The Creator’s Code teaches readers how they can find and develop their million dollar business idea.
The Creator's Code: Thinking Your Way to a Million Dollar Biz
Showing posts with label entrepreneur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entrepreneur. Show all posts
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Saturday, September 1, 2012
AlleyCorp Seeds a Blossoming Internet Hub in New York
The following is
an excerpt from an article in
The New York Times
Saturday, September 01, 2012
AlleyCorp Seeds a Blossoming Internet Hub in New York
By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER
Kevin Ryan reclines in a designer chair in his Park Avenue office, wearing a Luciano Barbera suit and a vintage Rolex watch. A picture of Mr. Ryan with President Obama is on the wall and an ornate Oscar de la Renta gown hangs from the door.
This is not a man who would blend in among the sneaker-clad start-up ranks of Silicon Valley. Yet Mr. Ryan, chief executive of the Gilt Groupe and a founder of several prominent Internet companies, is one of the technology world’s most influential people, with a career trajectory that mirrors the rise of New York’s tech scene.
Mr. Ryan and Dwight Merriman run a start-up factory called AlleyCorp, after Silicon Alley, a nickname given to New York’s answer to Silicon Valley. It has churned out companies that have almost nothing in common, from e-commerce to publishing to database software.
When asked about this start-up grab bag, Mr. Ryan smiled and said, “Are you saying I have a focus problem?”
Gilt.com, which sells luxury goods like designer clothes and vacation packages, is considering going public next year. Business Insider, another AlleyCorp company, is a blog publisher with 19 million readers a month, run by Henry Blodget, the infamous former Internet stock analyst. And 10gen, which makes MongoDB, open-source database software that is used by companies like Disney and Foursquare, was valued at $500 million by venture capitalists who invested $50 million in May.
These companies contribute to New York’s growing role as an Internet hub, particularly for the new generation of online media and retail companies. Last year, 256 New York tech start-ups raised $2.2 billion in investment, up from 149 and $1.3 billion five years ago, according to the National Venture Capital Association.
“Silicon Valley is on their fifth generation,” Mr. Ryan said. “We’re on our second or third generation of New York entrepreneurs, combined with a bigger and better infrastructure to support it, so the scene is just mushrooming.”
Mr. Ryan made his name during the first tech boom as chief executive of DoubleClick, the digital advertising company that Google bought for $3.1 billion in 2007.
“He doesn’t fit into the Valley mold as much, but he’s definitely one of the most prominent people here,” said Chris Dixon, a New York tech investor and entrepreneur. “He went off and did this thing that entrepreneurs fantasize about, starting multiple companies and having them be really successful.”
For more, visit www.nytimes.com.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Microsoft Launches More Expansive Imagine Cup 2013
Press release:
Microsoft Launches More Expansive Imagine Cup 2013
Aug 29, 2012
Eleventh year features new categories and bigger cash prizes to inspire more young developers and entrepreneurs around the globe.
REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 29, 2012 — Students ages 16 and older can now register forMicrosoft Imagine Cup 2013, the world’s premier student technology competition, in its 11th year. To inspire more students and encourage a wider variety of aspiring innovators to participate, Microsoft Corp. has redesigned Imagine Cup around three new core competitions — World Citizenship, Games and Innovation — and more than doubled the prize money to US$300,000.
More than 1.65 million students across the globe have participated in Imagine Cup during the past decade, creating applications and games that address the world’s toughest social problems. The 2013 competition builds on the core elements that have been most popular with students in the past 10 years — social impact and gaming — while expanding the competition’s focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. In Imagine Cup 2013, students may compete in the following competitions:
• World Citizenship. Honors the software application developed on Microsoft platforms with the greatest potential to make a positive impact on humanity. For example, a project might address education-, social- or healthcare-related problems.
• Games. Honors the most engaging and entertaining games targeting teens and youth, built on Microsoft platforms (Windows 8, Windows Phone, Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit, and Xbox Indie Games).
• Innovation. Honors apps that give consumers inspiration and innovation at their fingertips, whether it be a new spin on social networks, online shopping or search, built with Microsoft tools and technology.
In addition to the competitions, students can register to compete in online Challenges focused on specific technologies and platforms, including Windows 8, Windows Azure and Windows Phone.
Imagine Cup is a global, yearlong competition that culminates in a Worldwide Finals event, to take place in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 8–11, 2013. Worldwide Finalists will also have the chance to apply for Microsoft Imagine Cup Grants as part of a three-year, $3 million investment by Microsoft to help students turn their ideas into reality.
“Imagine Cup is the beginning of a lifelong journey for a young entrepreneur, inventor, designer, developer or innovator,” said John Scott Tynes, Imagine Cup competition strategy and development manager. “With the evolution of Imagine Cup, we’re further inspiring students from all academic backgrounds to collaborate on applications and seize opportunities post-Imagine Cup to polish their applications, gain the support they need to bring their technology to market, and fully realize their potential to impact their local communities and the world.”
