Nikesh Parekh

President Barack Obama in Bellevue, WA, February 17, 2012: Long Live the ARPA-E

Today was a really exciting day for me. I was invited to a lunch with President Barack Obama at the Bellevue Westin, in Bellevue, WA outside of Seattle, WA. There were only about 400 people present.

I used to be CEO of cleantech company named Bio Architecture Lab (BAL). BAL is a spin out from the University of Washington that has developed technology to convert seaweed or macroalgae into low cost biofuels and renewable chemicals. In 2009, BAL was selected for a prestigious ARPA-E grant with DuPont from the Department of Energy. The ARPA-E stands for the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy and is geared at funding game-changing risky energy projects. It is led by Arun Majumdar who is the former Associate Laboratory Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. We received the largest grant in the country to convert seaweed into bio-butanol. It was a big deal for our company and for DuPont as well which was cool to see.

A friend of mine from Harvard Business School shot be an email a couple of weeks ago, letting me know that President Obama was coming to Bellevue to raise money for his reelection campaign. Though I am financially conservative, I grew up in blue collar Massachusetts and I am about as liberal and liberal can be. I figured this was a once in lifetime chance to be the same room as the first black President of the United States. After getting the okay from my CFO my wife, I responded happily that I would be there with bells on.

Today February 17, 2012, I arrived at the Bellevue Westin about 30 minutes before the doors opened to wait in line for my chance to see President Barack Obama. There was an interesting mix of supporters and protesters outside. Majority of the protesters were from Occupy Wall Street movement. Majority of the supporters were promoting Planned Parenthood or Equal Rights for All. There were a number of petitions asking for further campaign finance reform to take corporations out of the election process. Probably a good idea.

It took us about an hour to get into the Westin. We were seated by 1:30pm. I am not sure what I did to deserve special treatment (Thank You Steve & Autumn!) but I was in the front row right as the President would enter the room near the stage. I swear I was like 20 feet away from the President or at least where the President would be. I also got the privilege of sitting next to three GREAT families - the Griffin's, Ringnesses, and the Gerberding's. The Griffin's were a large family with four children. Ed Ringness was a Harvard grad and an early employee at Microsoft and Bill Gerberding was the former President of the University of Washington. I soon learned that Bill was the longest serving President at the University of Washington in history having served 16 years.

The Head and the Heart started playing at about 2pm. What a GREAT show! Unfortunately, the President ran about 3 hours late :( Luckily we had great conversations. When the President did arrive, he first took pictures with the largest donors first prior to speaking. I think that took another hour.

FINALLY, the owner of Elliot Bay Book Store Peter Aaron introduced President Barack Obama. It was an interesting choice in that Peter is relatively unknown in Seattle, but Peter spoke of the economic hardships of running a small business with 30 employees and being unable to get a loan in 2008. The Elliot Bay Book Store is a cornerstone here in Seattle from a city flavor perspective.

President Barack Obama came on the stage right after. I hope the video does justice to how close I was to the President. It was amazing. No matter what you think about his effectiveness or his politics, he is an amazing speaker and an inspirational person. His speech was all about building an America "Built to Last" and investing in the people of America. He held Detroit and the car industry as a great example of the revival of American industry. GM has returned to its stature as the world's largest car company. He talked about the need to invest in education, training and clean energy (my heart grew a couple of sizes larger). He spoke passionately about the need to raise taxes on the rich, because it is the right thing to do, touting the Buffett Law where the boss should not pay a lower tax rate than the secretary.

The President actually admitted that he has not been as effective as he would have liked. He told us that change is hard, but he is committed to representing that American people to do the right thing. I can related to the change being hard part and that nothing happens as quickly as you want.

President Barack Obama actually complimented the Republican Party starting with Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt for making the investments into the people and infrastructure of the country (clever tactic President Obama). He did come back to politics attributing the gird lock in Washington Dc to the Republican Party.

Like a good President, he challenged us in the audience to do what we can to rebuild and retrain America into greatness. A great call to action for all of us.

Prior, I asked the Secret Service where I should go to get the best chance of shaking President Obama's hand post speech. After hemming and hawing for some time, the Secret Service told me to get to the middle. Luckily a friend of mine named Adam Tratt was also in the audience at the table right next to me in the front.

As Obama finished his speech and started to move toward the rope line, we moved rushed to the middle. Adam took my iPhone and I took his and he tried to take pictures of the hand shake. All day, I had been sweating over what I would say if I got an opportunity to say something to the President.

