I attended the Strategic News Service’s Future in Review conference (a.k.a. FiRe) last week in San Diego and thought I’d highlight a few topics of current interest real quick: alternative energy, biomimicry, and global innovation / economic development.

It is hard to read a paper, watch TV, or listen to radio these days without being bombarded with what is happening in alternative energy and as we continue to look for clean, renewable, cost-effective sources of energy alternative to fossil fuels we are creating our future… so it stands to reason that any such futurist conference would thematically cover alternative energy.  The FiRe conference included demo’s of Tesla Motors‘ 100% electric Roadster (which I neglected to drive for some strange reason despite being able to do 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds), Altairnano’s SUV and SUT electric conversion kits, and discussions with folks from Imperium Renewables and A123 Systems.  Given the VC money, socio-economic and political influence flowing into the alternative energy sectors, I feel we truly are creating our future and that we will be collectively successful in implementing viable alternative energy solutions.

Biomimicry is the application of methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology (see Bionics) and, while it has been around for some time, has recently come to the forefront as a case study for how to do multidisciplinary R&D.  I was enthralled listening to  Jane Benyus (author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, head of the Biomimicry Institute and, by many accounts, the “Godmother of Biomimicry”) describe several such multidisciplinary projects and began to mentally connect the dots of several bioinformatics and nanobiotechnology (or is it bionanotechnology?) projects I’ve heard about at various universities.  It is hard to beat nature when it comes to efficiency of design and I look forward to being involved with one or more of these projects in the years to come.

The last topic I’ll highlight is global innovation / economic development.  While I realize it is arguably two separate topics, I can assure you that it is routinely discussed and practiced as one mutually inclusive topic from a governmental and/or corporate perspective.  We are living in a world that, to quote Thomas Friedman, is flat.  VCs are investing in India, China, Brazil and other developing countries as innovation continues at an accelerated pace driven by a combination of favorable economic conditions, skilled labor, improving legal systems, and a global entrepreneurial zest that is contagious.  I spent 10-15 nights a month in developing countries for several years while at Intel and feel we are living in an increasingly shrinking world.   Foreign universities and institutes are beginning to transfer world-class technology to indigenous start-ups and multinationals alike.  The FiRe conference had panels on the rise of China and Russia as economic superpowers where we discussed what the world will look like if (when?) the balance of economic power shifts (or at least decentralizes).  We also discussed global tech transfer and various legal systems around the world.  All in all, a good conference.

Until next post, aloha.

I took my first Sand Hill Road pilgrimage last week and left with an overwhelming sense of clarity as a number of my profession’s mysteries were explained during my trip.  There is something to be said for being able to visit with a half dozen or more of the “top tier” funds by simply walking door-to-door.  For example, some of these funds literally share bathroom facilities and parking lots.  I realize how hard this may be for some of you to fathom given the dearth of active venture capital funds in southern California and just how spread out we all are.  It’s strange, I lived in Silicon Valley for almost five years, but somehow my visit to the hallowed halls of venture capital was somewhat different this time around.

I spent the day discussing the state of affairs in the Tech Coast with respect to which venture funds are actively investing, what local sectors seem the most promising, and general similarities and differences from Silicon Valley.  The general sentiment seems to be that the analog / mixed-signal semiconductor and digital media sectors are of particular interest to the Sand Hill Road gang (I only met with technology and media investors), but most seemed willing to look at other deals if they met their valley standards.  I explained my background, the background of my fund, and the types of deals I’m seeing and doing.  While I think I understand how this happened, I found it somewhat odd that a vast number of the GPs I met with truly couldn’t empathize with my fund-raising experiences.  I guess that’s just what happens when you join one of the venerable top-tier funds that have been around for awhile.  In any event, I enjoyed the visit immensely and look forward to continuing a number of the dialogs that I’ve established there and the new relationships to come.  I’m off to the Future in Review conference so until next time, safe travels.

