JusBringIt
02-23-2009, 05:43 PM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg In order to spur Innovation, Entrepreneurship needs to be endorsed. (http://techflash.com/Friedman_Stimulating_the_economy_through_venture_capital_40058962.html)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Detroit_Electric_-_Proton_Persona.jpgJohn Cook - TechFlash (http://techflash.com) - Feb 22, 2009
Should we invest in startups? For the record, the majority of entrepreneurs fail. -- Ed.
Columnist Thomas Friedman offers an interesting stimulus plan in today's New York Times.
Rather than sinking $20 billion in "the losers" of the U.S. auto industry, he suggests turning over $1 billion to each of the top 20 venture capital firms. Taxpayers would share in any financial upside achieved by the venture firms, essentially turning the American people into limited partners.
"As we invest taxpayer money, let’s do it with an eye to starting a new generation of biotech, info-tech, nanotech and clean-tech companies, with real innovators, real 21st-century jobs and potentially real profits for taxpayers," writes Friedman. "Our motto should be, “Start-ups, not bailouts: nurture the next Google, don’t nurse the old G.M.’s.”
We've heard similar proposals before, including Rob Coppedge's excellent guest column on TechFlash last month.
"A meltdown in the Innovation Economy will have longer-standing (and potentially much more severe) ramifications than the long overdue restructuring of the U.S. auto industry," wrote Coppedge, a Seattle venture capitalist in his plea to have some of the stimulus money go to the startup/venture community.
For those who believe that the U.S. economy is driven by innovation, the arguments of Friedman and Coppedge are easy to digest. But not everyone buys those arguments, one of the reasons why… http://www.techflash.com/Friedman_Stimulating_the_economy_through_venture_capital_40058962.html
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Detroit_Electric_-_Proton_Persona.jpgJohn Cook - TechFlash (http://techflash.com) - Feb 22, 2009
Should we invest in startups? For the record, the majority of entrepreneurs fail. -- Ed.
Columnist Thomas Friedman offers an interesting stimulus plan in today's New York Times.
Rather than sinking $20 billion in "the losers" of the U.S. auto industry, he suggests turning over $1 billion to each of the top 20 venture capital firms. Taxpayers would share in any financial upside achieved by the venture firms, essentially turning the American people into limited partners.
"As we invest taxpayer money, let’s do it with an eye to starting a new generation of biotech, info-tech, nanotech and clean-tech companies, with real innovators, real 21st-century jobs and potentially real profits for taxpayers," writes Friedman. "Our motto should be, “Start-ups, not bailouts: nurture the next Google, don’t nurse the old G.M.’s.”
We've heard similar proposals before, including Rob Coppedge's excellent guest column on TechFlash last month.
"A meltdown in the Innovation Economy will have longer-standing (and potentially much more severe) ramifications than the long overdue restructuring of the U.S. auto industry," wrote Coppedge, a Seattle venture capitalist in his plea to have some of the stimulus money go to the startup/venture community.
For those who believe that the U.S. economy is driven by innovation, the arguments of Friedman and Coppedge are easy to digest. But not everyone buys those arguments, one of the reasons why… http://www.techflash.com/Friedman_Stimulating_the_economy_through_venture_capital_40058962.html