So what will the big, alternative revenue source be?
The biggest alternative for centuries has been real estate.
The America's Cup is the only big alternative".
But certainly that's the big alternative to David Cameron.
The first big alternative to emerge, compact fluorescent bulbs, has left many consumers dissatisfied.
Despite the interest in these types of companies, some venture capitalists are still betting on big alternative energy experiments.
The message to investors was simple: Carlyle is one of the world's biggest alternative investment firms, with nearly $147 billion in assets under management and 89 leveraged buyout, real estate and hedge fund vehicles.
"It's kind of like the biggest alternative station in the country and it's definitely a test bed for things," said David Wolter, an executive for artists and repertory at RCA Records.
It is something of a subdued debut for Carlyle, which has grown over 25 years from a Washington-based private equity shop to one of the biggest alternative investment managers in the world.
Every big alternative rock band in the 80s – from the Smiths to the Cure to Happy Mondays to the Pixies – made capital from a sense of otherness in their sound, their lyrics, their appearance or some combination of the three.
