The Cleantech Entrepreneur Experience

Wednesday, November 9; 6:30-8:30pm

A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.

At this month’s Net Impact SF gathering, we will be discussing what it really takes to start, run and grow a cleantech company. Speakers will share their perspectives and insights, based on their experience, on how and where to get funding (e.g. VCs, banks,friends); when to partner with other entities and what to expect; how to build a great team & working board; setting realistic expectations for the company; how to persevere while growing the company; and more.

We are featuring a few inspiring and approachable speakers, including:

Tushar Dave, CEO and Co-Founder, enlighted. Prior to enlighted, Tushar was the co-founder and managing director of New Path Ventures, a venture fund focused on seed and early stage software and services investments. He has been a serial entrepreneur with successful exits with Arcus, which was sold to Cypress Semiconductor, and Armedia, which was sold to Broadcom. Tushar has an MS degree in computer science from Syracuse University and a BS degree from University of Mumbai.

Dave Graham, Founder, Greenstart. Dave has been starting, building and investing in technology startups for more than a decade as managing partner at ArizonaBay Technology Ventures. Before that, Dave co-founded consumer Internet startup OpenAuto in 1999. Dave is a board member at CloudSponge, TrustMe and SpineDigital, and works with at-risk youth as a Board Member at The Wolfe Center. Dave holds a BA.from UCLA and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Columbia Business School.

Rahul Iyer, Senior Director of Corporate Development, Siluria. Rahul handles the company's strategy development and financing activities. Prior to Siluria, Rahul worked in clean energy and co-founded multiple companies, including Primafuel, a waste-to-chemicals company recognized in 2008 by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer, and a fuel cell technology company acquired by Intelligent Energy. Rahul has his BS from the University of California, Berkeley in mechanical engineering.

Edward West, Co-Founder & Former President, Mission Motors.  Edward is an entrepreneur and educator, who co-founded Mission Motors,a manufacturer of advanced electric powertrains. In 2011, Mission Motors was named one of the Green Global 200 Top Private Companies. Edward has taught entrepreneurship at Presidio Graduate School (PGS) and California College of the Arts' Design MBA program. Edwards holds a MBA from PGS and a BS in engineering from Yale University

Moderator: Leslie Guevarra, Editor, GreenBiz.com. Leslie has more than 20 years of experience in news and communications, including reporting, editing and leadership roles at the San Francisco Chronicle, working as a public affairs program host and associate producer at KTSF-TV,and podcasting for GreenBiz and sfgate.com. 

Video production courtesy of Guava Films.

We host a gathering for the Net Impact SF community every month, featuring a different discussion topic each time. This offers the opportunity for informal interaction with the invited guests and with your fellow Net Impact members, with the discussion topic serving as a launching off point for engaging conversations.