Many Imagine Cup participants, such as team Wormhole IT, which competed in the Worldwide Finals in 2007, have taken lessons learned from Imagine Cup to enhance their projects and launch small businesses post-event. “Without Imagine Cup, we would have never received the feedback that we needed to turn our application into a reality,” said Sally Buberman, of Wormhole IT, who participated as judge at this year’s competition. “It was more than a competition; it was the chance to showcase our application and learn what it would take to launch a profitable business based upon our idea.” Wormhole IT, with locations in Argentina and the U.S., offers webconferencing and online platforms that can be used for educators to communicate with students in different locations, especially in developing regions where connectivity is poor.
Students interested in signing up for Imagine Cup 2013 may register on the website,http://www.imaginecup.com.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Money, Mentoring and a Claim on the Payoff
The New York Times
Monday, August 13, 2012
Money, Mentoring and a Claim on the Payoff
By QUENTIN HARDY
If you believe someone has a great future as an entrepreneur, maybe you should own a piece of it.
That is the premise of an unusual effort by a former Google executive to promote start-ups through the creation of a new investment vehicle. Through the company, Upstart, successful older executives will give enough money to college graduates to see them through the earliest stages of their business ideas.
They also act as mentors, and in return get a claim on a percentage of a decade's earnings. If the entrepreneur's product hits, returns can be as high as 15 percent a year. Not bad, though probably commensurate with the risk.
For more, visit www.nytimes.com.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Good Things Come in Small Packages
March 20, 2012
Good things come in small packages; More than 80% of Chase SBA loans are under $250,000
· #1 SBA lender by volume, Chase approved most of its SBA loans for less than $250,000
· -In 2011, Chase approved more than $1.1 billion in SBA loans and lines of credit to more than 5,300 small businesses, part of $17 billion in small business credit
New York, March 20, 2012 - For every SBA 7a and Express loan Chase made over $250,000 last year, the nation's leading small business lender made four loans in smaller amounts, demonstrating its commitment to support entrepreneurs large and small. For the past three years, more than 80% of SBA's most popular loans approved by Chase have been for amounts under $250,000.
"Chase extends credit to businesses of every size and complexity," said Scott Geller, CEO of Business Banking at Chase. "The fact that we're making an increasing number of small loans means we're helping even more business owners hire, expand and innovate."
As a preferred lender with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Chase acts on the SBA's behalf, which streamlines the approval process and helps business owners get faster funding. In 2011, Chase approved $1.1 billion in 5,509 SBA loans and lines of credit, of which 3,665 were for amounts under $250,000.
Chase also was the #1 SBA lender of 7a and Express loans in many markets around the country, including:
| · Arizona | · Dallas/Fort Worth |
| · California | · Houston |
| · Florida | · Los Angeles |
| · Illinois | · Santa Ana |
| · New Jersey | · Seattle |
| · New York | |
| · Texas |
Chase ranked first in both volume and dollars in New York (city and state) and Texas.
The continued increase in Chase's lending reflects the bank's pledge to help American small business grow. In the past three years, the bank has hired more than 1,100 new bankers to serve more than 2 million small businesses.
In 2011, Chase launched business banking innovations such as Instant Storefront from Chasesm, Jotsm and Chase QuickDepositsm, as well as enhancements to Chase Mobilesm for Business and an array of free fraud protection services. An exclusive series of Chase business insights seminars in markets around the country bring entrepreneurs together for networking and business development.
About Chase
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.3 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. Chase serves consumers and small businesses through 5,400 bank branches, 16,800 ATMs, mortgage offices, and online and mobile banking as well as through relationships with auto dealerships and schools and universities. Chase also has issued more than 90 million credit cards. More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com.
