Marc Porat

Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, Idea generator, Inventor, Investor, Parent, Technologist

Marc Porat is an investor, founder and leader of pioneering information technology and cleantech companies and a nationally recognized expert in the built environment and energy efficiency. In 2002, Marc moved into cleantech, founding three leading-edge companies: Serious Materials pioneered energy-efficiency windows that can reduce energy needs by 50 percent. ZETA Communities, manufacturer of zero-energy residential and commercial buildings. CalStar Products, manufacturer of low-energy and low-CO2 building materials. Marc’s companies, with top-tier VC backing, operate seven factories and employ ~500 “green-collar” workers. Marc is now executing his “serum capital” investment thesis, which holds that significant step-up in valuation can be created by injecting a high-velocity mission, brand, technology, and business model into old-line industrial and service companies. This model is driving Marc’s fourth cleantech company, GreenCube, which will operate at the intersection of information technology and the built environment. Marc started in information technology by founding three leading-edge companies: Private Satellite Network (Ku-band direct-broadcast satellite), General Magic (mobile computing and communication) and Perfect Commerce (sourcing and procurement platform). He later joined Apple Computer to work on advanced mobile and network technology, and led a spinout as Chairman and CEO. General Magic created MagicCap, the predecessor to the smart phone, and Telescript, an intelligent-agent platform. He was recently named an industry representative to the US-China Clean Energy Research Center, collaborating with U.S. and Chinese companies on energy efficiency. Marc holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Communication from Stanford University (awarded with distinction); two M.A. degrees, also from Stanford; and a B.A. degree from Columbia College.

World-changing ideas and technologies, especially those that connect energy and the built environment.

#1 The built environment consumes 51% of all the energy produced in USA, similar numbers worldwide. Radically reducing that demand would have been a fantasy 10 years ago. With advances in building science, materials and smart buildings, "net zero energy" is now an achievable, economically viable global goal. We have lots of successful examples. It is one of the viable pathways for reducing a billion tons of CO2 from the environment quickly and profitably, #2 Information technology and clean technology are racing towards each other in an historic arc. Buildings will become extremely smart. The electricity grid will become smart. Cars and the transportation infrastructure will be smart. Spread the word.

Built Environment,, startups