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‘The bigger the
problem, the bigger
the opportunity’
| Updated: Feb 03 2008, 23:46 IST
SUMMARY
It may be the first of its kind, but it promises to be a
trendsetter. The forthcoming Al Gore Sustainable
Technology Venture Competition is already
generating buzz in academic and venture capital
circuits in India.
It may be the first of its kind, but it promises to be a trendsetter. The forthcoming Al Gore
Sustainable Technology Venture Competition is already generating buzz in academic and venture
capital circuits in India. The event is being organised by San Francisco-based Foundation for a
Sustainable Future (FSF) and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) in New Delhi on
February 11-12. FSF founder Sarosh D Kumana is quite upbeat about the event and his
expectations. Excerpts from an email interview with FE’s Rajiv Tikoo:
What is the first Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition all about?
At the core, the competition provides practical proof that being green can be profitable. It seeks to
encourage the best young business minds to pursue profits through ventures that also enhance global
sustainability.
Why is it branded?
We wanted to honour Nobel Laureate Al Gore for bringing the issue of climate change into the global
public conversation. It is the starting point for most people to realise that human impact on our finite
planet is causing changes that may be irreversible. If we want succeeding generations to have a life
worth living, we have to rethink the way humans conduct themselves. Our planning time horizon
must become multiple decades and centuries, not just a few years. Humans are consuming nature’s
capital account rather than living off the interest. Our foundation is dedicated to spurring the process
of arriving at a global economic system that “lives off the interest”, and is sustainable for the
indefinite future.

2. What is driving you to hold it in India? How does it feed into your global sustainable
business plan competition?
We partnered with some progressive leaders at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, my alma
mater, to hold the first sustainable technology venture competition in the year 2007. The
competition was won by a team from China. India was not even represented. As an Indian from
Mumbai, I wanted to make sure that this year, we were well-represented. When Oopali Operajita, a
former distinguished faculty fellow at the Carnegie-Mellon University, suggested that we organise an
exclusive all-India competition, I was only too willing. She has since joined us as chair, India
Projects.
What prompted you to select IIFT as a partner?
Oopali initiated the partnership with the institute because its director KT Chacko is already
committed to leadership in India’s greentech revolution.
What do you aim to achieve out of the competition?
We are expanding the competition to other countries and continents so that the best teams funnel up
to compete in Pittsburgh every year. We want to expose bright young business students worldwide to
the opportunities in greentech, help them get in touch with the venture community, and then let
them scale up and replicate these projects so that we can move towards a sustainable global
equilibrium sooner than later.
You have taken the route of educational institutions for your sustainability initiative.
Is there any particular reason for it?
Young minds are not as wedded to the status quo. Moreover, they are the inheritors of the world. So,
they have a direct vested interest in the future. We want to impact youth while their direction in life
is more open-ended by helping them access information and concepts that could inspire them to
leadership. We have a very long-term orientation, following the native American concept of
evaluating every decision based on a seven-generation time horizon. All of us have to ask ourselves
whether we have been responsible and farsighted stewards of our grandchildrens’ inheritance, based
on that criterion.
How big is the business opportunity worldwide and in India?
It’s not that hard to extrapolate the available trends. These trends will intersect in the next few
decades, certainly within the lifetime of most of us middle-aged folks. As you know, the bigger the
problem, the bigger the opportunity. The venture capital community understands this, if you go by
the rapidly increasing investment in sustainable technologies. It’s about $4 billion in the US alone. It
is the fastest growing sector in the venture world, with an astonishing 625% increase since 2001 in
Europe and North America, much of it focused on energy solutions, and accelerating at 30-40% per

3. year. The biggest opportunity is in clean, cheap and renewable energy. If that problem can be solved
today, then we will have a period of time to sort out our other problems. There is also a big
opportunity in the transition to new paradigms, particularly in resource recycling. For example,
scrap steel is one of the largest exports for the US today.
Do you think market-based approaches will help achieve global sustainability? Don’t
we need the creation of an enabling environment by the government and advocacy by
civil society in the first place?
We need to harness the power of the profit motive towards collective objectives. When business is
seen as an integral and necessary part of the solution to global problems, a productive partnership is
possible with enlightened governments and an informed and involved citizenry. No one can do it
alone. This is an opportunity for businesses to step in, be part of the solution, and make money too.
Is the foundation involved in any other initiative?
We have many initiatives in the pipeline, including prizes for innovative public policy, recognition of
business leaders whose projects are contributing to sustainability, technology transfer, and
development of a 21st century economic theory that incorporates cost externalisation, resource
constraints and boundary conditions, appropriate discount rates for valuing the future environment,
etc.
How do you fund the activities of your foundation?
I have been funding the foundation programmes from my real estate investments for the last 15-plus
years. I hope the foundation will eventually have so many projects in place that it outgrows my own
resources, and we will then partner with forward-looking organisations and institutions to co-
sponsor the programmes that will eventually result in sustainability for the global ecosystem.
What is the link between your property management business in the US and the
worldwide sustainability initiative?
The connection is that we are all living on this small blue planet in a cold, inhospitable universe, and
it’s all we have!
And what kind of sustainability measures have you integrated in your property
business. Does it make business sense?
In my property management business we have invested in insulation, recycling, low-flow water
fixtures, fluorescent lighting and other similar measures, which have paid off for us, especially since
energy, water and hauling costs have all risen.
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