5 ms·

These types of things have, historically, been terrible investments.

peller 10y ago
Couldn't you have said the same thing about investing in internet businesses in 2002? And you'd have been correct - but oh so wrong.
- E_Dobroslav 10y ago
  I'm suspicious of vague "feel good" investments. Investing in particular approaches or technologies that look profitable, yes, putting a billion dollars into a vague "feel good" pot isn't a recipe for success.
  - peller 10y ago
    I'm not convinced that statement applies to this particular fund's goals. The first greentech "boom" you mentioned in another reply, to me was very much like the dot-com boom. Everybody wanted in on the gold rush, and very few of them actually knew their (engineering) stuff. Even those that did, many got taken out with the fall. Classic hype cycle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle My point is, given that most of the tech is now economically competitive (or about to be), these guys are betting that we're entering the "slope of enlightenment." And given some of the names on that board, I'm inclined to believe they know what they're doing.
    - mistermann 10y ago
      Good point I think, the timing does look about right. This would be a bit similar to smart phones, as well as VR where we're now on try #2 and I think the technology is good enough this time to get a large number of early adopters on board.
grzm 10y ago
What examples are you thinking of?
- E_Dobroslav 10y ago
  Greentech startups early this century. Basicly all of them failed.
  - grzm 10y ago
    Any in particular stand out to you?
    - mistermann 10y ago
      All the fuel cell companies, Ballard comes to mind: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=BLDP&t=my&l=on&z=l&q=l&c= https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=BLDP&t=my&l=on&z=l&q=l&c... But you can't fault them for trying, and it sounds to me like this fund isn't investing necessarily with a high likelihood of making money, hence the 20 year time frame.
      - grzm 10y ago
        Thanks for the link!
      - lpaone 10y ago
        Despite what Elon Musk says, fuel cells aren't dead in the slightest. Yes there has been some stagnation in innovation from the major players, buy there has also been some significant and ground breaking improvements in fuel cell efficiency in the past few years. At least one company that I know of, Loop Energy, has proven (independently verified) fuel cell tech that will soon make cargo trucks 0-emissions. (Note: My brother was the lead engineer and basically developed this) https://loopenergy.com/ https://loopenergy.com/ Sure it has taken a while, but things like this would not have been possible without that initial investment in fuel cells.
    - mikeyouse 10y ago

Couldn't you have said the same thing about investing in internet businesses in 2002? And you'd have been correct - but oh so wrong.

E_Dobroslav 10y ago
I'm suspicious of vague "feel good" investments. Investing in particular approaches or technologies that look profitable, yes, putting a billion dollars into a vague "feel good" pot isn't a recipe for success.
- peller 10y ago
  I'm not convinced that statement applies to this particular fund's goals. The first greentech "boom" you mentioned in another reply, to me was very much like the dot-com boom. Everybody wanted in on the gold rush, and very few of them actually knew their (engineering) stuff. Even those that did, many got taken out with the fall. Classic hype cycle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle My point is, given that most of the tech is now economically competitive (or about to be), these guys are betting that we're entering the "slope of enlightenment." And given some of the names on that board, I'm inclined to believe they know what they're doing.
  - mistermann 10y ago
    Good point I think, the timing does look about right. This would be a bit similar to smart phones, as well as VR where we're now on try #2 and I think the technology is good enough this time to get a large number of early adopters on board.

grzm 10y ago

What examples are you thinking of?

E_Dobroslav 10y ago
Greentech startups early this century. Basicly all of them failed.
- grzm 10y ago
  Any in particular stand out to you?
  - mistermann 10y ago
    All the fuel cell companies, Ballard comes to mind: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=BLDP&t=my&l=on&z=l&q=l&c= https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=BLDP&t=my&l=on&z=l&q=l&c... But you can't fault them for trying, and it sounds to me like this fund isn't investing necessarily with a high likelihood of making money, hence the 20 year time frame.
    - grzm 10y ago
      Thanks for the link!
    - lpaone 10y ago
      Despite what Elon Musk says, fuel cells aren't dead in the slightest. Yes there has been some stagnation in innovation from the major players, buy there has also been some significant and ground breaking improvements in fuel cell efficiency in the past few years. At least one company that I know of, Loop Energy, has proven (independently verified) fuel cell tech that will soon make cargo trucks 0-emissions. (Note: My brother was the lead engineer and basically developed this) https://loopenergy.com/ https://loopenergy.com/ Sure it has taken a while, but things like this would not have been possible without that initial investment in fuel cells.
  - mikeyouse 10y ago