Al Gore: From bureaucrat to company strategist?

As someone who is very skeptical of the "global warming mania" that is sweeping the world, I found yesterday's announcement that none other than Nobel Prize winner and former VP Al Gore is joining the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as a partner quite amusing. There is no question that Gore can open doors and get meetings with anyone he wants but what does he know about building a private business? As a former senator, he never met an anti-business regulation that he didn't like. Now Gore is going to "assist both start-up companies and their investors with product strategies, helping them navigate through the political maze and regulatory battles that accompany new technologies." Isn't it ironic that he will be consulting companies to work the the regulatory maze that he himself created!

But what does he know about the world of start-ups? Having worked in venture capital I can tell you that trailblazing around the world and meeting with world leaders at Davos, isn't how to build a successful company. Hard-work and boot-strapping it are the way to go. No first class international business trips on the company's tab. That perk went away with the hi-tech bubble burst of 7 years ago. While it was easy for the former senator to waste taxpayer money in Washington, DC, the private sector is a different ballgame. Investors expect accountability.

Until actual science proves that there is such a thing as man-made global warming, let's hope Mr. Gore goes the way of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who joined KPCB two years ago as a part-time partner, never to be heard from again. Maybe that will end the mania.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. He holds no position in any stock mentioned as of 11/13/07.