Ideatrotter

Solar-Powered Vessel Completed Its Journey Around The World

After 584 days of traveling around the world, the solar-powered vessel Turanor PlanetSolar finally docked in Monaco. The vessel along with its 5-member crew is the first ship to travel using zero fuel. Instead, it relied on solar energy for power. This solar-powered vessel was first conceptualized by Rapheal Domian in 2004. After 2 years of design and development, the vessel was created with a solar photovoltaic surface area of more than 530 square meters and a capacity of 93.5 kilowatts. 

Also covered in the video is Jersey winning an award for top 10 destinations with the most installed solar panels and San Diego Gas Electric recognizing 13 masters of energy conservation, also called energy champions.

Changing Africa | Tony Blair

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a Stanford audience that much-needed economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot go forward without improvements in governance. Blair is now the founder and patron of the African Governance Initiative, which works in Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

Future of Facebook Mobile | David Morin

David Morin, chief executive officer of Path and a former Facebook Inc. employee, talks about the largest social-networking company’s culture and opportunities in mobile applications.

Verizon Shows Off Its Hurricane Force

Verizon showcases how it uses mobile cell sites to restore wireless services after hurricanes and other disasters.

Azumio turns your phone into a biofeedback device

Whether it is analyzing your heart rate, controlling stress, or tracking your sleep patterns, Silicon Valley-based Azumio is using smartphone technology to give users a better and more accurate picture of your health. In this video, SmartPlanet gets a demo from Azumio’s Jen Grenz on how the entire process.

Making Energy Matter | Ben Foster

Ben Foster manages the creation, design, and delivery of Opower’s products, ensuring the company continues to build the industry’s leading suite of energy information services. He is responsible for the company’s products from a variety of perspectives, including features, functionality, user experience, and roadmap. Prior to Opower, Ben was VP of Product Management for Adchemy, a leader in digital advertising technology. While there, he was responsible for the company’s entire product suite supporting lead generation and Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings.

Before joining Adchemy, Ben led dozens of consumer-oriented product management efforts spanning the disciplines of marketing, merchandising, search, structured data, and technology integration at companies such as eBay, Webvan, ThoughtWorks, and Barra. He maintains a blog about best practices in product management and design, PMRant. Ben holds a BA in Statistics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Why Business Schools Don’t Breed Entrepreneurs

Stanford’s Steve Blank explains the history of the MBA and the difference between business startups and large corporations.

The Renewable Energy Island Of Denmark | Samso

Welcome to Samso, an island off the coast of Denmark. Here is an example of something so remarkable: a community pulling together, investing together, and succeeding at becoming completely energy independent.

In 1998 they had a bold plan to switch to renewable energy. The civic leaders hit the road and convinced 450 island residents to invest in wind power. The farmers liked the idea of making money on the power they could sell back to the grid, as there is plenty of wind on the island.

They formed a cooperative and put up 2 windmills. Private investors put up another 5. These windmills produce more electricity than the island consumed, and they recouped their investment completely within a few years.

Meet an electrician who installed his own wind turbine. He powers his whole house, an electric car and again, because of selling energy back to the grid; his $30,000 wind turbine will have paid for itself in just 5 years. He can look forward to a lifetime of no energy bills, and needs no gas for the car.

When the islanders decided to install 10 offshore windmills, they produced so much power that Samso was now completely carbon neutral.

“We would rather buy our energy from our neighbor or another investor on the island than we would pay (suppliers in) The Middle East or an oil company. We just like the money to stay on the island.” says a resident. This is fascinating example of clear thinking and cooperation.

Leveraging Relationships Between Bulge Bracket Banks & Startups

The Wharton Entrepreneurs Workshop, developed jointly by Wharton | San Francisco and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, features Gary Johnson, Vice President at Credit Suisse, discussing the current and projected state of the U.S. public equity markets, the financial and business attributes of a startup that are essential for a successful IPO or acquisition, and investment areas that are attracting the most attention in the technology sector.

Johnson also outlines what startups can expect to gain by establishing early relationships with traditional investment banks and how those relationships evolve.