The problem with green startup companies

There are 3 things you need to run a successful startup company:

1. Good idea
2. Money
3. Business talent

It's very tough to find any of these 3 attributes in a startup company. As as an entrepreneurship major, I look around the landscape and find many people with great ideas but they are mom and pops without any money. I see people throwing money at green ideas that just don't work. The worst are companies who actually have a good idea and solid backing but yet lack the business acumen to bring it to the forefront. I do not want to sit here and rip on some companies because I believe in what these companies are doing and hope they can find there way.

I don't think the greenboat has left the yard yet. The industry is still an infant and calling in to get their flight plans. As I mentioned a few weeks back most Americans can't name a pureplay green company. I think it's going to take a few IPO's to catch to really get the ball rolling. Hoepfully, with the sucess of the OpenTable and Rosetta Stone IPO's in the recent months the heyday for IPO's will come back.

Two companies I'm looking at to IPO soon are solar panel maker Solyndra and smart grid company Silver Spring. Solyndra recently secured a $535 milion loan guarantee from the government in March. Not bad for a 4 year old company from Fremont. They use a propietary technology to make the best solar panels and have opened offices in Munich and Taiwan. Silver Spring Networks is fixing the smart grid. They have the Kleiner Perkins stamp of approval. There software and services will reduce carbon emissions and increase this countries energy efficiency. Here's to hoping the "green collar" economy is our new economy.