inspiration – fellow columnist and green energy advocate, Tom Friedman. We had an animated discussion about his book (Hot, Flat and Crowded), his solar house and why she calls him her “office husband.” We also discussed why Maureen is optimistic about the Obama administration and its push for green jobs. This is an extract of the interview which took place in San Jose on April 2, 2009. For the full interview, click here For a transcript of the interview, click here To listen to a green interview with NYT Columnist Tom Friedman, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist, Maureen Dowd, talked to me about her green inspiration – fellow columnist and green energy advocate, Tom Friedman. We had an animated discussion [...] Alison van Diggelen 1.58 maureen dowd, fresh dialogues, tom friedman, green, inspiration, alison van Diggelen no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/03/mayor-chuck-reed-why-clean-tech-grows-in-silicon-valley/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/03/mayor-chuck-reed-why-clean-tech-grows-in-silicon-valley/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:54:00 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2147 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/03/mayor-chuck-reed-why-clean-tech-grows-in-silicon-valley/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In this interview, Mayor Chuck Reed, the Green Mayor, describes how the City of San Jose is helping clean tech startups and established companies grow and thrive in Silicon Valley.  Why should a clean tech startup relocate to Silicon Valley? What are the key elements of the Silicon Valley ecosystem that support clean tech? How is San Jose City Council and the State of California helping and incentivizing clean tech? “We have to be the best place in the world to grow a business.” “We’re anxiously waiting for the technological breakthroughs (in energy storage). That’s what’s exciting about being in Silicon Valley…somebody in a garage is working on an idea today or somebody at San Jose State University is working on that idea today and it’s going to be exciting when it happens.” The interview was recorded on November 7, 2008 at San Jose’s City Hall. To listen to other interview segments: Click here for Part One when the Green Mayor discusses his humble beginnings, his Green Vision and Obama’s green focus. Click here for Part Two, when he outlines his tactics for attracting clean tech and Tesla Motors to Silicon Valley By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In this interview, Mayor Chuck Reed, the Green Mayor, describes how the City of San Jose is helping clean tech startups and established companies grow and thrive in Silicon Valley.  Why should a [...] Alison van Diggelen 6.50 green, mayor chuck reed, silicon valley, clean tech, green vision no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/02/charlie-rose-why-the-green-energy-question-is-key/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/02/charlie-rose-why-the-green-energy-question-is-key/#comments Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:27:18 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2139 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/06/02/charlie-rose-why-the-green-energy-question-is-key/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen   In the fourth in our series, Fresh Green Minute, we feature Charlie Rose - the acclaimed interviewer and host of the nightly PBS program, Charlie Rose. We discussed Tom Friedman’s book, Hot Flat and Crowded and why Charlie thinks that the United States can reassert its leadership in the world by engaging the energy question.   This is an extract of an interview that took place at the Flint Center on February 26, 2009. To listen to the entire interview, click here To read a transcript of the interview, click here To read selected quotes from the interview, click here By Alison van Diggelen   In the fourth in our series, Fresh Green Minute, we feature Charlie Rose - the acclaimed interviewer and host of the nightly PBS program, Charlie Rose. We discussed Tom Friedman’s book, Hot Flat and Crowded and why [...] Alison van Diggelen 1.20 Charlie Rose, Alison van Diggelen, Fresh Dialogues, green, energy, tom friedman no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/27/andres-wydler-the-futur-for-green-entrepreneurs/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/27/andres-wydler-the-futur-for-green-entrepreneurs/#comments Wed, 27 May 2009 14:00:47 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2086 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/27/andres-wydler-the-futur-for-green-entrepreneurs/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Andres Wydler is a clean tech executive based in San Francisco, formerly with BPL Global, a smart grid company. He cofounded the Constellation Investment Group of angel investors. In January, he delivered a sold out lecture series on clean tech entrepreneurship at Stanford University and will repeat the series this summer. I sat down with Andres at a Sand Hill Road venture capital firm to discuss the reasons for the huge demand for his class; what outstanding startups he discovered at Stanford; his thoughts on the morale of venture capitalists today, and his future expectations for the green sector. We also covered:   How the Obama administration has changed the game for clean tech, especially with regulations and the stimulus package Why he is so bullish about the future of clean tech, despite the challenging economy The superstars of his January class include: Adi Merschon launched a solar technology enhancement company Nav Semi that anticipates solar performance improvements of up to 20%. The startup received $500,000 from the Singaporean government and plans a June prototype. Ed Chiao launched a Amber Kinetics, an energy storage company that is working with a national lab to commercialize its technology. It has already closed one licensing deal. Elizabeth Samara Rubio is working on microstorage solutionsfor developing countries. A battery attached to a solar panel will ensure that remote African villages will have power at night. Rashmi Menon of GreenResourceNetwork.com who launched her startup in March focusing on energy conservation that can save schools money for art and gym classes AND teach kids to be green. The interview took place on May8, 2009 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Andres Wydler is a clean tech executive based in San Francisco, formerly with BPL Global, a smart grid company. He cofounded the Constellation Investment Group of angel investors. In January, he [...] Alison van Diggelen 14.30 andres wydler, clean tech, stanford, venture capital no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/26/guy-kawasaki-tips-for-green-revolutionaries/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/26/guy-kawasaki-tips-for-green-revolutionaries/#comments