Twitter, Stars and Clunkers Go

Posted on 5/7/2009 with 0 comments

All it took was a twitter.  Staying connected has always been important, but Gist Inc found that using the social networking capabilities of Twitter helped secure a Series A funding round of $6.75 million.

VC and private equity investors have lamented that the time to exit has more than doubled to now average 8-9 years.  These investors are looking at later stage companies in order to reduce the time to exit back to a more “reasonable” 4-5 years.  The WSJ reports that this is providing opportunities for VCs to get into companies that they may have previously passed on.

EnerNOC Stock Price History

Smart Grid company, EnerNOC, reported losses less than expected for Q1 2009.  The stock price has been on a tear since last fall (…no correlation to Presidential elections??) and has more than doubled so far this year.  Despite this increase, the company is still off by almost 66% from its highs of $49.99 in late 2008.  However, this would be a clear example on the payoff of smart grid hype.  If their revised estimates hold, then the 2009 loss should equal ~-$20 million versus a 2008 loss of -$37 million.

Nuclear Fusion?

A star is (to be) born.  The Lawrence Livermore National Ignition Facility is expecting to create a self-sustaining nuclear fusion reaction through the use of concentrated 192 high powered lasers.  While “new” sources of energy are welcome, it would seem that scale and cost might make this out of practical reach for the near future.

The House Energy & Commerce Committee has reached an agreement on the bill (HR 1550) language for a “cash for clunkers” program whereby cars and trucks with mpg less than 18 can be traded in for vouchers worth between $3,500 to $4,500 depending on the mpg of the new car to be purchased.  It would appear that the “assembled in the United States” language has been dropped, but details are still emerging.  The government expects that over 1 million cars will be taken off the road. (Not clear on where they will go… scrap heap or remote secondary market??).  Consumer Reports latest survey of the most fuel efficient vehicles still indicate that (at least) the top 13 are foreign made.

Cash for Clunkers