Celebrating MIT’s 150th Anniversary: Alumni Ian Clemens, Founder Of IDV Solutions (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  Ian Clemens is the co-founder and chief technology officer for IDV Solutions. Ian is an expert in interactive data visualization, location intelligence and business intelligence software, and has authored a number of articles on the topic in publications including DM Review and Directions Magazine. Prior to

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Building A Billion-Dollar Solar Company: Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu (Part 7)

Sramana: You are among the top six solar cell manufacturers. How do you compete? Is this market commoditizing, or is there still technical differentiation in the marketplace? Shawn Qu: The market has grown very fast in the past few years. I think that we have come to a point where pure growth via manufacturing capacity

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Building A Billion-Dollar Solar Company: Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu (Part 6)

Sramana: It appears that other than Canada, your primary market has been Europe. Shawn Qu: Europe is the leader. We also have very strong sales in the Asia Pacific area as well as in North America. We sell a lot to the U.S. and Canada. We also sell a steady supply into Korea and have

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Building A Billion-Dollar Solar Company: Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu (Part 5)

Sramana: To enter the German market you had to develop a different solar panel. How did that affect your manufacturing process? Shawn Qu: The principles remain the same, and the quality of the system remained the same. By 2004 we were a tier 1 supplier for Volkswagen and had been certified to the automotive supplier’s

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Building A Billion-Dollar Solar Company: Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu (Part 4)

Sramana: Your previous employers were willing to work with you because of your reputation as a scientist as well as because of the potential new sales channels your business could provide? Shawn Qu: Yes, but they were more helpful than they had to be. They also let me talk to their suppliers as well. With

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Building A Billion-Dollar Solar Company: Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu (Part 3)

Sramana: Where did you set up your factory and manufacturing operations? Shawn Qu: I set that up in China. When I received the purchase order, I looked at several locations, including Canada and the United States. I elected to use China.

Building A Billion-Dollar Solar Company: Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu (Part 2)

Sramana: What was your vision for the product or service of Canadian Solar when you started the company? Shawn Qu: At that time we had two products. The first product was a solar charger which we designed for Volkswagen. They wanted a small solar charger to go with the Jetta cars.

Building A Billion-Dollar Solar Company: Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  Dr. Shawn (Xiaohua) Qu is the founder, chairman, president and CEO of Canadian Solar. Prior to founding Canadian Solar in 2001, he worked at Matrix and Photowatt International as a research scientist, and director of silicon procurement, director of solar products, strategic planning and business development,

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