Michael Linse of Kleiner Perkins: humanity is about to hit a wall

Ecosummit TV: Michael Linse, Partner at Kleiner Perkins, talks about his favourite greentech investing framework at Ecosummit Berlin and comes to a scary conclusion: Humanity is about to hit a wall. Cleantech is about the impact of the macro trends on huge industries that will lead to a more sustainable functioning of these industries. The demand side of the equation is changing, in fact, it will go up tremendously. From now until 2030, 3 billion people will join the global middle class. This is significant as the resource consumption pattern increases most dramatically as people move from the scope of poverty to the middle class.

ECO12 Michael Linse Kleiner Perkins

However, the cost side isn’t looking very good. Resource extraction is getting more and more expensive. Commodity prices have gone up during the last decade and will continue to rise. As an investor, you can relax as you won’t miss the opportunity to benefit from the multi-decade trends and the new investment opportunities they create. There is not a single technology that transforms its sector in the normal investment horizon of a VC or private equity investor. The focus should be on markets, not on technologies. It’s important for investors to focus on highly attractive and scalable business models rather than relying on slightly superior technologies.

Here’s Michael’s talk on Cleantech Cost Curves he gave at ECO11 Berlin.

ECO12 Michael Linse Kleiner Perkins


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