Called The Startup Act, the proposal asserts that a strong, sustainable US economic recovery will require:
- More high-growth companies
- A stream of new ideas capable of being commercialized
- Fewer roadblocks to launch and grow startups
- Low-cost capital available to fund startups
How would The Startup Act work? The proposal identifies four pivotal changes to prompt more startups:
1. Encourage targeted immigration
- Welcome immigrants capable of building high-growth companies
- Provide entrepreneurs’ visas and green cards for those with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)
- Provide better access to early-stage financing
- Create capital gains tax exemptions for long-held startup investments
- Provide tax incentives for startup operating capital
- Facilitate access to public markets
- Allow shareholders of companies with a market cap below $1 billion to opt-in under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
- Expedite the formation and commercialization of new ideas by creating differential patent fees to reduce backlogs
- Provide licensing freedom for academic innovators
- Remove barriers to business formation and growth
- Create automatic ten-year sunsets for all major rules
- Establish common-sense and cost-effective standards for regulations
- Assess state and local startup and business policies
The Startup Act has implications for both business and education. It seeks to move concepts from the laboratory to the marketplace at a quicker pace and with less red tape. This should appeal to both business people and educators, since it offers an opportunity to leverage and monetize taxpayer-funded research conducted in American universities.
Is this the ultimate plan for reestablishing a vital American economy and a more conducive small-business startup climate? No, but it could be a step in the right direction.
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