Tue, 26 May 2009 14:25:30 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=2079 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/26/guy-kawasaki-tips-for-green-revolutionaries/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In the third in our series of Fresh Green Minute, Apple evangelist and Alltop cofounder, Guy Kawasaki gives some insights into how to become a Green Revolutionary. He’s author of the book, Rules for Revolutionaries and I asked him how these rules apply to those in the green revolution. For a longer Fresh Dialogues interview with Guy, click here The interview was recorded at Guy’s Garage Technology Ventures office in downtown Palo Alto on April 8, 2009 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In the third in our series of Fresh Green Minute, Apple evangelist and Alltop cofounder, Guy Kawasaki gives some insights into how to become a Green Revolutionary. He’s author of the book, Rules for [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/20/catherine-cook-how-myyearbook-is-greening-teens-and-planet/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/20/catherine-cook-how-myyearbook-is-greening-teens-and-planet/#comments Wed, 20 May 2009 14:00:48 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1991 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/20/catherine-cook-how-myyearbook-is-greening-teens-and-planet/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen Catherine Cook was a big draw at SDForum’s Tech Titans of Tomorrow: Teens Plugged In Conference last Wednesday at the Hewlett Packard Auditorium in Palo Alto. She is cofounder of MyYearbook a social media network for teens which has raised almost $17 million in funding. She talked to me about the site’s  Causes Application which allows users to donate money to charities with their virtual currency, Lunch Money. Catherine told me teens are choosing to go greenand make a big difference to our planet. To date, MyYearbook users (reportedly 10 million of them) have bought 2 million pounds of carbon-dioxide offsets and saved millions of  sqft of rainforest. We also talked about the challenge of funding a company when you’re only 16 (!) and she issued a challenge to would-be entrepreneurs with hot ideas: “A great idea is worthless if you don’t act on it,” says Catherine Cook, now 19. The interview was recorded in Palo Alto on May 13, 2009 By Alison van Diggelen Catherine Cook was a big draw at SDForum’s Tech Titans of Tomorrow: Teens Plugged In Conference last Wednesday at the Hewlett Packard Auditorium in Palo Alto. She is cofounder of MyYearbook a social media network for teens [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/19/adam-jackson-how-to-become-a-green-influencer/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/19/adam-jackson-how-to-become-a-green-influencer/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 14:07:47 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1935 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/19/adam-jackson-how-to-become-a-green-influencer/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Adam Jackson is social media expert and coauthor of the upcoming style guide for Twitter fans - “140 Characters, A Style Guide For The Short Form” which was recently reviewed in the New York Times I met him at the energetic SDForum Teens Plugged In Conference at Hewlett Packard on May 13, 2009 and we found a quiet corner to talk about: How to become a green influencer This is the second in our weekly series: Fresh Green Minute Look out for the another Fresh Green Minute with Adam, when he discusses how Twitter is going green and how employees use software like Skype to be green. The interview was recorded on May 13,2009 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Adam Jackson is social media expert and coauthor of the upcoming style guide for Twitter fans - “140 Characters, A Style Guide For The Short Form” which was recently reviewed in the New York [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/13/martin-sheen-his-green-motivations/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/13/martin-sheen-his-green-motivations/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 14:17:21 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1766 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/13/martin-sheen-his-green-motivations/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Martin Sheen sat down with me at the Flint Center in Cupertino to talk about what motivates him to be green and actively involved in environmental causes. He supports projects like the Sea Water Foundation, which is using seawater to create  rich agriculture land from coastal deserts around the world. Check out the new Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel more exclusive interviews. Martin describes how he chooses which green causes to support Why he thinks we have to be aware of our responsibility to future generations The Green Message: what he thinks of it and Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth As former “acting” president of the United States in the West Wing, Martin’s insights into the challenges of our new president Reflections on his low profile role in President Obama’s election What to expect from Martin Sheen in 2009: Martin talks about his role in the movie “Bhopal: a Prayer for Rain” – he plays Warren Anderson, the former CEO of Union Carbide who fled India after the biggest industrial disaster in history when over 10,000 people were killed by toxic gas. He’s also working on a movie with son, Emilio Estevez about the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain This is Part II of our interview; Part I- when Martin talks about the origins of his social conscience, how to find happiness; and his near-death experience during Apocalypse Now - can be found here. To read selected quotes from these interviews, click here The interview was recorded on November 19, 2008 at the Flint Center in Cupertino. