Comments on: The perils of cleantech investing: KiOR & the long term, high risk view http://gigaom.com/2012/01/12/the-perils-of-cleantech-investing-kior-the-long-term-high-risk-view/ Sun, 19 May 2013 03:33:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Ranjit http://gigaom.com/2012/01/12/the-perils-of-cleantech-investing-kior-the-long-term-high-risk-view/#comment-822780 Sat, 24 Mar 2012 04:18:49 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=469361#comment-822780 Great article. This pretty much gave me a solid insight into the workings of a company in the clean energy sectors, and risks and rewards of investing in them. As a newbie I truly appreciate the article!

]]> By: Henrik http://gigaom.com/2012/01/12/the-perils-of-cleantech-investing-kior-the-long-term-high-risk-view/#comment-809371 Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:05:31 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=469361#comment-809371 Interesting!
Are Venture Capitalists prepared to use different time horizons if the investment is cleantech compared to a similar investment (in terms of potential return) which is not cleantech?

]]> By: Concerned Scientist http://gigaom.com/2012/01/12/the-perils-of-cleantech-investing-kior-the-long-term-high-risk-view/#comment-800550 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:42:06 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=469361#comment-800550 I get nervous whenever Khosla is involved. He does not understand the chemistry involved in the preoduction of biofuels and also do not know the history of prior scientific endeavour (syngas to ethanol a.k.a. Range Fuels is an example). He is a very good marketer but he is mostly sizzle and no steak.

]]> By: Katie Fehrenbacher http://gigaom.com/2012/01/12/the-perils-of-cleantech-investing-kior-the-long-term-high-risk-view/#comment-796953 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:22:22 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=469361#comment-796953 @nick. This story on KiOR was extremely conservative in terms of how well the company will do or not do. I’m not really addressing if the tech works or not, I’m just pointing out the liquidity aspect, the thinly traded stock that hasn’t really moved all that much and the ways investors are trying to find to make money.

]]> By: Katie Fehrenbacher http://gigaom.com/2012/01/12/the-perils-of-cleantech-investing-kior-the-long-term-high-risk-view/#comment-796949 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:18:35 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=469361#comment-796949 @don. Thanks for your comment and for stopping by the site, but I totally disagree with you. The piece was well researched, I read hundreds of documents on this, did dozens of interviews, and have been following and watching KiOR since the day they emerged in 2007.

]]> By: nick http://gigaom.com/2012/01/12/the-perils-of-cleantech-investing-kior-the-long-term-high-risk-view/#comment-796739 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:40:43 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=469361#comment-796739 I’ve seen a lot of KiOR bashing on the fora lately (not you but in general) but isn’t it just a bit unfair?
They went public, said they would have their plant ready in 2012 and they seem on course.
They said that they would not make any money until 2013 which they don’t/won’t, and a lot of investors and analyst have already started to get impatient with this company.. it seem to me what this article is trying to convey, is that this is a long term investment/gamble that people should be very aware of this and adapt their expectations accordingly.

gr. Nick

]]> By: Ucilia Wang http://gigaom.com/2012/01/12/the-perils-of-cleantech-investing-kior-the-long-term-high-risk-view/#comment-796282 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 03:48:44 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=469361#comment-796282 You don’t make sense. You think investors know exactly what the next year or two will look like? Let me set you straight: investors actually can’t predict the future. Biofuel companies have largely over-promised and under-delivered. One of the reasons is that companies and their investors tend to underestimate the amount of time/capital it takes to build commercial plants. As the story illustrates, investors are still waiting for KiOR to enter mass production, and maybe then they will make the kind of returns they want.

]]> By: don http://gigaom.com/2012/01/12/the-perils-of-cleantech-investing-kior-the-long-term-high-risk-view/#comment-795844 Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:40:38 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=469361#comment-795844 Just about as moronic a story as I have seen. The writer must nto have much to do or understand very much about how this world works. Stupid comments like “has nto produced any fuel” show ignorance of basic ideas like how long it takes to build commercial plants of any sort. Not sure what the perils are given anybody who invested knew exactly what the next years or two looked like. I love statements like “stock could go down”. Which stock cannot go down? Maybe Gigaom needs to get writers that understand the basics of what they report on.

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