As I sat stretching on the beach in the pre-dawn light the other day, I thought through the metaphor that surfing is (in some ways) to the world of venture capital. There are those that simply woke up and decided to go surfing and then did – determining that they would simply figure it out along the way. Some do, some don’t. I took a more deliberate approach to the sport over the past ten years or so and am just now starting to truly appreciate it for what it is and what I’ve learned. I have a lot more to learn, but the bullets below are simply my shorthand for what I’ve experienced thus far so I thought I’d share them with all of you to see whether you see the similarities I see.

- Randomly encountering surfing through friends and classmates

- Becoming, for some strange and unknown reason, fascinated with it

- Passing fascination turning into avid enthusiasm

- Regularly watching the sport in awe and wanting to “do what they do”

- Beginning to spend time with surfers

- Spending time at the beach and in the ocean just to be in their element

- Finally going surfing for the first time

- Stretching and preparing to ride

- Spending a fair amount of time just watching the waves and sizing up the challenges and opportunities

- Taking the initial plunge

- Paddling out without first determining where the channel is

- Watching where others paddle out to find the channel

- Paddling out to where the waves are

- Waiting in the line-up with others that have also discovered “the secret spot”

- The mad scrabble charge to catch a wave in a crowded line-up

- The first wave you catch

- The first successful pop-up while on a wave

- The tightening in the pit of your stomach during your initial drop-in as you begin to race down the face of your first wave

- Feeling pure exhilaration while riding your first wave

- Catching more waves

- Catching waves more consistently

- Truly learning patience between sets

- Appreciating the fortitude required to paddle back out after a nasty wipe out

- Learning to surf with style

- Learning there are surfers who respect and appreciate the sport and there are those that don’t

- Knowing when you’ve had enough for the day

- Knowing when it’s the best it’s ever been… and staying out longer to take advantage of it

- Losing all track of time on the best of and worst of surf sessions

- Respecting something that is far greater than you can generally fathom

- Appreciating the skill and timing (and luck) required to catch the perfect wave in the perfect conditions

        - Beginning to research and theorize where to find perfect waves

- Learning what the perfect conditions are and where and when to find them

- Traveling to numerous (often remote) places searching for the “perfect” wave

- Not always catching the “best wave of the day”

- Learning there will be others – there always are.

- Catching waves that you later wish you hadn’t

- Catching the perfect wave in the perfect conditions

- Reliving that perfect wave and those perfect conditions over and over in your dreams

- Continuing to search for that feeling again…

Happy surfing!

I’ve been buried the past couple of weeks but thought I’d take a few minutes to share a brief historical aside about VC in OC.  I sat down with Chuck Martin several weeks ago to speak with him about the history of venture capital in Orange County and to get his perspective on the future of VC in OC and the industry as a whole (thanks again, Chuck).  For those of you that don’t know Chuck, he is considered the patriarch of venture capital in southern California.  Chuck formed Enterprise Partners Venture Capital in Orange County in early 1984 (holding the final close in February 1985) with roughly $30M under management from a mixture of institutional and corporate limited partners and began building his team and portfolio.  He explained how the industry was much more collegial back then and that Enterprise had its pick of the litter being virtually the only institutional investor in the area.  He brought Jim Berglund in to set up their La Jolla office in 1985 and Jim Gauer to open their L.A. office in 1988 — essentially giving them complete coverage of southern California’s venture landscape back then.  Chuck also pointed out how a $30M fund was formidable in those days and that their first few funds were all top-decile performers.  We discussed a number of deals and related activities at length and then moved on to the future of VC in OC.  Like a lot of us in the industry here, Chuck is very bullish on our collective prospects here in OC given the breadth and depth of industries in southern California as a whole, the sheer number of and our proximity to top technical universities that consistently produce cutting-edge research (CalTech, USC, UCLA, UCI, UCR, and UCSD), as well as our favorable geographical climate and general quality of life.  I, for one, am very encouraged about the VC ecosystem in and around OC and feel our impact to the region as a whole is just now beginning to be understood and appreciated.  Until next time, aloha.