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Martin Sheen sat down with me at the Flint Center in Cupertino to talk about what motivates him to be green and actively involved in environmental causes. He supports projects like the Sea Water [...] Alison van Diggelen 9 min martin sheen, green, environment, interview clean http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/12/jack-welch-why-companies-must-go-green/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/12/jack-welch-why-companies-must-go-green/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 04:33:47 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1786 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/12/jack-welch-why-companies-must-go-green/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues New on Fresh Dialogues: Fresh Green Minute- one minute bytes of green inspiration First up: Legendary business leader of General Electric, Jack Welch   Interview Transcript Alison van Diggelen: “Why is going green so important for business?” Jack Welch: “From a business standpoint, you’ve got a consumer now who thinks they’ve got to do it and they’re on board. Everyone believes it’s going to happen OK? If I’m running a business, I want to be sure I’m green as can be.” Alison van Diggelen: What’s the best way to go about doing that? Jack Welch: “Design products with a smaller carbon footprint; engage your employees in green activities…make everybody feel you’re in. There’s no percentage in being against it.” Off mike, I  asked Jack if businesses should see global warming and environmental concerns as a challenge or an opportunity Jack Welch: “There’s an enormous opportunity…whether you believe in global warming or not…If you’re in a company, you’d better be pushing those (green) products because the world wants these products. It’s a movement, just like there was going to be food shortages in the 60′s; and in the 70′s we were going to be overrun with population. These were movements, and when there’s a movement, we won’t know for 20 or 30 years if the movement is right or wrong; you can get as many people to argue both sides. But if you’re in business, you’re going to get on this bandwagon, and go with it.” The interview was recorded at the Commonwealth Club - Silicon Valley, on May 11th 2009. Suzy and Jack Welch were in town to promote Suzy’s new book, 10-10-10 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues New on Fresh Dialogues: Fresh Green Minute- one minute bytes of green inspiration First up: Legendary business leader of General Electric, Jack Welch   Interview Transcript Alison van Diggelen: [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/01/michael-krasny-how-he-became-a-top-npr-host/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/01/michael-krasny-how-he-became-a-top-npr-host/#comments Fri, 01 May 2009 17:37:06 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1671 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/01/michael-krasny-how-he-became-a-top-npr-host/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On the eve of Earth Day, I sat down with Forum host, Michael Krasny, at the KQED studios in San Francisco to discuss his journey from scrappy youth to celebrated interviewer, professor, and author. We talked about his book “Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life” and explored his views on the green movement, and why he thinks it’s smart to be green. In Part One, we discuss: How he got his “bad boy” reputation at school and why he compares his youth in Cleveland Heights, Ohio to the HBO series, The Sopranos Why he had to conceal his love of poetry as a youth What he learned about himself as a teen by seeing a psychologist Who is Michael’s hero? The craft of the interview and why it beckons him Why Michael named his first radio show: “Beyond the hot tub” and why it wasn’t as raunchy as the title suggests His views on his fellow interviewers: Jim Lehrer, Charlie Rose, Bill Maher and Terry Gross What he’s doing to extend his longevity and “keep the dreaded dragons of dementia away.” Why he’d rather be more “like a good Buddhist” What he misses about his KGO radio days Why he describes texting, instant messaging and twittering as a “Brave New World” What’s exciting to Michael about podcasting and iTunes The interview was recorded at the KQED studios in San Francisco on April 21st, 2009   In Part Two of the interview, Michael discusses WHY GREEN FORUMS MATTER – environmentalism,  Tom Friedman, how he prepares for Forum and how he deals with both scorn and adulation from listeners.  He also talks about the future of Forum. Fresh Dialogues interviews are now available at iTunes. Just type FreshDialogues in the search box and you can listen to or download our archives for free. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On the eve of Earth Day, I sat down with Forum host, Michael Krasny, at the KQED studios in San Francisco to discuss his journey from scrappy youth to celebrated interviewer, professor, and author. [...] forum, interview, kqed, radio, michael krasny, how to become radio host noAlison van Diggelen http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/04/24/guy-kawasaki-on-evangelism-and-green-revolutionaries/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/04/24/guy-kawasaki-on-evangelism-and-green-revolutionaries/#comments Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:14:15 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1622 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/04/24/guy-kawasaki-on-evangelism-and-green-revolutionaries/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I met with Guy Kawasaki at his Garage Technology Partners office in Palo Alto earlier this month to explore his role as a Macintosh evangelist and how he’s since become a successful entrepreneur and marketing guru.  What a fun personality: Guy laughs easily and rarely stops smiling! Guy gives some insights into what has made the iPhone so successful. ( Apple just announced second quarter revenues are up 9%  thanks to strong sales of iPhones and iPods) We also discuss the green revolution, religion, death magnets and: Why he disputes that he’s a legend…yet Why being a legend should NOT be your goal in life His advice to young entrepreneurs and what he learned from Virgin founder Richard Branson An invaluable life lesson his father taught him What turning 50 meant to Guy His online presence  –  Twitter and Tweetgate controversy The difference between an evangelist and a sales/marketing exec Working with Steve Jobs and what he learned from him Why Guy thinks Steve Wozniak is a legend and why he recommends the book,  IWoz Advice for Green Revolutionaries from his book,  Rules for Revolutionaries Listen to Fresh Dialogues with Guy Kawasaki  The interview was recorded at Garage Technology Partners in Palo Alto on April 8th, 2009 Guy’s green tip: he recently installed low-flow shower heads in his home and bought the Samsung front loading  clothes washer (Model WM2487HWM). Result: he’s halved his monthly water usage. Impressive stuff. In part two of our interview (coming soon), Guy gives his take on the Amazon Kindle, the future of venture capitalism and explains why he can never drive a Prius. Hint: it’s something to do with their…um… aesthetics.  