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.3 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. Chase serves consumers and small businesses through 5,400 bank branches, 16,800 ATMs, mortgage offices, and online and mobile banking as well as through relationships with auto dealerships and schools and universities. Chase also has issued more than 90 million credit cards. More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Merck Partners with Scientists & Biotech Entrepreneurs
Merck Partners with Academic Scientists and Biotechnology Entrepreneurs to Create the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr) |
Calibr Presents a New Paradigm for Academic-Industry Cooperation |
Whitehouse Station, NJ, and San Diego, March 15, 2012 - Merck, known outside the United States and Canada as MSD, today announced a collaboration to create the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr), an independent, not-for-profit organization (501c3) established to accelerate the translation of basic biomedical research into innovative, new medicines to treat disease. Calibr will be led by Peter G. Schultz, Ph.D., a world-renowned chemist and biotechnology entrepreneur. The Institute will offer academic scientists, around the world, a streamlined, efficient and flexible path for translating their biomedical research into novel medicines. "Calibr represents a new paradigm for early-stage translational research," said Dr. Schultz, director of Calibr and Scripps Professor of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute. "By leveraging the drug discovery expertise and resources of Calibr, academic researchers will have the opportunity to maximize the potential therapeutic value of their research." Calibr investigators will work collaboratively with academic scientists to advance new discoveries to preclinical proof of concept at which stage commercial partnerships will be sought for further development. Merck will provide funding to Calibr of up to $90 million over a period of seven years. Merck has an option to obtain an exclusive commercial license to any proteins or small molecule therapeutic candidates derived from work conducted by Calibr. For any projects not licensed by Merck, Calibr will be free to seek alternative sources of funding for further development. In addition, the Institute plans to access funds from government and non-government sources. Revenues derived from licenses will be shared between Calibr and the collaborating institutions. Project proposals from the scientific community will be chosen on the basis of novelty, biomedical impact and technical feasibility and reviewed by a scientific advisory board headed by Christopher T. Walsh, Ph.D., Hamilton Kuhn Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, Harvard University. In addition, an independent board of directors headed by John D. Diekman, Ph.D., founder and managing partner of 5AM Ventures will oversee the activities of the Institute. "Effective translation of basic biomedical research is essential to advancing the next generation of novel therapies," said Peter S. Kim, Ph.D., president, Merck Research Laboratories and member of Calibr scientific advisory board. "Calibr will provide an important venue where basic research and drug discovery scientists may leverage each others' strengths in the fight against disease." Calibr will be located in San Diego, Calif., in close proximity to The Scripps Research Institute, Salk Institute, University of California, San Diego and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. Calibr will be equipped with the latest high through-put screening and imaging, medicinal and protein chemistry and preclinical sciences capabilities. |
Monday, March 12, 2012
News Release from Avnet
March 8, 2012 - Avnet Express' Drive for Innovation Celebrates Six Months of Inspiring People and Technology
Phoenix and San Francisco -- Innovation: dead in America? Hardly. After six months of driving around the nation and interviewing more than 500 engineers, entrepreneurs, inventors, educators and students, our research shows quite the opposite -- innovation is thriving in America.
Avnet Express' Drive for Innovation – a year-long, cross-country road trip focused on uncovering innovation in the electronics industry, is celebrating six months of uncovering inspiring people and innovation in technology. Now at the half-way point of this exciting journey, we're pausing to note just a few of the innovation stories from our log book. They range from the sublime and sophisticated to the simple and powerful:
- Nanoforge, a startup company emerging from Duke University in N.C. is bringing to market copper nanowires using a low-cost, high-volume production process. Nanoforge's nanowires can be used in displays, solar cells and other applications and promises to lower cost and upset conventional application assumptions.
- Nextreme Thermal Solutions is making small, inexpensive devices to harvest energy from thermal differentials. Clamp the prototype onto a homeowner's sink's hot- and cold-water pipes and it generates enough power to illuminate a small light bulb.
- Two buddies, one a hockey coach, the other an embedded designer, are working together to make a helmet-mounted shock sensor able to send a constant stream of data to iPad and iPhone apps for coaches and parents.
- When Rockwell Collins teamed up with Lectronix, in Lansing, Mich. to build more effective and compact communications systems for police squad cars, Lectronix's chief executive officer put his experience as a pilot to great use in the design.
- To encourage and nurture engineering and computer-science students at the University of Massachusetts, administrators and professors have created a crash pad of sorts. In the subterranean M5 maker-space, students have access to space, parts, computers, software, probes and snacks to work on school projects and just be technologically creative.
"The Drive for Innovation is about finding and telling stories of great engineering everywhere," said Brian Fuller, editorial lead on the Drive for Innovation. "Whether it's Middleton, Wis., Schaumberg, Ill., Wilmington, Mass., Huntsville, Ala. or College Park, Md., the story is always about standing on the shoulders of the inventors of the past and moving the technology and the economy forward, relentlessly."
Since July 2011, the Chevrolet Volt has been making periodic stops throughout the journey, where Fuller, the driver of the Chevrolet Volt, has been blogging and posting video updates about his experiences. Fuller has travelled 14,414 miles and through 17 states. Fuller has made 100 interview stops, interviewed more than 500 people at 100 companies. Additionally, he has completed 114 blog entries uploaded 130 videos as well as 261 images. The multi-faceted program is anchored by a website that features content from the road trip, a drive tracker and an interactive map that highlights the tour as well as games and prizes to fuel community engagement.
"When Avnet Express embarked on this journey we weren't sure exactly what to expect," said Beth Ely, senior vice president, Avnet Express. "As we've followed along, the rich stories that Brian has uncovered have truly shone a bright spotlight on the innovation that Avnet sees everyday in our customers," said Beth Ely, senior vice president, Avnet Express. "As we progress, we look forward to helping share these incredible stories of American innovation with the rest of the world."