Here was my opportunity. The President was moving down the rope line, closer and closer. I totally forgot to take a good picture of Adam. Then it was my turn to shake the President's hand. He put out his left hand toward my right hand and then I yelled, "Long live the ARPA-E!"

The President looked startled, like he was thinking, "Why would anyone in his right mind say that?"

The President replied, "That's a great program."

I replied, "Hell yeah it is." (or something like that).

Why did I say that? I have no idea. But it is kind of funny in retrospect.

We made our way down to the parking garage and then out into the Seattle rain and Bellevue Traffic.

What a cool day.

Any ActiveRain members in Ohio or Zanesville, OH dealing with the exotic animals in Zanesville, OH this morning? Sounds like a crazy scene. Would love to hear more about it from a first person perspective.

Niki

3138 108th Ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98004 - MLS# 235011 - A Great Enatai Fixer Upper

Everyone asks: wouldn't it be great to pick your neighbor? A house has come available across the street from us in Enatai. 3138 108th Ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98004 - MLS# 235011 is a great opportunity for someone who wants to live in West Bellevue, live in a GREAT school district, live close to downtown Bellevue, but DOESN'T want to pay an arm and a leg to get into the neighborhood.

Don't they always say: it's best to buy the smallest, cheapest house in the neighborhood! Well, 3138 108th Ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98004 - MLS# 235011 is that house in Enatai.

For those of you who don't know Enatai, Enatai is a great neighborhood in West Bellevue: great schools with Enatai Elementary and Bellevue High School, walking distance to the beach park on Lake Washington, and a mere 15 MINUTE commute to either downtown Bellevue or Microsoft. Some of the things to consider about Enatai: being close to Bellevue Way, there can be more traffic coming through the neighborhood than desired. Most of the neighbors tend to be upper income, which can be both positive and negative.

3138 108th Ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98004 - MLS# 235011 needs a bit of love and care. I love the lot and I love the deck. The neighbors are phenomenal on both sides.

Check out 3138 108th Ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98004 - MLS# 235011 as I am sure you be impressed by the potential of the house.

It is with very heavy heart that I write to inform you that Jen Goodman Linn, the wife of David Linn, passed away yesterday at the age of 40 after a long battle with a rare form of cancer (abdominal sarcoma). Jen and Dave met in business school and have been together for the past twelve years or so at this point. Both Dave and Jen are dear friends of my entire family and most of my friends from business school.

One of the first blog posts I wrote when I started at ActiveRain in April was on "Loved Ones Battling Cancer" Jen was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer when she was only 33. Rather than sulk, Jen and Dave created Cycle For Survival which is an annual spin cycling event that takes place all over the country early in the year (generally January and February). Cycle For Survival was founded by Jen Goodman Linn and her husband David Linn in 2007. Since then, Cycle for Survival has raised more than $9 million for the research into rare forms of cancer that are generally underfunded and under-researched by hospitals, academics, pharmaceutical companies, and the government in general. Cycle for Survival is the most successful fundraiser for New York's Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital.

Jen is an AMAZING blogger of her experiences with cancer and her mission with Cycle for Survival. Check out her web site at YouFearless.com and Jen Goodman Linn's blog right here.

Below is a wonderful news segment on Dave and Jen, their relationship and life together.

Jen posted this video on YouTube when she turned 40.

Jen was an amazing person. She will be missed by the thousands of people that she has touched and inspired. Check out Jen Goodman Linn's FaceBook page which has hundreds of heart warming messages.

We love you Jen and Dave. We will miss you with all our heart.

Jen's funeral will be held tomorrow Friday July 22 at Riverside Memorial Chapel at 180 West 76th Street at 11:45am. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to Cycle For Survival to continue the search for cures to rare forms of cancer.

Please conisder making a donation at www.cycleforsurvival.org

Everyone,

I will be in Las Vegas this Friday July 15th and I would LOVE to meet any Rainers in Las Vegas for lunch.

I would love an opportunity to meet and talk about ActiveRain and real estate - what works, what doesn't work, what can ActiveRain do better, and what can I do better to serve the community.

We'll be meeting at the Palazzo near registration at 12:30pm this Friday July 15th.

Please comment below if you can make it. Leave your cell in the comments so we can text you in the event that we head to lunch before you make it.

I know it is short notice, but it would be great to get a group together! Please invite others who may not be subscribed to my blog.

Niki

Attendees as of July 14th:
Niki Parekh
Shack Diva Renee Burrows
Vegas Bob Swetz
John Brassner
Nicole Needham

Tara Phelps