He revealed his strong views before he knew I was a Prius driver and proud of it…makes for some interesting listening! Click here for the green interview transcript. Click here for Guy Kawasaki on Green Publishing and Kindle Click here for Guy Kawasaki on Why Prius are Ugly By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I met with Guy Kawasaki at his Garage Technology Partners office in Palo Alto earlier this month to explore his role as a Macintosh evangelist and how he’s since become a successful entrepreneur [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/04/16/celebrity-forum-host-dick-henning-reflects-on-40-years/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/04/16/celebrity-forum-host-dick-henning-reflects-on-40-years/#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:28:53 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1601 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/04/16/celebrity-forum-host-dick-henning-reflects-on-40-years/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Celebrity Forum founder, Dick Henning is a hero of Silicon Valley. He’s brought every U.S. president* since Richard Nixon; world leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher; and cultural icons like Jane Goodall, Robert Ballard, Cary Grant and Lauren Bacall to Silicon Valley for his award-winning speaker series. Last month, I met with Dick at the Flint Center in Cupertino to discover some of the stories behind his 40 year celebrity adventure and why he’s  delighted to have secured Tom Friedman for the 2009/2010 lineup. How the series was born out of a desire to calm student unrest in the 1960′s When and why Dick felt like giving up Dick’s humble beginnings in a “dusty little oil town” called Taft How celebrated journalist Leigh Weimers describes the series Why Al Gore’s appearance last year was so well timed (Nobel Prize anyone?) Why Foothill College is a big supporter of the series What is Dick’s “free test” and when does he use it? Why Dick’s ego is so tied up with each speaker’s performance Which speakers have soared? Which speakers disappointed and why? What makes Tom Friedman a popular guest? Why Dick Henning is determined to celebrate the 50th year of Celebrity Forum and beyond; and what his  message is for those waiting in the wings What’s the lineup for the 2009/2010 Series?  The interview was recorded at the Flint Center in Cupertino, March 4, 2009 (check back soon for quotes and transcript)   * except George W. Bush By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Celebrity Forum founder, Dick Henning is a hero of Silicon Valley. He’s brought every U.S. president* since Richard Nixon; world leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher; and cultural [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/04/03/maureen-dowd-talks-green/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/04/03/maureen-dowd-talks-green/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:00:11 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1535 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/04/03/maureen-dowd-talks-green/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Yesterday, I met with the enchanting Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Maureen Dowd. We had an animated conversation during a green-themed morning in downtown San Jose. Over cups of delicious mint tea, we discussed Maureen’s Irish heritage and how that inspires her fiery prose. We also discussed her belief in America’s green future.   Are her columns in fact letters to her mother? Is her Irish blood responsible for her humor and biting prose? Why does she think we’ve been moving backwards – like the Flintstones – in the last eight years? Why did the Detroit leaders not embrace a green future? What role did Dick Cheney play in derailing the development of an alternative energy plan in the 70′s? How is her ‘office husband’ aka Tom Friedman’s green mantra influencing her? Why did she describe Al Gore as “practically lactating”in exposing his eco-sensitive side; and why does she now endorse his green message? What’s her idea of a dream day? (you might be surprised to learn it includes a cute guy and recycling!) For a trancript of the interview, click here Listen to Part II  of Fresh Dialogues with Maureen Dowd when we discuss Barack Obama’s challenges, her admiration for Michelle Obama (beyond the arms),  the future of journalism, her preference for “saucy” over “snark”; and her reputation for bewitching men. To listen to a Fresh Dialogues green interview with Tom Friedman, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Yesterday, I met with the enchanting Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Maureen Dowd. We had an animated conversation during a green-themed morning in downtown San Jose. Over cups of delicious mint tea, [...] alison van Diggelen 12 Maureen Dowd Fresh Dialogues no http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/03/26/rob-bernard-microsofts-green-czar-talks-clean-tech/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/03/26/rob-bernard-microsofts-green-czar-talks-clean-tech/#comments Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:12:45 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1506 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/03/26/rob-bernard-microsofts-green-czar-talks-clean-tech/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On Monday, I was invited to Greens Restaurant in San Francisco to meet Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Strategist, Rob Bernard. We then joined a small group of  researchers and media to discuss  Microsoft’s efforts to lower its carbon footprint and leverage information technology globally to address climate change and other environmental issues. The sun setting beyond Golden Gate Bridge was an apt backdrop for the conversation. Cambridge scientist, Rich Williams (one of Microsoft’s 1000-strong Ph.D. researchers)  emphasized that environmental challenges go beyond climate change and counting carbon footprints, “Just reducing CO2 to zero - and all will be fine - is not our goal.” The researchers have broader perspectives that take into account water resources, migration patterns, and longer term “blue sky” projects. Joining the discussion were Eric Berlow, Director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute field station in Yosemite, Surj Patel of the Gigaom Network; and Peter May and Matt Wheeland of Greenworld Media. Rob and I had a lively conversation which covered: The roots of his green passion Where Microsoft’s greatest energy reduction opportunities lie and how he plans to cross the chasm How the company plans to leverage and scale IT to impact the world’s environment Steve Ballmer’s recent announcement re. Cloud Computing and how that will impact server design and energy efficiency targets Microsoft’s Ingenuity Point Competition showcasing and supporting green software companies, eg Green Building (Santa Rosa) and TR Controls (London) How Microsoft leads by example at its Mountain View campus Free Verdiem Edison software that allows optimization of desktop power settings for Windows The interview was recorded on Monday March 23, 2009 Listen to Microsoft’s Rob Bernard on Fresh Dialogues Check back next week for part II of the interview when Rob answers: Why Microsoft is late to the green world (or at least late in talking about its green initiatives) Why the 2008 Green Peace Report ranking for Microsoft