Avnet Express gives design engineers and purchasing professionals online access to the world's largest catalog of electronic component products, which tops five million parts. Avnet Express offers parametric searching capabilities and the ability to upload a bill of materials (BOM) for easier sourcing of products and a consistent global platform of localized content. The site can be accessed in nine languages and 13 currencies.
Check www.driveforinnovation.com for upcoming locations and to sign up to follow the stories and request that the Volt pull into your town or city for a visit. Upcoming stops on the "Drive for Innovation" road trip include:
- Phoenix
- Los Angeles
- San Jose, Calif.
- San Diego, Calif.
- and more
To learn more about Avnet Express, visit avnetexpress.com. To follow the "Drive for Innovation" and the Chevrolet Volt as it travels across the United States, visit www.driveforinnovation.com. Follow the "Drive for Innovation" on Facebook and Twitter.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Post from Google's Official Blog
Note to visitors: The Palo-Negro-Blog is no longer being actively maintained. For current news and information, please visit our successor blogs at: http://JBK-BizTech.blogspot.com and http://JBK-Current-Events.blogspot.com
Helping entrepreneurs in the Crescent City
Helping entrepreneurs in the Crescent City
March 9, 2012 at 12:08 PM
I made my first visit to the Gulf Coast as a Red Cross shelter manager six weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. What I witnessed there made me believe in the potential for individuals and businesses to come together to rebuild a community devastated by disaster. Every year since, I’ve returned to New Orleans to engage in and lead much of Google’s commitment to the area, which has included the direct use of Google Earth to aid in rescue efforts, search tools to help during the aftermath and many service hours put in by Google volunteers.
Almost seven years later, I find myself amazed at the recovery and revitalization of the entire region, specifically in New Orleans. The city has come to embody a spirit of perseverance and evolved into a model for economic and community redevelopment. In 2010, Google provided $102 million of economic activity for Louisiana businesses, website publishers and nonprofits—and there’s still more work to do. Next week, we’re heading back to NOLA once again, this time to serve as the Premier Partner for the fourth annual New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week (NOEW).
Our support for NOEW is diverse and wide-ranging. Among other activities, we’re providing seed grants to up-and-coming educational entrepreneurs in the Education Entrepreneurship Challenge, as well as hosting “Google 101” (and 201) workshops for entrepreneurs and one-on-one Google Office Hours for small business owners. On Saturday, March 10, we’ll be working with Brad Pitt’s foundation, Make It Right, to help the organization engage with supporters globally during their NOEW charity event. At 8:00pm ET the Make It Right Google+ Page will host a live hangout with Brad Pitt and special guests Ellen DeGeneres, Randy Jackson and Aziz Ansari. Following the hangout, real time updates from the evening will be posted exclusively on the Google+ page, and visitors can view photos, ask questions of celebrity guests and watch videos from the evening.
Our sponsorship of NOEW 2012 is one piece of our ongoing work supporting entrepreneurship in New Orleans. Other support includes bringing a major partner,Startup Weekend, to NOLA as well as increasing Accelerate with Google in the region. We look forward to contributing to the entrepreneurship ecosystem to provide real economic opportunities for the New Orleans community, its people and its businesses.
I look at the week ahead as a celebration of the potential that one person has to make a difference—one volunteer, one business owner, one celebrity, even you. What I know for sure is that this one person is looking forward to returning to a city that has captured her heart through its people, its spirit, its music and ah yes, most definitely the food. Hope to see y’all there soon!
Almost seven years later, I find myself amazed at the recovery and revitalization of the entire region, specifically in New Orleans. The city has come to embody a spirit of perseverance and evolved into a model for economic and community redevelopment. In 2010, Google provided $102 million of economic activity for Louisiana businesses, website publishers and nonprofits—and there’s still more work to do. Next week, we’re heading back to NOLA once again, this time to serve as the Premier Partner for the fourth annual New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week (NOEW).
Our support for NOEW is diverse and wide-ranging. Among other activities, we’re providing seed grants to up-and-coming educational entrepreneurs in the Education Entrepreneurship Challenge, as well as hosting “Google 101” (and 201) workshops for entrepreneurs and one-on-one Google Office Hours for small business owners. On Saturday, March 10, we’ll be working with Brad Pitt’s foundation, Make It Right, to help the organization engage with supporters globally during their NOEW charity event. At 8:00pm ET the Make It Right Google+ Page will host a live hangout with Brad Pitt and special guests Ellen DeGeneres, Randy Jackson and Aziz Ansari. Following the hangout, real time updates from the evening will be posted exclusively on the Google+ page, and visitors can view photos, ask questions of celebrity guests and watch videos from the evening.
