Cleantech vs. Green

I found the following in a Google Finance discussion and thought it was really helpful. I should disclose that I’m a PZD shareholder… in case anyone out there takes my blog seriously. :) Rafael, I hope you don’t mind me syndicating this here:

Actually, as the Manager of the Cleantech Index, there is a significant difference between ‘greentech’ or ‘envirotech’ and ‘cleantech’. The former were coined in the 80’s and tended to refer to ‘technologies’ that focused on regulatory-driven businesses such as hazardous waste remediation and pollution control or was we like to call them ‘end-of-pipe’ solutions.

The gist of Cleantech is intellectual property and/or know-how (usually in the form of patents) that makes products better, cleaner, safer, and lower cost, whilst (and that’s the key word) reducing their consumption of resources (materials, energy, water, soil, etc.) and other negative externalities such as pollution, soil erosion, threats to public health (e.g., toxins in toys or seafoods), deforestation, etc. Anyway, a wise man once asked “who the heck wants green water? I want clean water.”

As explained in greater detail at www.cleantechindex.com, clean technology businesses and products cut across a broad spectrum of industry sectors from energy generation & transmission, to water, to agriculture, to industrial process, to software.

Unfortunately, ‘green’ has often become associated with slick marketing campaigns frequently used to promote many undeserving companies and products such as grain- or oil-seed-based fuels, numerous so-called ‘clean coal’ technologies, and highly polluting waste-to-energy plants, or companies such as BP, Tate & Lyle, or Archer Daniels Midland. Cleantech companies also tend not to be regulated utilities or commodity product producers with little proprietary technology (low-end filters, activated carbon, ethanol).

‘Green’ also tends to connote things like organic foods, healthy lifestyles, and non-technology-driven products and services. Those are fine things, but not cleantech. Our investment thesis is that real long-term economic profits tend to be highly correlated with
intellectual property (typically patents) and its continued development. Moreover, the Cleantech Index (that underlies the PowerShares Cleantech ETF (ticker: PZD) seeks companies that have critical “game-changing” technology-driven products and services need address (and profit from) the massive and accelerating challenges mankind faces from climate change, pollution, water and resource scarcity, etc.

I hope that I have cleared things up for you.

Best,
Rafael

Travel Log: New Orleans

A few of us went down to New Orleans earlier this month to help my brother and his wife kick off their last few months in the city… I realized that NOLA has easily become one of my favorite cities in the U.S. and decided to write a post. While it is bit quieter now than it was pre-Katrina, NOLA keeps the good times rolling with its uniquely vibrant culture, warm-hearted locals, great food, and soulful music. Here are some of my recs for the Big Easy…

Eating: New Orleans is known specifically for Cajun and Creole cuisine, as well as generally southern cuisine. However, there’s plenty beyond that if you feel the need. Here are some memorable places I’ve been to (no particular order):

• Commander’s Palace – 5-star dining, local cuisine, historical restaurant, 25-cent martinis. Yes, martinis for $0.25. Our group of six went here for a friday lunch, ate lots, and got drunk on $5. Afterwards you can walk it off at the old cemetery across the street.
• Sunday jazz brunch at Court of Two Sisters – make reservations in advance! Exquisite buffet, great atmosphere (eat outside in the courtyard), great service (old southern charm in a tux), and beautiful live music.
• Sunday Jazz Brunch or Dinner at Muriel’s on Jackson Square – Great location, atmosphere, service, food, etc. The Sunday Jazz brunch offers very unique local cuisine (not buffet style), very tasty. The restaurant itself embodies the french quarter’s characteristic architecture and charm. Whether you dine here or not, you cannot leave NOLA without exploring the séance room above Muriel’s.
• Café du Monde – Tourists and locals alike find the coffee and beignets here irresistible (and a great deal). They’re open all day & night and if you’re lucky some local musician(s) will set up out front for an impromptu performance. If not, the people-watching will do.
• Surrey’s – My bro’s favorite brunch place and justifiably so… very fresh, very tasty, but tiny (so count on a wait). This is out on Magazine Street so it’s also less trafficked by tourists.
• Bennachin – West African food in the French Quarter. Small restaurant, good food, colorful atmosphere.