was so low and what he’s doing about it Microsoft’s Climate Change research and modeling How he plans to emphasize the urgency of action By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On Monday, I was invited to Greens Restaurant in San Francisco to meet Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Strategist, Rob Bernard. We then joined a small group of  researchers and media to discuss  [...] clean Alison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/03/20/scotlands-edge-in-clean-energy-development/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/03/20/scotlands-edge-in-clean-energy-development/#comments Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:45:38 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1451 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/03/20/scotlands-edge-in-clean-energy-development/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last month, during a lecture trip to Scotland, I sat down for tea at Scottish Development International in Glasgow with Paul O’Brien,  senior executive of Renewable Energy Development. We discussed how Scotland is leveraging its expertise and natural resources in the renewable energy sector. Claiming up to 25% of Europe’s offshore wind, wave and tidal energy potential,  Paul is bullish about Scotland’s energy future. We discussed (in very strong Scottish accents): The Beatrice Wind Farm Project: the largest offshore wind turbines deployed in the world (5 megawatts) and why the project’s success could be a turning point for wind energy in Scotland. The Crown Estates announcement on February 16th of ten new sites for offshore wind that have the capacity to deliver 6.4 Gigawatts of power. Scotland’s use of oil rig technology for the first time ever to develop new wind power opportunities in over 45 meters of deep water. Visual intrusion and the Cape Wind Project in the U.S. Public sector input from The Scottish Government, the European Union and the UK Government The Ten Million Pound Saltire Prize The impact of the credit crunch Scotland’s comparative advantage in the server farm sector, Morgan Stanley’s data center Scotland’s bullish clean energy targets: 31% of electricity from renewables by 2011 and 50% by 2020. (Paul claims they are close to achieving the former and may well surpass the latter by 2020) Listen to Paul O’brien, SDI on Fresh Dialogues Quotes On wind turbines in 45 meter depths, over 12 miles offshore “By overcoming the depth issue, we’ve opened up a hellavalot more of the North Sea to development.” On selling Scotland as an energy efficient location for server farms. “We have tremendous weather here (mostly cold ALL the time). That could save you money just by siting your server farm in Scotland.” On the concept of using renewable energy to power low-cost coastal data centers for Google etc. “ If we can prove to the world it can be done here, we’ll see more and more of such projects…when you’re on a coastal site, there is the opportunity to use sea water for the cooling. ” The interview was recorded at Scottish Development International in Glasgow, Scotland on Thursday February 19, 2009 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Last month, during a lecture trip to Scotland, I sat down for tea at Scottish Development International in Glasgow with Paul O’Brien,  senior executive of Renewable Energy Development. [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/03/03/charlie-rose-talks-about-his-great-and-glorious-life/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/03/03/charlie-rose-talks-about-his-great-and-glorious-life/#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:45:19 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1307 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/03/03/charlie-rose-talks-about-his-great-and-glorious-life/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On Thursday, I had the pleasure of interviewing Charlie Rose, the acclaimed journalist and host of  Charlie Rose, the nightly PBS program. Charlie has interviewed everyone who is anyone, from Barack Obama to Bono; from Madeleine Albright to Meryl Streep. We had a lively conversation about what he calls his “great and glorious life”  – fueled by a burning curiosity about the world. Charlie talks about the economy, Silicon Valley’s role in creating a better future, what Sergey Brin, Larry Page and other Silicon Valley visionaries have in common, and how he’s embracing technology to promote his show. Did you know he’s planning to join Twitter? We also discussed: How does he prepare for an interview? How does he see his role as a journalist? What does he think of Tom Friedman’s book Hot, Flat & Crowded, and its call to action? His opinion of Barack Obama and this tough economy Did his insatiable curiosity get him in trouble as a child? What’s his dream for the future? Charlie’s plans for a true global conversation Listen to Fresh Dialogues with Charlie Rose Click here for extracts and quotes from the interview Click here for the full transcript By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues On Thursday, I had the pleasure of interviewing Charlie Rose, the acclaimed journalist and host of  Charlie Rose, the nightly PBS program. Charlie has interviewed everyone who is anyone, from Barack [...] Charlie Rose, Alison van Diggelen, Fresh Dialogues noAlison van Diggelen http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/01/06/green-mayor-shares-recipe-for-attracting-clean-tech/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/01/06/green-mayor-shares-recipe-for-attracting-clean-tech/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:55:49 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1094 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/01/06/green-mayor-shares-recipe-for-attracting-clean-tech/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In Part Two of our interview with Mayor Chuck Reed, the Green Mayor discusses how the city is changing its rules and practices to move “at the speed of business” to attract clean tech companies like Tesla Motors to Silicon Valley. The interview includes: Why the Mayor’s Green Vision had to be bold and aggressive Which green achievement makes him most proud Why Mayor Reed thanks Governor Schwarzenegger for his part in Tesla’s decision to relocate to San Jose The phone call to Tesla’s CEO and how it got San Jose on the company’s shortlist What rule changes the City of San Jose put in place to accommodate clean tech business What entrepreneurial practices does the city use that are models for the rest of the world? How did the city reduce one approval process from 3-6 months to one HOUR?   The interview took place in November 2008 at San Jose City Hall.   