Mike Biddle - Mike Biddle is the Co-founder and CEO of MBA Polymers, a company focusing on expanding the research capabilities in the area of plastics recycling.
Ira Ehrenpreis - Ira Ehrenpreis has been with Technology Partners since 1996. Ira leads the firm’s Cleantech investment practice, investing in Energy Technology, Water Technology, and Materials Science opportunities.
Ira is a recognized leader in both the Cleantech and Venture Capital communities. He is a member of several industry Advisory Boards, including the Cleantech Venture Network (Emeritus), the Clean-Tech Investors Summit (2005, 2006 and 2007 Conference Chairman), the Energy Investors Forum (2004 Conference Chairman), the Energy Venture Fair, the California Climate Change Advisory Board, the Southern California Tech Coast Alliance, the Golden Capital Network, the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), and the Comerica Venture Capital Advisory Board. Ira has been featured as the Keynote speaker at both the Cleantech Venture Forum VI and the Cleantech Venture Forum V, as well as countless other industry events.
Jennifer Fonstad - Jennifer Fonstad is a Managing Director at Draper Fisher Jurvetson, having joined the firm in 1997. Ms. Fonstad has worked for 20 years with both large corporations and start-ups to help build their organizations. At Draper Fisher Jurvetson, her investments span a broad set of both technology and life sciences companies including Internet services, wireless networks, medical devices, cleantech, and nanotechnology. She brings strategic leadership and a strong network to bear as a member of the Board for her investments.
Dirk Michels - Prior to practicing law in California, Dirk Michels had been an attorney in Hamburg, Germany for several years. His primary practice areas are international business transactions, primarily in corporate, financing, licensing and intellectual property matters. Mr. Michels represents domestic and foreign, especially German, entities doing business in the United States and Europe. His practice focuses on primarily small and mid-cap companies in the information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and renewable energy industries.
John Woolard - John co-founded Silicon Energy, one of the first successful clean tech companies, and was President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board from 1997 to 2003. Following Itron’s acquisition of Silicon Energy, John served as its Vice President of Software Solutions and subsequently the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. Prior to BrightSource Energy, John was an Executive-in-Residence in VantagePoint Venture Partner’s CleanTech Group and remains a Venture Partner with the firm.
With over twenty years in the energy technology field, John has worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, PG&E, and Alpine Software. He is co-author of a patent for web-based Energy Management systems and has been a member of the executive sessions on National Energy Policy in Washington D.C. John is a Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and has served on the Board of the California Clean Energy Fund, the Tuolumne River Preservation Trust, and the Strategic Advisory Board for Xcel Energy.
John holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley, a Masters in Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia.
The Green Rush: Prospects, Perils, and Opportunities with discussants Mike Biddle, Jennifer Fonstad, Dirk Michels, and John Woolard. This event is moderated by Ira Ehrenpreis.
This panel will discuss: Which green technologies will prove to be truly world-changing, which will be good investments, and which will turn out to be over-hyped? What government actions will have the greatest impact? Will funding continue to grow at the impressive rate experienced in the past 24 months or is another bubble set to burst? Where are the opportunities in the lower-tech side of clean tech including recycling, fuel cell membranes, green building, and conservation? Is there a downside to being green?- Churchill Club, sponsored by the Silicon Valley Bank and Ernst & Young
