More than ever, entrepreneurs and the smart investors who back them will have to take charge of building the Super Grid. Don’t expect help from the government in the short term: Politicians, oil interests and a skeptical public appear to have killed hoped-for green legislation this year.
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They’ll also talk about why the green mission is so valuable: We badly need to transform our energy system so that it’s more efficient. And safer. Imagine if smart sensors had tracked pressure on the PG&E gas pipe that exploded last month; we could have saved lives. Safety applies on a national level, too: We need to be free ourselves from foreign oil, for which we’re spending billions of dollars and thereby propping up corrupt regimes. And we need to reduce emissions so that we’re supporting a sustainable economy.
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Unfortunately, right now, China, Germany, and others are kicking our butts when it comes to investing in a smarter grid. All the more reason to get charged up! Here are some of the leaders of the Super Grid who will inspire you to take action and seize the huge opportunities unfolding at GreenBeat 2010.
Early in his career, Khosla cofounded Sun Microsystems. He then joined Kleiner Perkins and became one of the most prolific investors in the Internet backbone in the late 1990s, with huge hits like Juniper, now a public company, and Cerent and Siara which together were sold for $11.2 billion in 1999. Last year, Khosla Ventures raised $1.1 billion in fresh cash, and will invest much of it in green comapnies.
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We’ll be announcing more awesome speakers soon.
Move quickly to buy your tickets now, because the early-bird price ends Friday!
With its location at Stanford, GreenBeat 2010 will be an intimate and effective networking event — all the more reason to secure a ticket now, because space is limited. We’re delighted to be able to join as hosts of the event with Stanford’s SSE Labs, a startup lab for Stanford student entrepreneurs. GreenBeat is where the next generation of disruptive green entrepreneurs will be able to meet the experts who are leading the way to change — check out our Innovation Competition, which is sure to attract a range of upstart innovators.
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