Our sponsorship of NOEW 2012 is one piece of our ongoing work supporting entrepreneurship in New Orleans. Other support includes bringing a major partner,Startup Weekend, to NOLA as well as increasing Accelerate with Google in the region. We look forward to contributing to the entrepreneurship ecosystem to provide real economic opportunities for the New Orleans community, its people and its businesses.
I look at the week ahead as a celebration of the potential that one person has to make a difference—one volunteer, one business owner, one celebrity, even you. What I know for sure is that this one person is looking forward to returning to a city that has captured her heart through its people, its spirit, its music and ah yes, most definitely the food. Hope to see y’all there soon!
News Release from Citrix Systems - HDFaces
Note to visitors: The Palo-Negro-Blog is no longer being actively maintained. For current news and information, please visit: http://JBK-BizTech.blogspot.com and http://JBK-Current-Events.blogspot.com
Collaborate in HDFaces Video from Your iPad with the New GoToMeeting App
Bernardo de Albergaria, VP and GM of Collaboration for Citrix, announced the new GoToMeeting for iPad app today in his blog.
3/8/2012 » Bernardo de Albergaria » I used to like Adele’s music – almost everyone likes Adele, right? – but I didn’t really love it. Then I saw a recording of her in concert, and everything clicked.
What a performance! Her songs took on extra meaning when I saw the emotion in her face. She wasn’t just singing lyrics anymore; she was conveying a message. And I totally bought in. Even though there were thousands of people in attendance and probably millions watching the recording, I felt a bond with her. And now I probably hate the guy who broke her heart more than she does.
Isn’t it fascinating how much body language and facial expressions – a smile, a nod, an eye-roll – can affect how communication is received? Whether you’re a Grammy-winning singer or, more likely, a hard-working employee or entrepreneur, it’s safe to say that you convey your intended message much more clearly when you can supplement your voice with facial expressions and see your audience’s reactions.
That’s one of the reasons we added HDFaces video conferencing to GoToMeeting®. And that’s why we’re happy to announce that HDFaces is now part of our free GoToMeeting app for iPad. As “anywhere” work continues to trend and fuel success, this built-for business app brings a new level of rich mobile collaboration – in an easy-to-use, one-tap format – from anywhere. (See video demonstrating GoToMeeting for iPad)
Delivering HDFaces video conferencing through the new GoToMeeting app for iPad is just our latest offering in the two collaboration areas we’re concentrating on most: mobile and video.
The first rendition of the GoToMeeting app was released in April 2010 – since then it has consistently ranked in the top 10 free applications for business. It gives anyone with an iPhone or iPad the opportunity to attend GoToMeeting sessions when they’re away from a computer – and that makes scheduling meetings for GoToMeeting customers much more simple.
Meanwhile, our recently released HDFaces feature for GoToMeeting has drawn rave reviews from customers and the press alike. The picture quality is superb, and it just takes one click to turn on and off – we think that’s a big reason why GoToMeeting is the fastest growing major web conferencing service,according to Frost & Sullivan. It truly does change the way people work.
That leads us back to the newest version of GoToMeeting for iPad. Just like GoToMeeting on your computer, the app integrates up to 6 video streams, screen sharing and VoIP and phone audio options in one simple package. This app provides an easy way to stay connected and productive and opens the door for bold new ideas, like taking a meeting on a live tour of a manufacturing plant or doctors bringing in a collaborator via video to help diagnose patients.
Here’s what you can do with the app:
- Attend online meetings from wherever you are.
- Join meetings in seconds by tapping a link in an email.
- Turn on HDFaces video conferencing with one tap.
- Share front or back camera on iPad 2
- Activate talking webcam to see only the speakers video
- There’s a lot more. Check out an exhaustive list on the App Store.
As mobile work and the devices that support them continue to trend, this built-for-business app becomes more of a necessity.
Wherever work happens, you can meet in HDFaces video using the new GoToMeeting app for iPad.Download, enjoy and rest assured that we’ve got more up our sleeve.
Bernardo de Albergaria
VP and GM of Collaboration
VP and GM of Collaboration
Monday, March 5, 2012
New Release from DOE: ARPA-E
ARPA-E Issues Open Call for Transformational Energy Technologies
March 2, 2012 - 2:31pm
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) issued a $150 million funding opportunity open to all transformational energy technologies to support the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to solving our nation’s most pressing energy challenges. This Open Funding Opportunity Announcement is a call to our country’s brightest scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to propose early-stage research projects that would not otherwise be able to attract private investment, but could lead to breakthrough energy technologies. This is the second open funding opportunity released under ARPA-E. The first was in 2009.
“Today we are calling on our nation’s best and brightest to catalyze energy breakthroughs in all areas imaginable through this Open Funding Opportunity Announcement, which illustrates the true purpose of ARPA-E,” said Director Majumdar. “Innovation is our nation’s sweet spot, and it is critically important that we look at every possible energy solution in order to ensure America’s future prosperity and security.”
