SVLG – Energy Summit
It’s always fun to go places!
You get to see and hear different things, and meet people who are very unique and offer very interesting perspectives and opinions. I’ve been a little slow writing this post since I’ve been traveling – and I finally have some down time as I wait my delayed flight to Beijing, China. The last 2 weeks were a hectic schedule – with numerous dinner meetings in Shanghai and dealing with the hot weather that China is currently experiencing. Not that this blog post is about China (which I will of course write about later…) but this trip has given me some extra time to think and reflect upon the “other” trip I just took – which was the SVLG Energy Event. This took place at Stanford just days before I headed off… So.. let’s talk SVLG!
What can I say? Lots of interesting and smart people all huddled in various auditoriums and conference rooms. People talking, smart people listening, and smart people networking. It was a long event – starting at 8;30 (of course with traffic from SF I tend not to be the early bird and arrived somewhere around 9:30. Fashionably late – but in good spirits!
Check out the above video for some “live from the street” attendee perspectives. Thanks to those folks that were kind enough to share their thoughts as I zoomed in on them and stopped them in their tracks!
To give you some additional content for the event – let me share a quick pick of the agenda. As I sit in the airport – I realize pictures are worth a 1000 words – and it just so happens that I scanned the agenda… here is the lunch time session that I attended:
Any chance I get to hear a VC panel – just sign me up! Now these guys were fun and educational to listen to. They each had their own personalities come thru nicely on stage – which I really appreciated – since listening to robotic like text-book MBA’s doesn’t really do to much for me. These guys were good. These guy were smart. I listened and took notes!
Random Key Points/Topics
+ to introduce efficiencies – -> you do need to spend capital
+ this is an industry in formation
+ requires enterprise and consumer participation
+ the challenge is “behavior” not “technology” related
+ need to engage consumer/enterprise across full value chain
+ need to spin value proposition so corporate will buy it – need to see employee/bottom line benefit
This discussion was a good eye opener for anyone thinking that “green = a fast enterprise sale” It just ain’t so folks…and as we trod through this learning curve (both for the vendors and the enterprises) it will take time for everyone to get comfortable and for the adoption velocity to increase and strong selling markets to develop. Behavioral changes just take time…