Bars/Nightlife: One of the things I love about New Orleans is that the weather and the laid-back culture make jeans and t-shirts appropriate almost anywhere at any time. But I would advise against flipflops if you’re going to a bar with wobbly drunk girls in heels…

• Bourbon Street - I hate Bourbon Street, but if you’ve never been you should stroll on through. Whether you’re there for Mardi Gras or Mother’s Day weekend, Bourbon will deliver on its promise of trash, tits, and vomit. Plenty of bars/clubs line the street, but the only rec I have is Pat O’Brien’s for their famous (and potent) Hurricanes. The open courtyard atmosphere also seems to raise its relative level of sophistication.
• Columns Hotel – This is a beautiful and historical hotel in the Garden District, where they’ve converted the ground floor into a public bar/lounge. Genuine elegance of an old Victorian construction and great ambiance for a mellow night.
• Lafitte’s Bar – Claims to be the oldest bar in the country by some qualified definition. It’s definitely the oldest bar I’ve been to and it’s worth checking out. Nothing fancy here… just another chill bar for some drinks… try the local beer Abita (Amber or Purple Haze).
• Marigny - The Marigny is a part of NOLA that’s slightly outside of the French Quarter. I think this is where most of the locals hang out. There’s a cluster of laid-back bars and restaurants here, including some great places to check out local music. I’ve been to the Hookah Cafe a couple of times and really like the joint. Great atmosphere, great hookah, and awesome live music (usually no cover).

Other things:

• Le Pavillon Hotel offers complimentary PBJ sandwiches at 10p.m. I’ve never had a chance to check that out and I’ve whined about it a fair bit.
• The ghost tour was fun when I was down there for Halloween. It’s a cool story-telling experience and a fun way to learn about the history of some of the buildings in the french quarter. The fact that you can drink outdoors in NOLA also makes this an interesting tour.
• Sports – It’s fun to attend a Saints or Hornets game just to see the showcase of New Orleans pride.
• Magazine Street – while it’s still recovering from a post-Katrina recession, Magazine Street is full of quaint shops, restaurants, and ice creameries.
• Harrah’s – If you gamble…

Travel Log: Argentina

I’ve been meaning to share some of my recent travel experiences on some site like RealTravel or Yahoo Travel, but out of laziness I’ve decided to just free-form it here. In the same vein, instead of doing a proper write-up on a trip to South America, I’m pasting an email rec I recently sent to a friend. I hope someone out there finds this helpful!
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Where/When: Argentina, Rio de Janeiro, and technically Chile. December 2007

What we planned in advance: Not much, really. Booked flights from/to SFO, booked most in-country Argentina flights on Aerolinas Agentinas because we knew where we wanted to go and approximately how many days we’d want to stay in each place. Booked hotel for first two nights in Buenos Aires. Nothing else. I think you can get by with booking most stuff while you’re there if you want to play it that way.

The day-to-day itinerary below is to my best recollection… I may be confusing some of the details between El Calafate and Iguazu… it’s a bit of a blur.

• Day 1: Flew from SFO to Buenos Aires, visited travel agency (Say Hueque) to map out rough itin in Patagonia
• Day 2: City tour of B.A. and visit to agency to finalize the itinerary and pay for stuff. The agency booked all of our hotel, ground transport, and tour stuff for the two weeks in Patagonia. Tango class and show at night. The class was interesting b/c there were 5 women to every one man. Show was good… don’t remember the name.
• Day 3: Flew from B.A. to Ushuaia and got there in the evening. Grabbed dinner.
• Day 4: All day hike/canoe around Tierra Del Fuego
• Day 5: Beagle Channel boat excursion. Flight to El Calafate.
• Day 6: All day excursion to Perito Moreno glaciar
• Day 7: Early bus to El Chalten. Hike 1, El Chalten (Fitz Roy peak). El Chalten overnight.
• Day 8: Hike 2 in El Chalten, bus back to El Calafate. El Calafate overnight.
• Day 9: Early morning bus to Torres del Paine (Chile). Hike in Torres, bus back to El Calafate that night. Calafate overnight.
• Day 10: Day in Calafate. Flight that night to B.A. en route to Iguazu. We opted to spend the night at the domestic airport in B.A. b/c we only had 7 hours or so between flights. Deck of cards came in handy.
• Day 11: Early flight to Iguazu Falls, slept, had a nice dinner, enjoyed some warm weather at our hotel
• Day 12: All day at Iguazu Falls
• Day 13: Ran around that morning in Puerto Iguazu to get visas and transport into Rio de Janeiro. We were supposed to fly back to B.A. this afternoon but decided last minute that we would rather spend a few days on the beach in Rio if we could swing it. Took about 4 hours to get into town, find the visa office, get photos for our visas, book flights, etc. Lots of running around involved. But by that evening we were in Rio…
• Day 14-17: Rio de Janeiro. Did some site seeing, some beach bumming, etc. It rained for two of the four days we were there so that ruined some of the site seeing but we were mostly there for the beach. I loved Rio.
• Day 17: Fly back to B.A.
• Day 18-20: B.A. shopping, exploring B.A. neighborhoods, Recoleta cemetery visit. Fly back to SFO on the last night.

