Globes published today an obnoxious article (Hebrew) about Better Place - Shai Agassi's electric car venture. From the first word through the last, it was clearly setup as a hit-job by a clueless nobody "journalist" who has obviously never tried to accomplish anything meaningful in her life.
Disclosures: I'm not an expert on the subject matter. I'm not very familiar with the company. I've never met or spoken with Shai Agassi, and have no other connections I'm aware of with his company.
The "article" attacks Better Place for failing to deliver on a variety of milestones that the "journalist" had apparently expected them to. For example, they did not yet start manufacturing cars or employing 50,000 people in Israel after less than two years since the company was founded. The writer of course has started multiple successful companies, and has extensive experience in building factories within months....
This seems to have been going on for a while now - On the one hand Better Place has gotten some incredible press, and on the other hand "journalists" ripping apart Shai and the company, as if they owed them or the public anything (they don't...). It's sad to see this kind of hit-job journalism which is designed to do nothing more than sell a few more copies of the newspapers. The cost of hit-jobs by mediocre writers is much cheaper than actual journalistic work by journalists. And unfortunately, tabloid crap like this sells newspapers...
So as an FYI to Ms. Shlomit Lan - startups in general, and specifically one as ambitious as Better Place, take years or decades to build. During those years, as long as it's a law-abiding, private company, it owes *nothing* to the public as it relates to timelines, milestones, business models, pricing, etc, etc. Building a great company is never as simple or quick as it seems, and if they figure out half of the challenges they currently face in say 5 years, that will be an incredible achievement. Passing this kind of judgment on the company so early in the game proves you're either clueless, or jealous, or you've intentionally setup a hit-job.
A couple of years ago I attended a conference where Yossi Vardi was part of a panel judging startups. After passing criticism to a couple of the entrepreneurs, Yossi stopped the conference, took the microphone, and said he has something critically important to remind all the judges, journalists and investors dealing with entrepreneurs. He quoted Theodore Roosevelt's 1910 speech (also covered by TechCrunch here):
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Shai Aggasi is the man in the arena. He might fail miserably, but he will do so while daring to make great things happen.
I know too little to determine whether Better Place is good for the environment or bad (I suspect it's a pretty good alternative to buying oil to fund the bad guys and burn it to destroy the world...). I simply dread the day that "journalists" kill innovation and innovators by abusing their power to run hit jobs like this on the men in the arena. Therefore I had to respond.
Finally - to anyone who is genuinely interested in this project, I highly recommend this hugely inspiring talk that Shai Agassi recently gave at TED:
My fellow outbrainer, John LoGioco, has just launched a site focused on the Bluefin Tuna and ways to help save it.
You are most likely to bump into a Bluefin on your plate of sushi. As demand for sushi exploded globally, this magnificent fish has become dangerously close to vanishing from the face of the earth. Over 90% of the Bluefin's population are already gone, and within a few years it is likely become forever extinct if we don't stop over-fishing it.
There is one simple way you can help in saving this fish:
When you eat sushi, ask which dishes include Bluefin Tuna and simply avoid them.
Here are a few more helpful links if you're interested in the subject:
Tag-A-Giant is committed to reversing the decline of northern Bluefin tuna populations by supporting the scientific research necessary to develop innovative and effective policy and conservation initiatives. You can support Tag-A-Giant with a donation here.
Danny Cohen from Gemini started a great thread titled "All Startups should be Green" (disclosure: Gemini is an investor in my company, outbrain). I couldn't agree more (OK - I already confessed to being a tree hugger in the past...).
I thought the best way to promote this idea, is by listing 10 super-practical tips for things you can do in your startup and help the planet be a little better off:
Print double-sided: It never stops to amaze me how 99% of the office print-outs are done on a single-side of paper. You can easily save 50% of the paper consumption by simply checking the "print duplex" option in your printer settings (most office printers support this feature). The only documents that should be printed single-sided are: documents you need to feed into a fax or a copier, and final versions of legal documents (those will eventually end up in copiers down the road).
Don't do tchochkes[1]
- This one is particularly annoying to me, because it's a classic
lose-lose-lose situation. It's beyond me why any company wastes money
on crap that no one even wants (who the hell uses a mouse pad?!?!),
that reflects badly on your brand, and that absolutely sucks for the
environment??[2]
Install a water filter - Bottled water is evil evil evil. There is not a single reason in the world to drink bottled water in an office environment. Instead, install a simple filter in the kitchen sink, and use that. You (or your employees) will also save a ton of money.
Print locally - I confess to making this stupid mistake many times in the past. If you're going to exhibit in a big conference, you're probably preparing a ton (literally) of marketing materials. The most obvious way to do this is - print everything with the printer closest to your office, and then FedEx it to the conference. But it turns out that boxes of paper are probably the most wasteful thing that you can stick on a plane. So instead, spend 10 minutes online and find a print shop that will take your PDF and run the print job locally (where "locally" means where you're going to use the materials, not where your office is located...). Again - you'll not only help save the planet, but also save big $$'s... This tip is especially true for companies in Israel...
...or even better - don't print! - Even better than points #1 and #4 above is - don't print at all! PDF's are so much more friendly to the environment...
If you ship physical products, don't package them with crap - Packaging materials, especially most of the foams and polystyrene (Kalkar for our Hebrew-speaking readers) are the worst offenders to the environment as they use up a lot of volume, and never break down.
Embed green in your products - The best example I've seen recently is Google Maps. When you print a Google Map, this little message shows up on the paper... excellent! --->
Reduce junk mail - I use a service called GreenDimes, and I highly recommend it (though I think it's US-only for now).
Switch to CFL's - This is a real no-brainer... switch your office lighting to CFL's (compact fluorescent light bulbs), and you will not only help the planet, but also save $$'s on your electric bills.
Plant a tree - we sometimes get so obsessed with hybrids and recycling and forget the simple things. If you have a patio or a campus that allows for it - plant an occasional tree.
Have a good practical tip? List it in the comments below.
Also, if you found this useful, why not digg it and help spread the word?
====== [1] I guess that 'promotional crap' is the best definition I can think of...
[2] I can guarantee you that the stupid stress balls you got for 2c-per-unit (logo slapping included) were not manufactured with
sustainability as the top priority...
~~This is my personal blog, and any opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Quigo and outbrain, my employers, are not responsible for anything I write, comments posted, or anything else in Web X.0 blog.
Don't do 
Embed green in your products - The best example I've seen recently is Google Maps. When you print a Google Map, this little message shows up on the paper... excellent! --->
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