Swimming with Asian Sharks - Business Secrets from the Pacific Rim

Ideas Are Made for Sharing

After the press conference, we were ushered into some buses and driven to the refinery.  It was about an hour-long scenic route that reminded me that China still had many poor rural farmlands. 

On that drive, we met a fellow called Mr. GreenVenture.  He was also a Harvard alumni and a venture capitalist from Shanghai who invests specifically in green initiatives. Mr. Princeton and I began chatting with Mr. GreenVenture.  We happened to be the only three passengers in this particular van.

Mr. Princeton demonstrated to me the fine art of conversation and how quickly you can gain somebody's trust by finding common ground. The first thing is to find a common ground then earn the right to speak and pull back, allowing the other to have their say. When there's a moment, you step in and dominate the conversation and pull back. Mr. Princeton really was able to convince and influence this MBA graduate from Harvard and even gave me a chance to pitch a start-up idea.

One of my goals in China eventually was to start a renewable energy company, with the goal of bringing last-mile electricity to rural areas.  The last mile is the stretch of distance between the power plant and the home.  My theory is that if you can bring enough cheap electricity, education, food, and other necessities, social problems will go away.

I was not ready to do the pitch for this idea; it was merely a dream up to this point.  When put on the spot, I picked one of my ideas at random. I began to describe the molten salt reactor idea. This is not really a new idea, but rather, kind of a spin on a classic idea. The idea was to condense sunlight onto a single point with the help of hundreds of mirrors.  When sunlight is focused on a single point, it acts like the magnifying glass you used as a child to roast ants and leaves; it becomes extremely hot. We then focus this heat onto something that can retain it for long periods of time.  This is where salt comes into the picture.  Superheated salt in its liquid form, also known as molten salt, can retain heat of over 400 degrees Celsius for more than 24 hours.  Using this heat, we can drive create electricity via driving steam turbines.

Of course, it is much more complicated than this, but that's the gist of it.

This was one of the ideas and I was kind of vague in discussing it. Later, Mr. Princeton told me that I should be more open about discussing ideas and that this is how opportunity comes. I had just let the opportunity escape me.