Blog Critic News Episode #3 - Al Gore as venture capitalist

Technology trends and news by John Shinal
November 26, 2007 | last edited July 10, 2008 | Comments (2)
Short URL: http://vator.tv/n/b1

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At Vator.tv, we think the world is ready for a new approach to covering Silicon Valley. In our view, coverage of the capital of the tech industry to date has been, in a word, boring.

It's been boring because it's been largely lacking in the humor department. And it's been lacking humor because it's tended to view the executives, investors and bankers who ply the tech trade alternately as halo-adorned visionaries or as peddlers of kool-aid, rather than as real people. Visionaries and Kool-aid peddlers can change the world, no doubt. But they're not funny. People are funny.

The proliferation of blogs focused on the tech industry has moved the needle in the right direction. The best of them have pulled back the curtain and undressed many characters who had previously moved within bubbles of teflon. This has helped counter the resentful whispers that journalists at traditional media companies have uttered about the blogosphere -- namely, that their main editorial goal is simply to drive traffic to other blogs.

To add our two cents to the pile, we offer Blog Critic News, in which we call out the real people behind the biggest tech stories of the week.

This week's episode looks at the newest high-profile venture capitalist in the Valley, who just also happens to be a former U.S. Senator, the son of a U.S. Senator, a former Vice President and a two-time candidate for U.S. President.

Need more clues? This year, he won both an Acadecy Award and a Nobel Prize for his documentary on global warming. Still stumped? Click on the video to get your answer, and our take on the prospects for Kleiner Perkins' newest partner.

To see past episodes of Blog Critic News, click here or here

(Warning: This is a work of satire which contains gross inaccuracies, specious hyperbole, defamation of character, the skewering of a certain high-profile financial newspaper and politicians from both major U.S. political parties. View at your own risk.)

 

 

 

Comments

Gregory Ness
Gregory Ness, on November 26, 2007

Was Gore forced to become a VC to pay his electricity bills? http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

Actually isn't it fair that environmentally beneficial breakthroughs be monetized? Isn't this a better way to deal with eco-challenges... versus establishing new layers of centralized bureaucracy?


John Shinal
John Shinal, on November 26, 2007

Hey Greg, thanks for the comment. The story about Gore's energy use, which you linked to, is just one more reason why no one on either side of the political aisle is above being satirized. We try to be fair and impartial with our skewering. And I couldn't agree more with your point that the private sector, in the form of venture-backed startups, will come up with better solutions to green challenges than the government. Whomever can find and fund the best ideas -- whether it's Al Gore or someone else -- deserves to be rewarded by the marketplace.


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