Getting To Plan B: Randy Komisar, General Partner, Kleiner Perkins (Part 1)

Randy Komisar is a co-founder of Claris Corporation, served as CEO for LucasArts Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics, and acted as a “virtual CEO” for such companies as WebTV and GlobalGiving. Prior to that, he served as CFO of GO Corporation and senior counsel for Apple Computer, following a private practice in technology law. Randy holds

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From Greenpeace To Green Power: Sungevity CEO Danny Kennedy (Part 6)

SM: What do you think about small solar farms? Is that part of the industry’s future? DK: Right now I think it is problematic because it is credit-dependent. When I see the future beyond the reign of coal oil, nukes, and gas, we will replace it with a distributed energy utility solution. Every appropriate home

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From Greenpeace To Green Power: Sungevity CEO Danny Kennedy (Part 5)

SM: We have discussed your interface with the customer. What is the process with your contractors once you have a qualified lead to provide to them? DK: We call them pre-wrapped customers because they are not only qualified customers, but from our backend design system we have already developed the kit. We provide the specified

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From Greenpeace To Green Power: Sungevity CEO Danny Kennedy (Part 4)

SM: Do you offer rebate information for all the states and regions? DK: We are only doing business in California, but we do cover rebates for all the cities as well as all of the utilities. That is very complex, and some of the most difficult stuff we have had to do on the backend

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From Greenpeace To Green Power: Sungevity CEO Danny Kennedy (Part 3)

SM: Are you an exchange hub matching contractors with consumers? DK: It is not as e-marketplace as that sounds. We need to have a more concrete relationship between us and the customer, us and the contractor, and match them appropriately.

From Greenpeace To Green Power: Sungevity CEO Danny Kennedy (Part 2)

SM: What is the genesis of the startup? DK: My heart’s concern is climate change and energy issues. Most of my campaign work for the past decade has been on climate concerns. I believe that in the last decade we have turned the corner from denial to awareness that it is happening.

From Greenpeace To Green Power: Sungevity CEO Danny Kennedy (Part 1)

Danny Kennedy is the co-founder and president of Sungevity. He has a diverse background as an activist, including his most recent role as the Campaigns Manager for Greenpeace Australia Pacific. In 2001 he ran Greenpeace’s California Clean Energy Campaign, which is largely responsible for the current California Solar Initiative. SM: Tell me about where you

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How Rafat Ali Found a Job (Part 2)

SM: The fellowship you received enabled you to attend Indiana University. Were there any requirements tied to that fellowship? RA: Two of us were given a fellowship, and our mandate was to create an intranet for the university’s professors to use. It sounded grand, but we could not achieve it over the year and a

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