Other thoughts:

• If you’re not much into the outdoorsy stuff and want to limit it, I would rank the Patagonia stuff as follows (strongest recs at the top of the list):
  • Perito Moreno – This was incredible and not too strenuous
  • Ushuaia Tierra del Fuego – loved this b/c it was our first outdoor excursion but also b/c our guides were awesome. We had one hiking guide and one canoe guide to our group of four. They also prepared a picnic for us that we had by the river. Other tour groups we saw that day were massive and didn’t seem to be getting the same quality of education and interaction that we did during ours.
  • El Chalten – lots of hikes in el chalten… the main attraction is Fitz Roy. You can choose the difficulty level based on the hikes available… hike on your own. The town of El Chalten is really tiny, but I can give you a great high-end restaurant rec.
  • Torres del Paine – if you’re in Chile and near this, I’d go. But we bussed four hours there and four hours back in the same day. Hiked only for an hour… it was the most breathtaking of all hikes (not including Perito Moreno), but it was freeeeezing and windy. I can’t imagine what this will be like during their winter.
  • Boat ride through Beagle Channel (Ushuaia) – skip this unless you’re obsessed with seals and birds. I was freezing and nauseous during most of this. Again, during their winter this will be brutal.
• If you’re ARE really into outdoorsy, I can put you in touch w/ Leigh. He took the rugged path on all of the above. He did a much more strenuous trek of Perito Moreno which involved zip-lining across a glacier crack (i would’ve loved that!) and actually hiked through Torres del Paine solo for a few days and stayed at hostels within the park (you will freeze to death if you do this during their winter). Definitely not for beginners – unlike US national parks, these areas are left in their natural state (no railings, minimal signage etc) so you’re very much on your own.
• Shopping in Rio was way pricier than expected. Save your dollars for B.A. shopping if you’re going to both. Galleria Pacifico has a lot of great stores – it’s their mall but has some local designer labels that I liked. I didn’t buy much but did find a kick-ass jacket that makes me feel like a badass.
• We stayed at Hotel Tribeca during our last couple of nights in B.A. I really liked this place and we ended up getting a great deal on it b/c we booked through the hotel kiosk at the airport on our way in. I think our rate was 50% off the rate posted at the hotel. Probably cheaper to book online also.

Okay – thats a ton of stuff to get you started. :-) Let me know if you need any specific info.

You know you’re in Silicon Valley when…

Michael Arrington argued the merits of Silicon Valley’s tech scene in a recent post on TechCrunch, creating a silly “bring it,” “oh it’s been brung” duel with Seattle. I mention this post because Michael makes one really important point that frames a recent personal experience: “Having literally tens of thousands of bright minds around you to listen to and challenge those ideas, as you do in Silicon Valley, gives entrepreneurs a critical competitive advantage.”

Case and point… Last week I took my car into the dealership for it’s regularly scheduled maintenance service and was being shuttled back to my office with two other passengers. During this 20 minute journey, the following events transpired…

We exchanged names and where each of us was from. We all agreed that Chicago is one of the best cities in the world (totally unrelated except that I manage to give props to my hometown in any honest manner possible). We discussed our professions… the gentleman in the passenger seat was a leading cardiologist and founder of a think tank on heart disease prevention (and he plays golf with the governor). He had an idea for a new medical process/procedure that he felt could be very lucrative and he was looking for someone to “talk to” in confidence about how to proceed. Lo and behold, the gentleman to my left was a science adviser (with a famous lineage) at an early stage investment firm…

This would all seem like fate or an utter coincidence if it hadn’t gone down in San Jose. To Michael’s point, ideation is accelerated in the Valley because, good or bad, biz plans are the small-talk of the Bay.  But to his sentiment about the inability to have a “balanced” life in the Valley, I would say that balance is defined differently for each of us… plus, I know plenty of geeks/entrepreneurs who make time to surf, snowboard, hike, bike, sail, camp, climb, play poker, etc., out here.

