2001: $714 million

2002: $899 million

2003: $1.7 billion

2004: $1.8 billion

2005: $2.5 billion

2006: $3.6 billion

2007: $5.18 billion

No, this is not how much money Bill Gates has made. It is the investment in Green-tech over the last few years (in North America and Europe).

Sounds promising at first glance. But one detail Cnet News Green-tech Blog added struck me:

“Energy generation was the most active sector with 172 deals, totaling $2.75 billion.”

It struck me, because of another post in there:

“Do environmentalists contribute to global warming?”

It is about how clean nuclear energy is. So I am wondering how much of those $2.75 billion went into nuclear power. Is it clean? Maybe when you look at greenhouse gases, even though I have read that the sourcing of the uranium produces quite a lot (but I do not really know).

My main objection to nuclear power comes from the fact that the decisions we make today, affect our children’s children for thousands of years. It is proof of the short-sightedness of humans. If we are not directly affected, there is no problem.

Maybe I am biased by the decision made in Germany to phase out nuclear power (after it was in operation over 40 years).

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Alexander

I spoke to an entrepreneur today. He is currently seeking funding to bring a new product to market.

The product sounds fantastic in what it does and how it does it. I do not want to share any details, but it is a cosmetic product.

We spoke about the gaps in his business plan. I had pointed them out while preparing an information memorandum for him. One gap was: proof.

What is proof?

Had they done any clinical studies? No. OK, the costs are several $100,000

Had they done any studies with friends and acquaintances? No. He did not want to get anyone’s attention before the product was ready for launch.

So the proof rests on the words of the inventor and his knowledge of how it works - in theory.

He is a great person and convincing in how he speaks about his product, but does he really expect investors to go for it on that basis?

Necessary Trait?

I think he does.

And it made me think about the traits of inventors and entrepreneurs.

It is probably one of the most important traits to have: absolute faith in yourself, your product and in what you are doing. There is no other way to keep up the stamina to move through the obstacles of getting something up and going.

But then you need to let go

However when the team grows, the inventor has to change.

Maybe that is not possible. After pushing for so many years, it seems to be ingrained:

• not listening to criticism (even if constructive)
• not opening up to different approaches
• believing in the value of your product as an obsession

I wonder how inventors who got over the initial start-up were able to morph into team players.

Or should I title this : “Inventors frustration with the world”?

I am currently working on some information memorandums to raise money for 3 companies. Reading their business plans, looking at their inventions, I cannot stop to think what a waste is going on in business development.

They have all developed their ideas to an advanced stage, spend many hours and Dollars, are ready to produce.

Testing the Market

But no one has tested the market. Apart from one, they do not really have a marketing strategy.

It would be so fantastic if there was an easy way to test the market without spending lots of money in research.

Actually there is a way, Tim Ferris calls it microtesting in his book “The 4-hour Workweek“.

Microtesting

What he proposes is to set up a sales site on the Internet, bring some targeted traffic via Google AdWords and see how many are ready to buy.

This tests the demand for the product in general, but more importantly it tests whether the marketing works:

• Are we using the right words?
• Is the price right?
• Is the warranty sufficient?

To really test all of these things, a split test is necessary of course. But all this can be done for under $1,000, probably under $500. Far more efficient than sending sales people around the country to introduce the products into retail shops.

Efficient and thus sustainable.

The Controversy

A lot of inventors will tell me that their clients are not on the Internet. That might be true, even though I think that there are always ways to test the interest of potential clients, even though they might not purchase online.