Manoj Bhargava is the CEO of 5-hour Energy and now has a plan which can change the lives of millions of people . He says that he has built a stationary bike that can power a small house. By pedaling for one hour, Manoj says a person can power a home’s lights and basic appliances for an entire day.
Manoj Bhargava dropped out of Princeton university just after one year because he was too bored. He returned to native India and live in lived in ashrams for 12 years. Bhargava had odd beginnings, he belonged to an affluent family with servants working at his house in India but when his family moved to the United States, he was 14 and they struggled financially. So he did a lot of odd jobs. Just after one year in Princeton University he returned to India where he lived as a monk for 12 years. During that time, his family restarted their business in the USA and he came back to take over his family’s plastics company Prime PVC Inc. He grew the firm to 20 Million dollars before selling it to a private equity firm. In 2004, he formed a firm by the name of Living Essentials through which the product by the name of “5-hour Energy” was launched. His net worth is estimated at $4-Billion.
Bhargava has a habit of tackling big problems around the world, in fields such as health, water and energy. His team are developing device named “Review” that functions as an auxiliary heart by squeezing blood from the legs into the body’s core. To tackle droughts, a machine is under development which has the capability to convert 1000 gallons of any kind of water into drinking water in an hour. He even has an idea to lessen the world’s reliance 0n fossil fuels to generate power. He says that geothermal energy from beneath the ground can be harnessed, it is already being done but his approach is novel. He plans to use graphene(a better conductor than steel) to bring the heat directly to the surface.
Manoj also talks enthusiastically about his 100$ bike. The system is aimed at the people living in rural settlements around various developing countries. Getting continuous/reliable power from the main grid is a huge issue in these areas and his invention can really impact billions. The reason that he his not giving this out for free is that he believes people do not take care of things that are free hence he aims to collaborate with various government to offer these devices at subsidized rates as well.
Manoj and his lab “Stage 2” are the subject of a documentary “Billions in change“(trailer below). His story is inspiring and makes him one of the few who are fighting to change the world.