This Open Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) joins ARPA-E’s other recently issued FOA – Methane Opportunities for Vehicular Energy (MOVE) – which will make $30 million available to find ways to harness our abundant supplies of domestic natural gas for vehicles and was announced by President Obama last week at the University of Miami.
More details on all of ARPA-E’s Funding Opportunities and Requests For Information are available HERE. Individual awards under the Open FOA will range between $250,000 and $10 million.
President Obama launched the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) in 2009 to seek out transformational, breakthrough technologies that are too risky for private sector investment but have the potential to translate science into quantum leaps in energy technology, form the foundation for entirely new industries, and in the future have large commercial impact.
Including its most recent round of selections, ARPA-E has funded a total of more than 180 projects, for $521.7 million in awards across 12 program areas. Demonstrating the success ARPA-E has already seen, the Agency announced last year that eleven of its projects that received $40 million from ARPA-E for innovative research, were able to use this funding to demonstrate results, which allowed these teams to secure more than $200 million in outside private capital investment.
ARPA-E’s third annual Energy Innovation Summit featured 107 speakers, including: President Bill Clinton; Microsoft Founder and Chairman, Bill Gates; Xerox CEO, Ursula Burns; FedEx CEO, Fred Smith; BDT Capital Chairman, Lee Scott; Deputy Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter; MIT President, Susan Hockfield; U.S. Energy Secretary, Steven Chu; and ARPA-E Director, Arun Majumdar. The Summit attracted 2,440 attendees from 49 states and 26 countries and featured a Technology Showcase displaying over 240 breakthrough energy developments from ARPA-E’s awardees, finalists and other teams.
This Open Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) joins ARPA-E’s other recently issued FOA – Methane Opportunities for Vehicular Energy (MOVE) – which will make $30 million available to find ways to harness our abundant supplies of domestic natural gas for vehicles and was announced by President Obama last week at the University of Miami.
More details on all of ARPA-E’s Funding Opportunities and Requests For Information are available HERE. Individual awards under the Open FOA will range between $250,000 and $10 million.
President Obama launched the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) in 2009 to seek out transformational, breakthrough technologies that are too risky for private sector investment but have the potential to translate science into quantum leaps in energy technology, form the foundation for entirely new industries, and in the future have large commercial impact.
Including its most recent round of selections, ARPA-E has funded a total of more than 180 projects, for $521.7 million in awards across 12 program areas. Demonstrating the success ARPA-E has already seen, the Agency announced last year that eleven of its projects that received $40 million from ARPA-E for innovative research, were able to use this funding to demonstrate results, which allowed these teams to secure more than $200 million in outside private capital investment.
ARPA-E’s third annual Energy Innovation Summit featured 107 speakers, including: President Bill Clinton; Microsoft Founder and Chairman, Bill Gates; Xerox CEO, Ursula Burns; FedEx CEO, Fred Smith; BDT Capital Chairman, Lee Scott; Deputy Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter; MIT President, Susan Hockfield; U.S. Energy Secretary, Steven Chu; and ARPA-E Director, Arun Majumdar. The Summit attracted 2,440 attendees from 49 states and 26 countries and featured a Technology Showcase displaying over 240 breakthrough energy developments from ARPA-E’s awardees, finalists and other teams.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Marc Andreessen Inverview
This morning Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen-Horowitz, was interviewed on CNBC’s Squawk Box. Mr. Andreessen was also the founder of Netscape.
The interview covered a variety of topics, including the current climate in Silicon Valley as opposed to that of the late 1990s, government regulation, venture capital, private equity, and trade with China.
The interview is over 18 minutes long, but it is worth a listen.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Energy Innovation Summit
Business, Government and Tech Leaders Give the Full Perspective
February 24, 2012
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu speaking at the 2011 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit. | Energy Department file photo.
- Check out the full conference program for more on the 2012 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit.
When the third annual ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit convenes in Washington, DC, next week, key innovators from across the country and around the world will meet to share ideas for solving our greatest energy challenges.
While recent ARPA-E award winners and finalists will be on display at the Technology Showcase, the keynote speakers will offer a personal perspective on innovation in the energy sector.
One of the highlights of the conference will be a "fireside chat" between Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corporation, and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. Under Gates' leadership, Microsoft has led the computer industry with investments in research and development each year. Check Energy.gov after the Summit for a video of the conversation that you can watch, share, and offer your perspective on.
Former President Bill Clinton will deliver remarks on Wednesday. As the 42nd President of the United States, President Clinton oversaw the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in U.S. history and the creation of more than 22 million jobs.
We'll also hear from Dr. Arun Majumdar, Director of ARPA-E, and Dr. Susan Hockfield, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-chair of the President's Advanced Manufacturing Partnership.
