How does a young company decide to go out for venture capital rather than bootstrap themselves? For Steve Perricone, Co-founder of BioFuelBox, it all comes down to speed to market. And, he says, in Silicon Valley, speed is a key motivator to seeking outside funding. He also points out the other values of VC beyond cash, including wisdom and relationships within the industry, assistance in building a strong board, and, most importantly, the credibility that the right partner can lend.

At the time of this lecture, state and federal stimulus dollars for clean energy had been promised, but specific terms for who would receive those dollars had yet to be defined. Steve Perricone, Co-founder of BioFuelBox, talks about his fruitless trip to Washington, DC and the decisions being made surrounding the funding of clean energy. And, Jennifer Scott Fonstad, Managing Director of venture capital firm DFJ, discusses the necessity of companies like BioFuelBox to establish a consortium of both industrial food waste producers and those on the energy side. Her hope is that a collective effort will prove that a network of new technologies in energy could provide numerous jobs and other revenue opportunities.

Don't even attempt to launch a company unless you passionately believe in its mission and objective, says BioFuelBox Co-founder Steve Perricone. DFJ Managing Director Jennifer Scott Fonstad also tells graduates to take risk and not to be afraid to make mistakes. Both strongly suggest that those entering entrepreneurship enjoy the ride.

Steve Perricone, Co-founder of BioFuelBox, explains how his alternative fuel company solves multiple problems in waste refuse, energy production and distribution, across multiple platforms. By converting industrial food waste into biodiesel in remote areas, the company is reducing refuse by repurposing free raw materials into fuel, and reducing the resources necessary to ship fuel to remote and isolated areas. In this clip, Perricone's investor, Jennifer Scott Fonstad, Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, also explains interest in the idea from a VC perspective and their belief in its global potential. Perricone also explains the BioFuelBox business model, which simply sells the recovered fuel back to the production plant, and gives them financial incentive as part of the revenue-share.