AlwaysOn has officially kicked off its fourth annual GoingGreen Silicon Valley Top 100 Private Companies competition. We are looking for the top emerging private companies that are creating new business opportunities in green technology. This includes private companies that are demonstrating significant market traction and pursuing game-changing technology in the following sectors:

The program is filling up and the tickets are selling fast. Don't miss your opportunity to be in on the greentech solutions that are delivering on the promise to clean up pollution and restore ecosystems and bring abundance and prosperity to everyone on earth.

This year's emerging crop of greentech innovators and the power brokers of big business will be at GoingGreen Silicon Valley, this year's most influential greentech event. While the speaker line-up is still being finalized, we can promise a high-voltage combination of speakers and topics.

I don't have an MBA, but I have earned my SIlicon Valley MBA.  Let me explain. When I was a few years out of college, I considered going back to get an MBA.  I liked working in the valley and knew that I wanted to spend my career in tech and ultimately around startups - at that point I had only worked for Apple.  So I asked around to a lot of people I knew well and respected.  People who I thought had been successful in their careers and whose path I wanted to learn from.  Many of them had MBAs and some did not.  I wanted to hear their perspectives on the value of a traditional MBA.

Here at home, the angel community in New England is really starting to flex its muscles.  Thanks to Scott Kirsner's arbitrary declaration (and admirable leadership), June is Innovation Month in New England and there is a ridiculous amount of activity going on.It started off on June 1st with Angel Boot Camp, a confab that gathered over 200 angels, VCs and start-ups. Last night was Tech Stars Boston Investor Night, which continues to gain momentum heading into its second season, as well as the big annual the MITX Awards event.  Every night this month, there is something going on.  You can see the master schedule at www.neinnovation.com. Many of these venues didn't exist 3-4 years ago - Mobile Mondays, Web Inno, Open Coffee, etc.  New events are coming to Boston this month, including the Open Angel Forum, which is June 18th.

PowerHouse Dynamics provides a total home energy management solution designed to manage all uses-and sources-of energy, integrating energy efficiency and renewable energy. The eMonitor uniquely monitors at the circuit level, delivering the level of granularity required for effective energy management, and combines that with thermostat and device control and ongoing analysis and proactive alerts.

Private equity and venture capital funds continued to show strength during the quarter ending December 31, 2009, with each asset class earning positive returns for the third consecutive quarter, one of the best since 2007. Overall, fourth quarter returns on private equity investments outpaced those in venture capital funds, though both continued to outperform the public markets over the long term, according to Cambridge Associates LLC, a provider of independent research and investment advice to institutional investors and private clients.

The first annual AlwaysOn Venture Capital East 50 highlights the 50 individuals based in the eastern U.S. who have backed the most profitable winners during the last four years. To compile the first VC East 50, our editorial team sourced data from our research partners Morgan Stanley, VentureDeal, and the 451 Group on more than 700 active venture capitalists, 1,400 VC investments, and 1,000 technology liquidity events during the last four years, from October 1, 2005, to September 30, 2009.

The AlwaysOn X Fund portfolio advanced 4.4% for the week, while the NASDAQ was up 3%, and the S&P 500 advanced 2.4%. Year-to-date, the AO X Fund is up 6.7%, the NASDAQ is up 1.8%, and the S&P 500 is up 0.8%. Demand-response smart-metering provider EnerNOC led the AO X Fund portfolio, up 15.1% for the week. On Monday, ENOC secured a 10-year contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority for the deployment of 560MW demand-response resources.

The news headlines are grim.  Oil spills, sovereign defaults, choppy stock markets, tepid employment.  It's no wonder that the global capital markets seem spooked.

Yet, here's the strange thing, many of us in the technology sector have never been more bullish about what lies ahead.

The fourth annual GoingGreen Silicon Valley is a two-and-a-half-day executive event features CEO presentations and high-level debates on the most promising emerging green technologies and new entrepreneurial opportunities. Cutting-edge greentech CEOs will meet the movers and shakers from the biggest industries on earth. Green technology innovators are transforming trillion dollar industries-and the solutions they are delivering not only promise to clean up pollution and restore ecosystems, but also to bring abundance and prosperity to everyone on earth.