From the private sector, we will be joined by Ursula M. Burns, Chairman and CEO of the Xerox Corporation; Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President and CEO of the FedEx Corporation; and Lee Scott, chairman of BDT Capital and former CEO of Walmart. Each of these individuals has been an innovative leader in their field and will offer their own perspectives on what it takes for innovators and entrepreneurs to succeed in the clean energy economy.
The Summit will also highlight the winning startup companies that competed in DOE’s “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge," which leverages cutting-edge technologies from the Energy Department’s national laboratories to support new startup companies across the country. The Secretary will present the winners with awards on Monday during the luncheon, and you can learn more about their innovations at their booth in the Technology Showcase.
You can find more information on the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit and the full program for the three-day conference here.
Friday, February 24, 2012
News Release from the DOE - Nat Gas & Biofuels Funding
President Obama Announces Funding for Breakthroughs in Natural Gas and Biofuels as Alternative Fuels for Vehicles
February 23, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Obama announced new funding to catalyze breakthrough technologies for two key alternative fuels – natural gas and biofuels – as part of his all-of-the-above energy strategy to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and provide American families new choices for vehicles that do not rely on conventional gasoline. Through its Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), the Energy Department will make $30 million available for a new research competition in the coming months that will engage our country’s brightest scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to find ways to harness our abundant supplies of domestic natural gas for vehicles. The Department of Energy will also make $14 million available to support research and development into biofuels from algae. These programs will spur American innovation and encourage scientific breakthroughs that will help diversify the nation’s energy portfolio, grow American companies, and develop alternative vehicle technologies that do not rely on oil.
President Obama announced the programs during a speech at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida, where he toured the school’s Industrial Assessment Center (IAC), an Energy Department program that teaches students how to become industrial energy efficiency experts as they help small- to mid-sized manufacturers cut energy costs.
“As President Obama made clear in his State of the Union address, in order to build a strong economy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we must invest in developing American energy sources like natural gas and biofuels,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Through the new programs announced today, we can help revolutionize the way Americans fuel their cars, saving money for families and businesses while building new industries here in the United States.”
Funding Breakthroughs in Natural Gas Vehicles
ARPA-E’s $30 million funding announcement for natural gas breakthroughs build on President Obama’s call for a new era for American energy that benefits from the safe, responsible development of the near 100-year supply of American natural gas, which has the potential to support more than 600,000 U.S. jobs. Today’s natural gas vehicle technologies require tanks that can withstand high pressures, are cumbersome and either too large or too expensive to be suitable for passenger vehicles. ARPA-E’s projects under this new program, titled Methane Opportunities for Vehicular Energy - or “MOVE” - will focus on overcoming these barriers by developing innovative, low-cost natural gas storage technologies and methods to lower pressure in vehicle tanks that will help enable the widespread adoption of natural gas vehicles.
Specifically, ARPA-E seeks to fund projects that will develop lightweight tanks for cars that can run on natural gas and fit into modern passenger vehicles. This approach includes developing affordable natural gas compressors that can efficiently fuel a natural gas vehicle at home. ARPA-E also seeks to fund projects that will develop absorbing materials that are able to hold gas, similar to how a sponge holds water. These materials could lower pressure in vehicle tanks that hold and release natural gas, making them safer and more affordable for American consumers.
President Obama launched ARPA-E in 2009 to seek out transformational, breakthrough technologies that are too risky for private-sector investment but have the potential to translate science into quantum leaps in energy technology, form the foundation for entirely new industries, and have large commercial impacts. Demonstrating the success ARPA-E has already seen, the program announced last year that eleven of its projects secured more than $200 million in outside private capital investment after initial funding from its programs. Today’s announcement begins ARPA-E’s fifth round of funding. To date, ARPA-E has hosted four rounds of competitions and attracted over 5,000 applications from research teams, which has resulted in 180 groundbreaking projects worth over $500 million. For more information and application requirements for the Funding Opportunity Announcement, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/.
Funding to Develop Homegrown Transportation Fuels from Algae
The Energy Department’s $14 million funding announcement to develop transportation fuels from algae builds on an Administration-wide commitment to biofuels research, development, and demonstration that includes support for the construction of commercial-scale, next-generation biorefineries. Part of the Department’s sustained investment in biofuels technologies focuses on unlocking the potential for homegrown transportation fuels from algae, which have the potential to replace up to 17 percent of the United States’ imported oil for transportation. In addition, algae feedstocks offer additional benefits, such as an ability to be grown in ponds near industrial facilities where algae can feed off the carbon emissions from power plants or digest nitrogen and phosphorous from municipal waste water. The Department is currently supporting more than 30 algae-based biofuels projects, representing $85 million in total investments.
