How Does Better Place Change The World? | Loic LeMeur Interviews Shai Agassi [VIDEO]

By envisionGood | May 26 2010 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

“It is not the most intelligent species that survives, nor is it the strongest species that survives. The species that survives is the one that is the most adaptable.”
- Charles Darwin

The top global issue on my mind, like for most, is the environmental impact of the BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. There are many ways to help people and wildlife in the Gulf Coast region: for details on volunteer opportunities and organizations that need support, please see: “How To Help Clean-Up The Gulf Coast Via Mobile Phone” and “7 Ways To Help With Clean-Up Efforts of The Gulf Coast Oil Spill”.

Keeping in mind our need for clean energy alternatives, today’s video interview (above) features Seesmic Founder Loic LeMeur, speaking with entrepreneur and social innovator, Shai Agassi, founder of one of my favorite tech start-ups: Better Place, the global leader of electric vehicle services.

In this video, Shai explains how he was in the Swiss Alps with other young leaders and was presented with the question of how to make the world a better place by 2020. His idea to “take one country off of oil and do it in a replicable way, based on today’s technology”, became the seed for his new venture, Better Place.

Currently operating in eight countries – Israel, Denmark, Australia, United States, Canada, Japan, China and France – Better Place recently launched a switchable-battery electric taxi project in Tokyo, the outcome of which will point to opportunities in other urban centers. On new business opportunities, Shai advises aspiring entrepreneurs to find inefficiencies in an industry and develop businesses that fill in those gaps and provide innovative solutions.

Enjoy!