By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues
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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.