Through the new funding announcement, the Department will seek proposals from small businesses, universities, and national laboratories to modify existing facilities for long-term algae research and test new production processes that could lead to commercial biofuels made from algae. Specifically, the new projects will establish and operate research “test beds” for algal biofuels that can facilitate development, test new approaches to algae production, and discover innovative ways to minimize the water and nutrients needed to mass produce algae for commercial biofuels. These advanced research projects will aim to significantly improve the sustainability of algae-based biofuels and accelerate technological breakthroughs. These awards represent the first phase in a total $30 million investment in algal biofuels in fiscal year 2012.
The competitively selected projects will receive up to $14.3 million in fiscal year 2012 funds, with an additional $6.7 million available in fiscal year 2014 funding, subject to Congressional appropriations, for projects that meet rigorous performance criteria. Applications are due on April 18, 2012. For more information and application requirements for the Funding Opportunity Announcement, please visit the Funding Opportunity Exchange website.
President Obama announced the programs during a speech at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida, where he toured the school’s Industrial Assessment Center (IAC), an Energy Department program that teaches students how to become industrial energy efficiency experts as they help small- to mid-sized manufacturers cut energy costs.
“As President Obama made clear in his State of the Union address, in order to build a strong economy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we must invest in developing American energy sources like natural gas and biofuels,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Through the new programs announced today, we can help revolutionize the way Americans fuel their cars, saving money for families and businesses while building new industries here in the United States.”
Funding Breakthroughs in Natural Gas Vehicles
ARPA-E’s $30 million funding announcement for natural gas breakthroughs build on President Obama’s call for a new era for American energy that benefits from the safe, responsible development of the near 100-year supply of American natural gas, which has the potential to support more than 600,000 U.S. jobs. Today’s natural gas vehicle technologies require tanks that can withstand high pressures, are cumbersome and either too large or too expensive to be suitable for passenger vehicles. ARPA-E’s projects under this new program, titled Methane Opportunities for Vehicular Energy - or “MOVE” - will focus on overcoming these barriers by developing innovative, low-cost natural gas storage technologies and methods to lower pressure in vehicle tanks that will help enable the widespread adoption of natural gas vehicles.
Specifically, ARPA-E seeks to fund projects that will develop lightweight tanks for cars that can run on natural gas and fit into modern passenger vehicles. This approach includes developing affordable natural gas compressors that can efficiently fuel a natural gas vehicle at home. ARPA-E also seeks to fund projects that will develop absorbing materials that are able to hold gas, similar to how a sponge holds water. These materials could lower pressure in vehicle tanks that hold and release natural gas, making them safer and more affordable for American consumers.
President Obama launched ARPA-E in 2009 to seek out transformational, breakthrough technologies that are too risky for private-sector investment but have the potential to translate science into quantum leaps in energy technology, form the foundation for entirely new industries, and have large commercial impacts. Demonstrating the success ARPA-E has already seen, the program announced last year that eleven of its projects secured more than $200 million in outside private capital investment after initial funding from its programs. Today’s announcement begins ARPA-E’s fifth round of funding. To date, ARPA-E has hosted four rounds of competitions and attracted over 5,000 applications from research teams, which has resulted in 180 groundbreaking projects worth over $500 million. For more information and application requirements for the Funding Opportunity Announcement, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/.
Funding to Develop Homegrown Transportation Fuels from Algae
The Energy Department’s $14 million funding announcement to develop transportation fuels from algae builds on an Administration-wide commitment to biofuels research, development, and demonstration that includes support for the construction of commercial-scale, next-generation biorefineries. Part of the Department’s sustained investment in biofuels technologies focuses on unlocking the potential for homegrown transportation fuels from algae, which have the potential to replace up to 17 percent of the United States’ imported oil for transportation. In addition, algae feedstocks offer additional benefits, such as an ability to be grown in ponds near industrial facilities where algae can feed off the carbon emissions from power plants or digest nitrogen and phosphorous from municipal waste water. The Department is currently supporting more than 30 algae-based biofuels projects, representing $85 million in total investments.
Through the new funding announcement, the Department will seek proposals from small businesses, universities, and national laboratories to modify existing facilities for long-term algae research and test new production processes that could lead to commercial biofuels made from algae. Specifically, the new projects will establish and operate research “test beds” for algal biofuels that can facilitate development, test new approaches to algae production, and discover innovative ways to minimize the water and nutrients needed to mass produce algae for commercial biofuels. These advanced research projects will aim to significantly improve the sustainability of algae-based biofuels and accelerate technological breakthroughs. These awards represent the first phase in a total $30 million investment in algal biofuels in fiscal year 2012.
The competitively selected projects will receive up to $14.3 million in fiscal year 2012 funds, with an additional $6.7 million available in fiscal year 2014 funding, subject to Congressional appropriations, for projects that meet rigorous performance criteria. Applications are due on April 18, 2012. For more information and application requirements for the Funding Opportunity Announcement, please visit the Funding Opportunity Exchange website.
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