Chief Justice Sam Zoll died yesterday. Sam was a 28-time PMC rider and I met him on my first PMC in 2003 and a few times since. I was amazed by his warmth, generosity of spirit, humility, and energy. Tom Dalton of The Salem News (Sam’s hometown paper), wrote a great piece called “The most honest person I ever met.’ Take the time and read it. You’ll gain some insights into Sam. May he rest in peace.
Category: TRA360 Blog
Do VCs Think Saving the Environment is a Bad Idea?
Have VCs decided that saving the environment is a bad idea? According to an article in today’s Mass High Tech entitled “Cleantech-focused funds take over as general VCs back off cleantech” , there’s plenty of evidence to say they have. Look at the chart to the left. MHT asked Dow Jones VentureSource to identify 10 VCs in MA, Palo Alto, and NY who made more than 5 cleantech deals in 2003-2008. Now, look at new deals in 2009-2010. How many? Zero! Now that’s flat-lining. There’s some consolation in the 25 follow-on investments for 2009-2010, but that’s only 43% of the total of 58 new deals in 2003-2008. (For some reason, the chart doesn’t show the totals. This is a strange omission; including them is a no-brainer to me.)
So why the precipitous drop in VC funding? Galen Moore offers some interesting hypotheses and I won’t waste time summarizing them here. Being involved in the clean/green energy space myself, I’d say the biggest reasons are: (1) VCs haven’t identified the “home run” deal; (2) investors got spooked with the global economic crash in 2008 and needed to stick to their knitting; (3) customers represent growing markets but they’re not mature enough to enable VCs to see a profitable exit strategy.
Tickling the Brain with Adam Rubin
I recently met Adam Rubin, Creative Manager of Groupon, at the WritersUA conference in Long Beach, CA. Adam delivered an amazing closing presentation entitled “Tickling the Brain: Sharing Ideas in Memorable Ways.” He’s got a website with the same name: Tickling the Brain.
Adam’s work experience is varied, including stints with Leo Burnett and David Copperfield, and interning on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He’s also an amateur magician and does improv comedy in Chicago. And, if that’s not enough, he’s written two children’s books—Those Darn Squirrels and Those Darn Squirrels and Cat Next Door. Does this guy ever sleep?
Adam’s a real character with a lot of great ideas. He presented a number of “brain tickling” visual examples and activities grouped into five categories:
- Surprise
- Contrast
- Tension
- Rhythm
- Style
His talk was funny, thought-provoking, in-your-face direct, candid, and insightful. He even got the F*** word into his talk! Have you ever heard that at a professional conference?
Be sure to check out Tickling the Brain; it’s definitely worth a look.
Conquering Cancer and Visiting the Gene Display
Dana Farber Cancer Institute has just concluded its Mission Possible: The Dana-Farber Campaign to Conquer Cancer, a seven-year capital campaign that raised $1.18 billion. The Gene Display in the Yawkey Center at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute is the signature gallery of this accomplishment. Visit the Gene Display, read about the science, the campaign, and name a gene if you can.