“Believe in yourself.” That’s the core advice from Weili Dai, cofounder of Marvell, whom some are dubbing the new Tech Wonder Woman, given the recent ouster of Carol Bartz from Yahoo. Dai’s advice for women in business is resonating, given the focus on women’s crucial role in reviving the economy at the historic APEC Women and the Economy Summit in San Francisco last week, chaired by Hillary Clinton. The summit concluded that that increasing women’s participation in the economy could lead to a 14 percent rise in per capita income by 2020.
Weili Dai spoke at APEC and has strong views about women’s role in the business world. She argues that the best way to grow the world economy is to fully engage women as business leaders. She points out that fewer than 29% of global decision making positions are held by women. Encouraging more women to focus on science and technology is key she says. At the Game Changers Conference in Silicon Valley, despite calls from other delegates for trade intervention against China, she voiced her preference for collaboration not confrontation. “We are powerful, China is powerful. Today, we live in the global world….let’s collaborate…cooperation is the healthy thing to do.”
In this Fresh Dialogues interview, she shares some tips about how to succeed in the tech world. A native of Shanghai, Dai attended UC Berkeley and cofounded Marvell in 1995. Since then, she’s helped to grow the company into one of the world’s largest chipmakers. Marvell touts a few admirable green policies but could do better as a green leader, coming 434th in Newsweek’s green ranking of America’s largest 500 companies.
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Read transcripts, see photos and check out our ARCHIVES featuring exclusive interviews with Tom Friedman, Paul Krugman, Vinod Khosla and many more…
TRANSCRIPT of Google Interview with Parag Chokshi, Clean Energy Pubic Affairs Manager. Recorded on Friday July 8, 2011. The interview has been edited for length. Highlights here.
Alison van Diggelen: Today, we’re at the Google Headquarters in Mountain View California. I’m here with Parag Chokshi, and he is Pubic Affairs Manager of Clean Energy at Google.
(Parag) You have an audacious goal at Google: to make renewable energy less costly than coal. …
Parag Chokshi: That’s right.
Alison: How is that target going and can you talk on that target?
Parag: Sure…there are a lot of initiatives that we do in support of that goal. There’s an internal effort – an engineering effort – that focuses on solar thermal technology, so that’s another piece of getting to that goal. And of course there’s the Energy innovation study that we published just last week. We’re really trying to provide some data on the long-term impact of investment by the public and the private sector in an effort to spur more investment and to get other folks involved toward getting to that goal.
There are a lot of pieces to it: an internal engineering team, the investments we’re making and then some efforts in the policy and advocacy space.
Alison: What were some of the most exciting conclusions that the report made?
TJ Rodgers, the outspoken CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, was one of four Visionary Awards recipients at the Oscars of Silicon Valley June 21st – a gathering of Silicon Valley elite presented by SV Forum. He was introduced by Eric Benhamou of Benhamou Ventures who described Rodgers as “a tough boss, argumentative and very competitive,” and added “I’m using polite language here.”
Renowned for his libertarian views, and highly critical of government “meddling” in the economy, Rodgers, who led the acquisition of SunPower by Cypress in 2004, shared some of his business philosophy with Fresh Dialogues. And check out this VIDEO CLIP to hear why Rodgers almost named Cypress “Pear Tree” and how he maintains his passion for learning…in his hot tub, with the newspapers, a floating desk and LEDs.
TJ Rodgers on global warming
“Global warming is a secular religion…I call it the Church of Greenhouse Gases.”
TJ Rodgers on New York Times columnist and author of Hot, Flat and Crowded, Tom Friedman
“Friedman is doing a disservice to the American economy. He’s a writer. He knows nothing about cleantech and creating businesses and jobs.”
TJ Rodgers on the role of government in stimulating the green economy
“I believe in a level playing field. Scrap subsidies for oil….I’m against laws like AB 32.”
Note: In 2010, TJ Rodgers took a strong and vocal stand for California’s Proposition 23, which sought the suspension of AB 32, the law that regulates greenhouse gas emissions. He quit his position on the board of SunPower, adding, “I was at odds with the management of SunPower…they knew who I was when I saved their ass.” (referring to Cypress Semiconductor’s purchase of Sunpower in 2004 which proved to be a mutually advantageous choice for both companies)
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TJ Rodgers on why you should invest in cleantech
“A ‘greater good” motivation is not a good argument. Business isn’t charity. Create products people need, efficiently and produce profit for shareholders. Profits give you the moral high ground…they make for a good economy and more jobs.”
TJ Rodgers on cleantech entrepreneurs who want to ‘save the planet’
“I’d be more skeptical about investing in cleantech entrepreneurs who are motivated by global warming…it’s like a religion. It’s not good business.”
Today, we’re presenting the third in our new Lesson Plan Seriesbased on Fresh Dialogues interviews. The series is compiled by Lisa Lubliner, our new Fresh Dialogues Education Expert.
In 2010, Fresh Dialogues produced a video featuring Mark Platshon, a venture capitalist at Vantage Point Capital Partners, one of the leading investors in battery and energy storage innovation. Mark gave a good overview of energy storage, its limits and potential; and explained what venture capitalists are looking for in new storage technologies. Let’s call the VIDEO Batteries 101.
“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!” VC, Mark Platshon
To find out more about batteries and explore a step by step lesson plan about batteries – check out the lesson plan link below:
Why are batteries important to us?
How do batteries work?
How are lithium ion batteries superior to alkaline ones?
How can battery efficiency be improved?
How does battery innovation impact electric cars and the transport sector?
For more videos and interviews with Green Visionary and NYT columnist, Tom Friedman; Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman; Oceanographer and Titanic discoverer, Robert Ballard et al…check out Fresh Dialogues archives
This month, Scene Magazine – Silicon Valley’s Guide to Style, featured a four page story by Julia Prodis Sulek all about Fresh Dialogues. Here’s a short excerpt of the article below – click here to see more
Alison van Diggelen coaxes thinkers, activists and the merely famous to talk about green tech – and themselves
“Martin Sheen sends her old-fashioned handwritten letters. Maureen Dowd has invited her out for cocktails in Washington D.C. Marketing guru Guy Kawasaki sought her help with a few edits on his new book.
One time real estate investment consultant and mummy blogger Alison van Diggelen has remade herself into a citizen journalist, interviewing celebrities, Silicon Valley pioneers and the media elite in her fledgling video webcasts she calls “Fresh Dialogues.” Along the way, she also has established herself as a master networker and relationship builder, counting TV interviewer Charlie Rose and KQED’s Michael Krasny among her mentors.
For interview subjects jaded by “gotcha” journalism, they’re drawn in by her gentle charm and enchanting Scottish brogue.
“The relationship between a journalist and the interviewee is usually at best cautious and at worst paranoid,” says Guy Kawasaki, who just published his 10th book. With van Diggelen, “it’s much closer to a conversation between two friends. You can relax in an interview with her.”