Coming soon…

My blogging rate has been abysmal of late, but not completely out of laziness. Most of my time and energy over the last few months have been devoted to a new venture… I spend my week stressed, exhausted, and at times my brain physically hurts. But most often I experience an immense sense of pride… especially as our hard work and vision start to take form. Here’s a teaser for what’s to come…

Help save Sameer’s life…

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a few weeks now, but didn’t want to spread the word until I had the green light. My friend Sameer Bhatia has been diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), a cancer of the blood, and is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant.

The added difficulty in this situation is that Sameer needs to find a match within the South Asian community and there just aren’t enough South Asians in the bone marrow registry. I read a statistic somewhere that a Caucasian person in need of bone marrow finds 5 matches on average. Meanwhile, a South Asian person in need finds 0-1. This should not be the case – there are over 1 billion Indians in the world!!

If you are ethnically South Asian, please register to donate bone marrow and encourage your friends and families to do the same – it’s so easy (literally an application form and a cheek swab)! If you have the time and motivation, help to set up a bone marrow drive in your area… especially if you live somewhere with a dense population of South Asians.

I’ve known Sameer for about 6 years now… He’s an incredible person and has always been a good friend and mentor to me. He is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, a Stanford alum, but most importantly is known to many for his efforts in launching the American India Foundation, Project DOSTI, TiE (Chicago), a microfinance fund, and other initiatives focused on helping others. The world is a better place because of people like him and it would be a terrible tragedy to lose him out of apathy.

Please help.

Offsetting your Cyberself

As “green” goes mainstream opportunities to offset one’s carbon footprint are becoming increasingly prevalent. Individuals can estimate their carbon footprint from household energy consumption and travel through many of the calculators available online. What I’d love to understand is the overall carbon footprint created by the thousands of servers around the world that host ever-increasing (rarely purged) heaps of useless online content (ahem, like my own).

According to an article in the Scoop Independent News, “a moderate size server has about the same annual carbon footprint as a gas-guzzling SUV getting 15 miles-to-the-gallon.” I was also shocked to find the following statement in Julian Bleecker’s Techkwondo blog: “Every year, every Avatar in Second Life produces CO2 emissions equivalent to a typical, honking, bloated, arrogant SUV driving 1,293 miles, based on the assumption that this kind of SUV generates 1 lbs of CO2 per mile.” The analysis is worth the read.

Growing numbers of large corporations are establishing carbon offsetting programs for good showmanship if not out of sincere social responsibility. But as the internet starts to grow its own long tail with the proliferation of Web 2.0 / 3.0 start-ups, I wonder how much of the overall IT-generated footprint is actually offset. I’m all for community-generated content and the democratization of media, but it’s important for users to understand that “free” web space comes at an ecological cost.

How many social profiles would average 20-somethings maintain if they had to offset their cyberspace consumption? And would it be worthwhile to blog “about nothing” if I had to offset my way in? If anyone out there has a model for measuring this type of thing, I’d love to see it.

Smokey & Simon, BFF

It’s been a while since I dedicated a post to my baby Smokey. Here are a couple of photos I took of him and his new pal Simon (brother’s refugee cat) during my last visit home. He seems very happy in his new home and with his new friend. But, I’m happy to report that he’s still up to his old tricks, plus some new ones.

Don’t blame us for Sanjaya!

Sanjaya, American Idol’s latest boy wonder (or boy blunder), continues to make the cut despite harsh criticism from the judges and a clear lack of talent. Apparently, pop-culturists the world over would like to know… who is voting for Sanjaya?

Some contend that it’s the throngs of teeny-boppers melting over his unfading smile and mickey mouse voice. Many hold Howard Stern responsible for urging his fans to vote for Sanjaya. Others argue that it’s the Indian diaspora voting for one of their own. (Although he seems like a very nice boy, I personally think we Indians would not choose Sanjaya as a poster-boy for the race… In fact I would ask for a seat at the table in Dave Chappelle’s racial draft: “White people, we’ll give you Deepak Chopra and Sanjaya if you give us Norah Jones.”) Anyway, I started this post when I came across this front-page MSNBC story exonerating the call center workers in India: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17964405/from/RS.3/

Woo-hoo!