Listen to Fresh Dialogues with Mayor Chuck Reed, part two on Tesla and clean tech in Silicon Valley To check out part one of the interview with Mayor Chuck Reed, on his humble beginnings, his inspiration for the Green Vision and his views on Obama’s presidency, click here <a href=”http://technorati.com/claim/e2qguza3tn” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a> By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In Part Two of our interview with Mayor Chuck Reed, the Green Mayor discusses how the city is changing its rules and practices to move “at the speed of business” to attract clean tech companies [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/30/green-tech-tips-from-techsoups-anna-jaeger/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/30/green-tech-tips-from-techsoups-anna-jaeger/#comments Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:59:44 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1072 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/30/green-tech-tips-from-techsoups-anna-jaeger/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Listen to Fresh Dialogues with Anna Jaeger, TechSoup I caught up with Anna Jaeger, Director of the GreenTech Program at TechSoup Global, during  The Green Enterprise UnConference at The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, December 3, 2008. San Francisco-based TechSoup partners with many leading tech companies like Microsoft, Adobe and Cisco to put technology in the hands of nonprofits; and Anna is spearheading its efforts to educate organizations to reduce their environmental impact through effective use of technology.  Our discussion includes: Best “green” office practices Software as a service (SoaS): e.g Google Apps -  Docs, Video, Gmail Virtualization Thin clients/ dumb terminals Second Life online collaborations Cisco’s WebEx Forum One’s UNconference concept Note: Another excellent source of best green business practices, just launched this month, is at the Environmental Defense Fund’s new online resource, The Innovation Exchange where you can find information about running a carbon neutral office. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Listen to Fresh Dialogues with Anna Jaeger, TechSoup I caught up with Anna Jaeger, Director of the GreenTech Program at TechSoup Global, during  The Green Enterprise UnConference at The Computer [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/23/heidi-roizen-vc-tips-for-entrepreneurs/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/23/heidi-roizen-vc-tips-for-entrepreneurs/#comments Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:00:10 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=1064 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/23/heidi-roizen-vc-tips-for-entrepreneurs/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Listen to Fresh Dialogues with Heidi Roizen, part two In this second part of Heidi Roizen’s interview, she talks about her Silicon Valley career and her new venture; she has some good advice for entrepreneurs. Working at Apple in the 90′s, the work/family balance How she became a venture capitalist The challenges of working from home Pursuing your passion as a business Dealing with doors slamming in your face Keeping the ball moving forward Why the Roizen family is going green To listen to Heidi’s interview about Skinny Songs and her new book click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Listen to Fresh Dialogues with Heidi Roizen, part two In this second part of Heidi Roizen’s interview, she talks about her Silicon Valley career and her new venture; she has some good advice for [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/16/ann-winblad-talks-kool-aid-green-tech-and-bill-gates/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/16/ann-winblad-talks-kool-aid-green-tech-and-bill-gates/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:59:48 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=989 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/16/ann-winblad-talks-kool-aid-green-tech-and-bill-gates/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues (12 minutes) Download Fresh Dialogues with Ann Winblad I talked to celebrated tech leader and VC  Ann Winblad at Hummer Winblad on December 5th. New jobless figures had just been released, and were reminiscent of the mid 1970′s. Yet, despite that gloom, the views over the Embarcadero to San Francisco Bay Bridge were breathtaking, and Ann, in true venture capitalist style, was refreshingly upbeat. She talked about her early days: Working in the strawberry fields of Minnesota at age 7… “I learned that patience and focus is a very good balance with overall efficiency; and that’s served me well as an entrepreneur.”   Download Fresh Dialogues with Ann Winblad – strawberry fields Drinking the Kool-Aid. To be a successful VC, “we have to look at the glass as half full….we have to slurp up that Kool-Aid for an instant, but we can’t get addicted.”      Download Fresh Dialogues with Ann Winblad – Kool Aid  “SDForum is an open door to entrepreneurs and innovators…we’ve funded several companies from walk-in meetings…Susan Lucas (Conwell) is our CEO and a remarkable director.”   Download Fresh Dialogues with Ann Winblad – SDForum    Is Green Tech going to save Silicon Valley?  ”The press likes to focus on Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer; they forget about Prancer and Dancer and Donner and Blitzen. They want one cartoon character of salvation.”     Download Fresh Dialogues with Ann Winblad – green tech and Rudolph    Ann has been friends with Bill Gates for over 20 years. What was the atmosphere like among software experts in the mid 80′s?  “Everybody was working so hard…we’d get together for dinners and we all had a lot of fun. People would share their stories…their dreams. That’s how we got to know that some people had bigger dreams than others.”    Download Fresh Dialogues with Ann Winblad – friendship with Bill Gates    In part two of Fresh Dialogues with Ann Winblad, we explore top market trends, cloud computing, virtualization and the attributes of successful VCs. Check back soon. