The Guiding Principles of Energy Investment

Investing in good energy utilizes 12 guiding principles, said Howard Berke, ’78, chairman, CEO, and cofounder of Konarka Technologies and senior advisor to Good Energies.

All 12 principles begin with the letter P: people, personality, purpose, potential, power, profit, price, politics, pollution, poverty, patience combined with perseverance, and prayer, Berke said during the morning keynote address at the 9th Annual Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Conference, presented by the student-led Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital & Private Equity Group and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship, at Gleacher Center November 16.

“Good energy is generated not by wind turbines or solar cells but by great, innovative people,” he said. “This is all about human capital. You’re investing in the most innovative and creative people on this planet. As for personality, it’s not just finding the right people but finding the right leader to lead a company. The greater the purpose, the greater the profits in the long term. We truly believe this is the future of our planet.”

Investing in any form of energy requires investing in the policies of politics, Berke said. “Energy drives the world economy, the economy creates jobs, jobs translate into votes, and the one thing politicians love are votes,” he said. “It’s a complete circle. You can’t separate them.”

Energy is crucial because the three essentials of life are food, air, and water, Berke said. “Everything else is a luxury,” he said. “The common denominator of those three substances is energy. We consume an enormous amount of energy for developing our food supply. We’re coming to learn the economic cost of maintaining clean water is all about energy.”

Three billion people on earth still do not have access to electricity, Berke said. “Talk about a market potential,” he said. “What if I told you there are 3 billion people dying to buy your product? They want light for their huts, power for their cell phones. Motorola proved that you can wire the African continent without wire. At Good Energies we know it’s only a matter of time before billions turns into tens of billions and potentially a trillion-dollar solar market.”

Patience and perseverance are the “identical twins” of entrepreneurship, Berke said. Once a belief-worthy concept is identified, the ideal combination for executing it is entrepreneurs who do not give up easily and long-term investors who are patient, he said.

“Lastly and most importantly, I pray a lot,” Berke said. “Clean energy has a divine spirit. The wind blows, the sun shines, and the river flows. We are a faith-based organization. I believe there is a divine purpose here. Finding clean energy is a noble quest for our planet and for our humanity.”

Berke covered a wide range of ground but was able to boil down many years of experience to valuable concepts that are key to any business or industry, said part-time student Jaroslaw Stopczyk. “Be honest with yourself, pick what you want and believe in, and go for it,” Stopczyk said. “Be true to yourself, primarily, and choose people wisely, especially if you’re going to choose an entrepreneurial venture.”

- Phil Rockrohr