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Crazy Green Energy Idea: Update

Posted on March 19, 2007
Filed Under Science, Business, Social Ventures | 3 Comments

It turns out that it’s not too hard to build your own bike powered generator. There is a shareware guide available and a man by the name of B. Whaley even created a shopping list on amazon that includes everything you need down to the bike so you don’t even need to shop. This particular bike powered generator will output a max of 150 watts and it is 12V DC.

Ed Begley, Jr. has made toast with this very contraption on his HGTV series Living with Ed so it definitely works. Bottom Line: If you’re handy, have 2 - 3 hours and about $1,200 (according to the amazon list - of course you may already have the bike and some of the other parts and you may even be able to find used parts so it could cost much less) you could be making human power after one Saturday afternoon of work.  Maybe hooking up gyms with these kind of contraptions could work afterall.

Crazy Green Energy Idea: Part 1

Posted on March 7, 2007
Filed Under Science, Business, Social Ventures | 4 Comments

The other day I was talking about energy and “green” stuff with some of my FeedBurner colleagues when an idea bubbled up. What if we could harness all of the energy put out by people exercising? Just think about how many gyms there are in the country and how much energy is being put out by people cycling, running, using the elliptical, etc. They could yield a lot of power. Of course we’d have to store it and then have the energy company buy it back from us for it to be worthwhile.

I see the business model, assuming this is even a viable idea and the energy produced would even add up to a decent amount (any scientists out there?), coming together in one of two ways.

Model 1: Hooking up to Existing Gyms

This model, as the title states, would involve hooking up to existing gyms and then selling the power back to the energy companies. You could set the gyms up for power storage at no cost to the gym owner and provide them with a cut of the power sales. The gym owners may even be sold on attaining a “green” label for their gym which would allow all of the profits to stay within the company although something tells me they would want a cut of the profits.

I also thought of selling and installing the equipment and then allowing the gym owner to keep all of the power profits but I don’t see this as likely. The gym owners don’t want more hassle and their competency is not storing and selling power. However, this idea could work also.

Model 2: Start the Gyms

Again, as the title states, you could start the gyms and build in the power storing architecture from day one. Of course this wouldn’t take advantage of the “install base” of existing gyms but you could expand into that arena. If the power sales were great enough you could allow free or next to free gym access so more people would use your gym. As a side benefit, this would also lower the barrier to entry of working out allowing more people to get fit. Now you’d be helping to solve both the global warming problem and the obesity problem. How’s that for a social venture?

Of course I have no idea if this is even feasible at this point but it seemed interesting. I will keep researching the science side of this and I’d love feedback from all of you guys out there on whether or not you think this is feasible and whether or not you think we’d get squeezed by the power companies. This could just be crazy enough to work (or maybe I’ll need to start laying off the Cadbury Creme Eggs).

Photo Credit: Michael Hicks on Flickr

Post Spotlight: March 6, 2007

Posted on March 6, 2007
Filed Under VC, Technology, Business, Web 2.0, Social Ventures | 1 Comment

There were a lot of great posts in the last 24 hours which I am normally content to leave in the “Posts Worth Reading” on the right hand side of the site. However, these posts in particular deserve some spotlight so I am going to do a quick round-up for all of you. Here it goes!

Good Magazine Launches

I found out about Good Magazine via my friend Frank’s post. Since he did a great job explaining it I won’t delve into too much detail. Suffice it to say that Good Magazine will tap into the new social movement and talk about people and businesses doing good in the world. With so much of the news out there being about bad things Good Magazine is truly a breath of fresh air. They are also donating a lot of money to charity which is definitely a good thing. They have both print and web editions so you get to choose how you want to read Good (100% of your print subscription payment goes to the organization of your choice).

The Barenaked Ladies Release New Album DRM Free via Amie Street

As some of you know I am advisor to Amie Street so I was excited to see that they recently signed a deal with the Nettwerk Music Group. Nettwerk will be loading their catalogue of artists onto Amie Street going forward with the first album being the new Barenaked Ladies release. This is a huge step forward for Amie Street since it will show that they can work for larger labels and artists. When other large labels start understanding that DRM free music at market determined prices is the way to go Amie Street will be there to make it happen. Nice work guys!

Business Tips Gleaned from Mountain Biking

Paul Kedrosky has a great post today about things in mountain biking that are analogous to business. Being a mountain biker myself (at least until I moved out to the flatlands to join FeedBurner) I would agree whole heartedly with his observations. Check out the post even if you’re not a biker because there are some good business tips to be had.

Are you thinking of working for a start-up?

Reginald Braithwaite has a post up today about how to value the options you receive as part of joining a start-up to see if it is “worth it.” While a lot of us do the start-up thing mainly because we want to work on a project we’re passionate about and with people who are at the top of their respective games we still need to make a living. This post isn’t super technical which is why I love it. It simply shows you how to look at the numbers from the start-up in comparison to a more stable job (what job is really stable anyway?) in order to figure out the overall financial impact of joining a start-up. A couple quick takeaways: 80% of ventures fail so be prepared for failure - and - be the entrepreneur/founder if you really want to have the chance to do better money wise (entrepreneur is above employee in the scheme of things but also carries more risk).

A Change in Social Networking

Posted on February 14, 2007
Filed Under Social Ventures | 3 Comments

Change.org recently launched and I love the concept. The guys behind Change.org have created a social networking tool specifically geared toward non-profits. The usual social networking elements that we all know and love are there but they have added new elements specific to non-profits.

Users can rally around certain “changes” (groups) which can be anything from ending global warming to preserving net neutrality. Once people rally around changes they want to see take place they can then find charities that are working on those changes and “become friends” with them. If they want to, Change.org will even process donations to those charities. No money, no problem. You can head to the “actions” section of the site and find volunteer opportunities in your area posted by charities and other users.

Change.org will take 1% of every dollar donated as their revenue and they also hope to support the business through promotional campaigns that non-profits will run on the site.

Check out Change.org when you have a chance and start making a difference!

DonorsChoose: Helping You Help Teachers (and Students)

Posted on January 8, 2007
Filed Under Social Ventures | Leave a Comment

DonorsChoose is a site I learned about recently that allows people like you and I to help teachers get what they need for their classrooms. The process to find and help a teacher is very simple:

Head to DonorsChoose.org and search their database of needs. The search is actually pretty comprehensive as you can see below.

Once you find an opportunity you can fund all or part of the request giving you flexibility. After the request has been fully funded, DonorsChoose will buy the supplies and send them along to the teacher. If that wasn’t cool enough you’ll then receive a package of letters and photographs from the students.

One of my best buds is currently a teacher in the NYC public school system and my aunt is a public school teacher in Massachusetts so this system hits home to me. That said, I was a little upset when I learned that some school systems aren’t allowing teachers to use DonorsChoose due to beurocratic issues (i.e. school committee needs to approve everything, worried about bribery or people influencing kids with certain products, etc.). However, I think DonorsChoose has a set up in which most of these concerns are quelled.

Hopefully more schools will embrace DonorsChoose and similar concepts over time because the kids will ultimately benefit and that’s what’s important.

Side Note: The good people over at the Omidyar Network are backing DonorsChoose.  If you weren’t convinced of the quality of this program already that should do it for you.

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