An opinion column by Dean Garfield and Dendy Young that appeared on today's US News website provides their insights on what would help keep innovation in the US strong and robust, helping to improve the US economy. Here's the link: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/11/11/encouraging-venture-capitalism-key-to-economic-growth. Mr. Garfield is the president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council. Mr. Young is the managing partner of McLean Capital, a private equity firm, and the former CEO of GTSI Corp.
In this piece, Mssrs. Garfield and Young list three items they feel will help the US maintain its innovation advangate:
I generally agree with the points made in this piece, but would add the following two items:
In this piece, Mssrs. Garfield and Young list three items they feel will help the US maintain its innovation advangate:
- Resolving the US debt crisis;
- Continued government support for basic research and development; and
- Modify the immigration rules to attract and retain foreign-born scientists and entrepreneurs.
I generally agree with the points made in this piece, but would add the following two items:
- Overhaul the patent system. Our patent system is in disarray, leading to significant litigation that is stifling innovation. This needs to be fixed.
- Streamline regulations for capital raising. Many regulations that impact capital raising, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, are well-intended regulations that have had a negative impact on the capital raising process, especially for smaller firms looking to access the public markets. These regulations must be streamlined to make the capital-raising process less cumbersome to companies.
