|
Mr Bill Gross, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Energy Innovations, USA
 1) Briefly tell us what it is about your company/project that makes it so special?
We have developed a method of concentrating sunlight to dramatically reduce the cost of solar energy. So far, we have cut the price of solar electricity in half, and we plan to cut the price in half again by the end of decade. These price points have huge implications for both the grid-connected world, but maybe even more so for the developing world. We feel that the low cost solar electricity we have developed can radically improve the standard of living around the world, as well as reduce pollution and greenhouse gases.
2) What country best facilitates starting a tech company? What single thing can a government do to encourage Technology Pioneers?
I think that companies that provide access to capital for good ideas – that have a clean meritocracy for the distribution of capital – are the ideal ones for technology companies. I feel that the United States is the best country in the world for this. In addition, the United States has one of the most risk-taking cultures – allowing failure, while at the same time highly rewarding business success.
The best thing that a government can to do encourage technology pioneers is to make it easy for entrepreneurs at heart to be entrepreneurial, which usually means getting out of the way. Governments need to have low/no red tape to start and grow a business to fully harness the dynamo that a founder of company is trying to unleash.
3) What makes an innovator?
An innovator needs to be a dreamer. An innovator needs to be able to see something that could happen out in time, and bring that in closer by creating the environment to make an idea succeed before it would have without their unique twist. An innovator needs to be an extreme risk-taker, but also naïve. If the innovator is too sensible or realistic, then he/she would not take the big chances in the first place. And these are necessary, but not sufficient conditions for success. An innovator still faces Everest-sized challenges at every turn, because change is so hard – but an innovator persists despite that because his passion is even higher than that mountain.
4) How does your company directly contribute to improving the state of the world?
We are creating the first cost-effective, distributed solar electricity solution for the world. This means that we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels in rich countries, and raise the standard of living for people in poor countries. Cost effective electricity is a baseline key to the development of all other sources of well-being, from comfort to safety, from clean water to affordable health care, from education to economic development.
5) What value do you hope to gain from being a Technology Pioneer?
I hope to change the world – to make the world a better place with technology. I can’t wait to meet other pioneers and world leaders who can help me achieve my dreams, and me theirs. At Idealab, we are always launching exciting new technology businesses, and I hope to share some of ideas with others and meet with people who share our passions.
6) What do you think the role of technology should be in society?
I feel that technology enables prosperity and knowledge, and hopefully, as a result of that, tolerance. I feel that has been the case throughout history, but is even more so now as a result of the planet shrinking as a result of global communications. Therefore, I feel that technology should be used as a powerful tool in improving society and increasing the health and well-being of the world’s population.
7) What is the right balance in society between scientific interest and ethical concerns?
Although the defining of what is ethical or not is tricky, I would say that society should try to balance more to the “ethical” side of the continuum. However, I believe that the role of ethics is not to curb the pursuit of knowledge but to focus its use toward productive and peaceful ends.
|