I’d love to see a pie-chart approximating Sanjaya’s voting fan-base by demographic and location… And for those contemplating whether a victorious Sanjaya will be the death of American Idol, I am assuming that his run on AI is only boosting revenues in the short-term – I for one definitely didn’t tune in much before this season. And maybe Sanjaya’s rise to stardom is well-deserved… While I don’t see him winning any best supporting actor nominations, he sort of is poor brown man’s Keanu Reeves.

Sweet Home Chicago

So right after paying tribute to one of the many wonderful aspects of Bay Area living, I spent an incredible week at home in Chicago for my brother’s second wedding ceremony (one more to go!). While I was certain that my love for San Francisco ran deep, I must confess that this last week rekindled an old flame. Granted, my visit was during one of those big family gatherings where I was immersed in nothing but gushing & unwavering love… But even if it’s a result of slightly surreal circumstances, I’ve realized that Chicago is and will always be my first love.

The people. While Chicago proper is about three times the size of San Francisco, it has more of a small-town feel. It could be that Chicago is not a city of transplants in the way of SF and New York. Maybe it’s that the pace of life is a little slower and the value of friends & family seems more widely embraced. But without a doubt, it’s in large part due to the quality of the people. Chicagoans are warm and unpretentious and delighted to spend time chatting with strangers for no reason other than their gregarious nature. And while the midwest in general lacks the diversity of the coasts, Chicago is a celebration of cultural and ethnic diversity. The most prominent example of this diversity may be the number of ethnic neighborhoods in Chicago: Little Italy, Chinatown, Devon (the South Asian hub), and Pilsen to name a few. My personal favorite illustration, however, was during this last trip when I was negotiating the price on some pre-wedding shopping at Regal Sarees with Jose, the (fluently) Gujarati-speaking Mexican American. :-)

The weather. I can hear some of you out there gasping in disbelief, but I actually like Chicago weather. I do seriously hate the cold and aside from maybe the first snowfall of the season or the lighting of the Christmas tree in Daley Plaza, I cringe at the thought of Chicago winters. But. Boy oh boy do I love the warmer months… No city comes to life in the spring like one that’s been weathered by months of sub-zero wind chills. The dampening of the air, the warm nights, the fresh smell of rain clouds before a torrential downpour… and lightning! And while global warming seems to be taking its toll on Chicago summers, the city is a non-stop festival of music, food, and culture during these months. Tourists flock by the thousands to enjoy The Taste, The Blues Festival, the numerous world-class museums while residents take a break to soak in the sun at a number of city beaches.

The architecture. I’ve seen it a thousand times, but everytime I catch a glimpse (especially the westward view when crossing the river off of Lakeshore Drive) of the Chicago skyline, I fall in love. The city is a living testament to man’s ability to create beauty through form and function. Every towering structure is a work of art with it’s own unique story (take the architecture tour!). And if the architecture isn’t enough, the city is dotted with sculptures and murals by the likes of Picasso, Chagall, and most recently Anish Kapoor, the genius behind Cloud Gate (partially depicted in my photo above). My all-time favorite public art exhibit was Cows on Parade, unfortunately not a permanent fixture.

The fun. I still have many wonderful friends in Chicago, and my experience there is largely driven by these relationships. But a visit to Chicago will never leave one restless… With the many museums, parks, piers, tours, and shops, Chicago has exciting options for every visitor. And for the young at heart, the nightlife might be the piece de resistance… live music halls, chic lounges, cozy bars, and bass-thumping clubs (each with their own character) keep the fun going till the wee hours of the night. I’ve never been to an establishment in Chicago that I didn’t enjoy. In fact I am more often than not pleasantly surprised by the ambiance at random neighborhood bars… there’s something different and interesting behind each door.

The progression. Mayor Richard M. Daley is adored by his constituents and for good reason. Everytime I visit Chicago I’m impressed by the degree of progress the city has made since my last visit. Daley has done an incredible job cleaning up the city, inviting artists to add more interesting visuals throughout, improving the city infrastructure, and making Chicago more tourist-friendly. During this last visit I was proud to see the CTA running hybrid buses… And probably the most amusing sign of advancement (or early adoption) is depicted below – Millenium Park Patrol on a Segway!