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues (12 minutes) Download Fresh Dialogues with Ann Winblad I talked to celebrated tech leader and VC  Ann Winblad at Hummer Winblad on December 5th. New jobless figures had just been released, and [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/09/mary-vincent-green-goddess-goes-gourmet/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/09/mary-vincent-green-goddess-goes-gourmet/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:00:24 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=956 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/09/mary-vincent-green-goddess-goes-gourmet/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Former Sun Microsytems Executive, Mary Vincent chaired a panel of green venture capital and entrepreneur experts at the 2008 Women in Technology International (WITI) Conference in Silicon Valley. She talked to me afterwards about the key moment that inspired her to give up her corporate job as a Java expert and become a green entrepreneur. She cites the UN Climate Change Report 2006, and says “animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gases than transportation…it shocked me.” Seeing a way to leverage her skills to work on climate change, she recently founded Green Star Solution and Gratitude Gourmet; and is using many web 2.0 tools to build her business: Facebook homepage feeds Twitter Blogs Google Calendar Clean tech group on Facebook        Download Fresh Dialogues with Mary Vincent By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Former Sun Microsytems Executive, Mary Vincent chaired a panel of green venture capital and entrepreneur experts at the 2008 Women in Technology International (WITI) Conference in Silicon Valley. She [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/02/firoozeh-dumas-brings-laughter-and-a-message-of-peace/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/02/firoozeh-dumas-brings-laughter-and-a-message-of-peace/#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:00:43 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=903 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/12/02/firoozeh-dumas-brings-laughter-and-a-message-of-peace/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Firoozeh Dumas, bestselling author of “Funny in Farsi” is not only hilarious on the page, she’s a hoot in person.  Yet she wants to do more than tickle our funny bones; this Thurber Prize for American Humor nominee wants to focus on the commonalities that unite us, no matter where we’re from. You could say she’s a world peace maker that uses humor as conduit. Our conversation explored: American optimism Shared humanity Post 9/11 generation Iranian stereotypes Tolerance Iran’s censorship bureau Being a “sexual” Muslim Listen to Fresh Dialogues with Firoozeh Dumas Download Fresh Dialogues with Firoozeh Dumas Check back soon for Part Two of this Fresh Dialogues when Firoozeh talks about how Silicon Valley inspired her, outsmarting the bad boys at school and why noses are big in Iran. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Firoozeh Dumas, bestselling author of “Funny in Farsi” is not only hilarious on the page, she’s a hoot in person.  Yet she wants to do more than tickle our funny bones; this Thurber Prize for [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/25/martin-sheen-the-activist-and-actor/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/25/martin-sheen-the-activist-and-actor/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:00:59 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=871 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/25/martin-sheen-the-activist-and-actor/feed/ 2 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Check out the new Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel more exclusive interviews. I had the pleasure of interviewing Martin Sheen who was visiting Silicon Valley as a guest of Dick Henning’s Foothill College Celebrity Forum Series.  In this first part of our Fresh Dialogues interview, Martin talks about the roots of his social activism, his faith, his marriage and his movies. We also explore: Money and happiness Silicon Valley millionaires Social conscience What is God? His college fantasy His heart attack during the filming of Apocalypse Now To read selected quotes from the interview click here Click here for Part Two of Fresh Dialogues with Martin Sheen when we explore his environmental activism, his “West Wing” perspective on President Barack Obama and what two exciting movie projects Martin will be working on through 2009. Note: Martin donated all proceeds from his Celebrity Forum appearance to the Berkeley based nonprofit, The San Carlos Foundation What a guy! Check out the new Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel more exclusive interviews. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Check out the new Fresh Dialogues YouTube Channel more exclusive interviews. I had the pleasure of interviewing Martin Sheen who was visiting Silicon Valley as a guest of Dick Henning’s Foothill [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/18/heidi-roizen-gives-the-skinny-on-new-venture/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/18/heidi-roizen-gives-the-skinny-on-new-venture/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:00:31 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=729 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/18/heidi-roizen-gives-the-skinny-on-new-venture/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Celebrated Silicon Valley entrepreneur and venture capitalist Heidi Roizen invited me to her home to talk about her career and her new venture: Skinny Songs. A former executive at Mobius Venture Capital, Heidi has recently been featured on the Martha Stewart Show, Oprah & Friends Radio and The Early Show. We had an animated discussion about her motivations for this 180 degree career change and how she’s still keeping one foot in the tech world. Heidi changed focus from software to song writing: what all-time-high became her impetus for change? What inspired the lyrics for “Skinny Jeans” and “You Da Boss” and how did her Stanford degree help? How does being politically INcorrect help her business? How does she deal with the critics? Why does she describe her product as “a sound track without the movie”? What does she mean by her “portfolio career”? What’s next for Heidi? News about her new book: “Can’t buy thin.” Listen to this Fresh Dialogue with Heidi Roizen   Download Heidi Roizen Fresh Dialogue Part 1 For part 2 of Heidi’s interview when she gives tips to entrepreneurs click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues Celebrated Silicon Valley entrepreneur and venture capitalist Heidi Roizen invited me to her home to talk about her career and her new venture: Skinny Songs. A former executive at Mobius [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/11/chuck-reed-californias-green-mayor-welcomes-obamas-green-tech-focus/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/11/chuck-reed-californias-green-mayor-welcomes-obamas-green-tech-focus/#comments Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:30:16 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=619 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/11/chuck-reed-californias-green-mayor-welcomes-obamas-green-tech-focus/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I met with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed at his swanky corner office on the 18th floor of the gleaming City Hall just three days after Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. We discuss what this historic election means for Chuck and his Green Vision for Silicon Valley; and how he got his moniker The Green Mayor. We also explore: 1. Chuck’s own dramatic journey from poverty in Garden