Archive for the ‘D.C.’ Category

Aug

12

 

Driving Business Forward

Posted By Jim Watson

Partnerships are everything in Venture Capital.  Without the important relationships we develop with our limited partners, investment syndicates, portfolio companies and our own personal networks, the VC industry would not exist.  And I think it would do our economy a world of good if Washington, D.C. and the business community established some of the same high value partnerships we create in the VC world.  It’s time for us to put aside the partisanship, engage in meaningful policy debate and really come together for the common good. 

Business Forward  is an organization that is taking on this noble cause.  They are bringing together key policymakers and innovative business leaders to openly discuss the important challenges and opportunities our country faces.  The organization is focusing its efforts on several broad principles relating to job creation, health care, education, energy, the environment, innovation and have recently expanded their outreach to include trade and immigration.

I have attended three Business Forward events this year:  a CEO Roundtable with U.S. Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu ;  in early April, Ron Bloom, Senior Counselor to the U.S. President on Manufacturing Policy, met with 20 leading Silicon Valley CEO & entrepreneurs in manufacturing; and a Clean Energy Investments Roundtable with Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs, Jonathan Silver.

 I observed some very refreshing differences between Business Forward’s events and similar events I have attended in the past:

  • Steven Chu, Ron Bloom and Jonathan Silver all traveled to Silicon Valley to meet with us.  They  escaped the confines of the Beltway and were getting some real world experience with business leaders.
  • These three gentlemen also showed up ready to listen and it actually seemed as if they had left their egos at the door.
  • The groups were small, only 25-30 people in the room maximum, so it was a face-to-face, very intimate gathering.
  • There was no censorship in these discussions.  Everything was on the table.  And I didn’t get the feeling that these guys were reading from a list of talking points.
  • The policymakers actually got to hear firsthand what effects their policies are having on the business world.
  • No lobbyists.

We need to continue these extremely valuable discussions.  The business community and government need to collaborate more around what scientific breakthroughs are worth funding and let’s put our dollars there.  Our government needs Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to work with D.C. policymakers to help revitalize the manufacturing sector.  We need each other.  With Business Forward, we are moving in the right direction.

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Filed Under: D.C., Public Policy, Silicon Valley, Uncategorized, Washington, venture capital  |  

Jul

21

 

Washington, D.C. Needs More Entrepreneurs

Posted By Jim Watson

My guest blog post for Forbes Velocity was published today.  In it, I write about how neither the Legislative Body or the Executive Branch seem to understand that focusing on making funding more easily available to entrepreneurs will ultimately drive economic growth and job creation.  There just aren’t enough entrepreneurs in D.C.!

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Filed Under: D.C., Entrepreneur, Government, Uncategorized, Washington, venture capital  |  

Jul

16

 

Here’s To Secretary Chu And The End Of Energy’s Dark Ages

Posted By Maurice Gunderson

I wrote a guest blog for Forbes Velocity earlier this week about Secretary Steven Chu and the effect he is having on energy innovation, entrepreneurs and the relevance of the Department of Energy in general.  The post is entitled, Here’s to Secretary Chu and the End of Energy’s Dark Ages.  Enjoy the read!

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Filed Under: Clean Energy, D.C., Energy, Entrepreneur, Government, Innovation, Washington, venture capital  |  

May

25

 

Social Good with Market Returns — A Report from the Skoll World Forum

Posted By Jim Hornthal

Last month, I was fortunate to attend the 7th Annual Skoll World Forum, with around 800 of the world’s most impactful and influential social entrepreneurs and key partners who gather at the University of Oxford to exchange ideas, contacts and information.  One of the highlights was a panel that confronted the conventional wisdom that social returns come at the expense of financial returns.  Or, to put it more simply, could you have your cake and eat it too?

This was the position of David Chen, from Equilibrium Capital, who maintains that forward looking investors (owners, not traders), can help solve market problems and have a positive impact on the environment and society while generating market rates of return.  However, there is often a role for public policy in facilitating and encouraging innovation in key sectors.

The US economy is no stranger to these practices.  The creation of the 30-year mortgage was a reflection of the public policy to make home ownership more affordable.  Rural electrification, the interstate highway system, the Telecommunications Act, and the internet are further examples of how effective public policy can stimulate huge market growth.

This lesson has not been lost on the Chinese.  Taking note from Tom Friedman’s editorial last fall, the US is at risk from trading our current addiction to Middle East oil for a future addiction to solar panels made in China.  Fortunately, we are not completely asleep at the wheel.  The DOE is doing it’s part with innovative loan guarantees to support emerging technologies.

The question is, are we doing enough?  Free markets are great if no one is pulling strings.  When nation states sit at the table, the stakes increase, and so does the governmental ante.  Do we have the political will to take a long term, patient view of the horizon?  If we don’t, then “We’re Number Two” may sadly become our future rallying cry.

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Filed Under: Energy, Government, Public Policy, Social Entrepreneur  |  

May

06

 

Watch Tom Baruch at The White House on May 7th

Posted By CMEA Capital

Watch Tom Baruch at The White House last Friday as part of the Energy Innovation Networks Meeting.

The conference on Energy Innovation Networks was held on Friday, May 7, 2010 from 9:00am-4:00pm in The White House’s EEOB South Court Auditorium.  Tom participated in a panel discussion titled “Jumpstarting Commercialization and Early-Stage Companies”.

 Watch the Panel Discussion Here

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Filed Under: D.C., Entrepreneur, Government, Innovation, Washington  |  

Mar

31

 

The Mood in Washington, D.C.

Posted By Jim Watson

Jim Watson

Spending the day running around our capital often makes me wonder how we manage to get anything done regarding “the work of the people.”  “Democracy is messy” and more often than we can predict, stuff happens!  I visited D.C. this week after the health care bill passed, and it allowed me to see how fast moods change on both sides of the aisle.

Republicans like Senator Hatch used the word bipartisan multiple times as if to say, “We now have to work together on Financial Reform (instead of voting no),” and Speaker Pelosi was jubilant in victory and quoted, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” from the Declaration of Independence in our meeting to point out how important she felt health care reform is to the country. (more…)

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Filed Under: D.C., Government, Health Care, Nuclear Power, Treasury Department, Washington  |  

Mar

03

 

Partnering with Universities to Keep U.S. Competitive

Posted By CMEA Capital

Tom Baruch

Over the past 30 years, responsibility for the research function at major US companies has shifted from the flagship R&D labs at venerable institutions like Bell Labs and HP Labs to the science and engineering departments of public and private universities. 

This sea change has left the US vulnerable to the aggressive threats from low-cost labor in Asia seeking to undermine US manufacturing competitiveness. It has become abundantly clear that we must nurture a research function in our Universities that not only performs world leading basic research but also drives product and process innovation in American industry. 

Recognizing this urgent societal need, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and his associates at the U.S. Department of Commerce gathered a group of about 50 like-minded individuals on February 25, 2010 in Washington, DC to discuss U.S. university strategies for technology commercialization.

What became clear after 4 hours of intense discussion is that our U.S. universities are a national treasure for commercialization of research leading to sustainable growth and the creation of quality people owning quality jobs.

(more…)

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