City, Kansas (digging trenches) to top public servant in Silicon Valley 2. How the Beach Boys influenced that journey 3. Why his military background helped shape his green motivations today 4. What Mike Honda said to inspire his bold Green Vision 5. Why Silicon Valley companies from Fairchild to startups are getting into clean tech. 6. How a Green Mayor walks the green walk at home and why his lawn has brown spots. To listen to Part Two of the interview on Tesla, tactics for attracting clean tech etc, click here To check out selected quotes, click here By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I met with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed at his swanky corner office on the 18th floor of the gleaming City Hall just three days after Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. We discuss [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/04/how-tesla-motors-has-changed-history/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/04/how-tesla-motors-has-changed-history/#comments Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:08:16 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=588 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/11/04/how-tesla-motors-has-changed-history/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In part two of my interview with Laurie Yoler of Growth Point Technologies we explore the historic role Tesla Motors has played in changing the way consumers and car manufacturers view alternative energy vehicles. Tesla founder, Elon Musk says he wants to make Tesla the Apple of electric cars, but for now, he’s had to downshift on his new model plans. How did Tesla wake up large car makers to the fact that consumers were demanding more choices? What was Laurie’s role in the early days of Tesla Motors? Why was she so passionate about the company’s mission? Why did Tesla choose San Jose for its new manufacturing plant and headquarters? What is Laurie’s motivation for backing clean technology? Does she want to save the planet or make a buck? Or both? Listen to Part Two of this Fresh Dialogue Download Laurie Yoler’s Fresh Dialogue Part 2 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues In part two of my interview with Laurie Yoler of Growth Point Technologies we explore the historic role Tesla Motors has played in changing the way consumers and car manufacturers view alternative [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/10/28/clean-tech-investor-laurie-yoler/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/10/28/clean-tech-investor-laurie-yoler/#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:51:03 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=557 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/10/28/clean-tech-investor-laurie-yoler/feed/ 0 By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I met with Growth Point Technology Partners Managing Director, Laurie Yoler just 12 days after the historic bailout of the US financial system was signed into law. She’s a seasoned investor in emerging technology, a specialist in clean tech and serves on the board of Tesla Motors, where she was an angel investor. Laurie gives a fascinating insight into the psyche of venture capitalists at this historic time and explains why she remains optimistic. We also explore these questions: How long will it take before the market stabilizes? How will the IPO, Merger & Aquisition and private placement markets be affected by the financial turmoil? What about those frothy valuations? What clean tech trends have emerged this year? What’s hot in clean tech and why is clean tech in Europe ahead of the US? Listen to part I of this Fresh Dialogue   Download Laurie Yoler’s Fresh Dialogue Part I Check back soon for Part II when Laurie discusses her early involvement in Tesla Motors and the company’s role in clean tech history. By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues I met with Growth Point Technology Partners Managing Director, Laurie Yoler just 12 days after the historic bailout of the US financial system was signed into law. She’s a seasoned investor in [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/10/20/linkedin-april-kellys-tips-on-building-your-brand/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/10/20/linkedin-april-kellys-tips-on-building-your-brand/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:04:47 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=501 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/10/20/linkedin-april-kellys-tips-on-building-your-brand/feed/ 0 by Alison van Diggelen, Host of Fresh Dialogues I interviewed LinkedIn director, April Kelly, at the Women In Technology International (WITI) conference in Silicon Valley.  She’s a former PayPal executive who describes herself as an effervescent leader and energetic coach. I asked her: - why is it worth joining a (biz) social networking site like LinkedIn? - tips on building our brand and optimizing our online profile? - how can you rebrand yourself and build a new career using LinkedIn tools? (April has some great ideas for you if you’ve lost your job, or are looking for a new opportunities) She outlines how to use “recommendations” and “answer” forums to build your reputation and establish your expertise online. Checkout her online profile if you need inspiration. Listen to this seven minute Fresh Dialogue:   Download April Kelly’s Fresh Dialogue by Alison van Diggelen, Host of Fresh Dialogues I interviewed LinkedIn director, April Kelly, at the Women In Technology International (WITI) conference in Silicon Valley.  She’s a former PayPal executive who describes herself as an effervescent [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/10/07/streaming-media-west-conference/ http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/10/07/streaming-media-west-conference/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:53:34 +0000 alison@freshdialogues.com (Alison van Diggelen) http://www.freshdialogues.com/?p=395 http://www.freshdialogues.com/2008/10/07/streaming-media-west-conference/feed/ 0 by Alison van Diggelen, Host of Fresh Dialogues Fresh Dialogues talks to Alison Jeske of Beauty.com about the use of online video in marketing products to women. What is the optimum length of video and what gets women engaged and excited about their products? Click here for the audio   Download Alison Jeske’s Fresh Dialogues For a link to the transcript, click here by Alison van Diggelen, Host of Fresh Dialogues Fresh Dialogues talks to Alison Jeske of Beauty.com about the use of online video in marketing products to women. What is the optimum length of video and what gets women engaged and excited about [...] noAlison van Diggelenfresh,dialogues,green,sustainability,guy,kawasaki,silicon,valley,interviews,charlie,rose Alison van DiggelennonadultAlison van Diggelen in conversation with leaders in business, technology and the arts