It's a new year and a new Congress, but the core policy issues facing startups largely remain the same. As policymakers at all levels of government look to be champions for small businesses and startups—the tech-enabled, high growth small businesses of the technology and Internet industries—specifically, it's critical that they listen to the thousands of companies, investors, and support organizations that make up the startup ecosystem.
There are startups in every state and congressional district across the country, so, whether or not they know it, every member of Congress represents part of the startup ecosystem. And every policymaker, committee, and agency that's working on technology, Internet, innovation, and entrepreneurship policy has a chance to support—or harm—the startup ecosystem.
There's immense diversity—of business model, industry focus, background, geography, demographics, and more—in the ecosystem, so startups rarely speak with one, unified voice. And their voices certainly don't dominate the policy conversations unfolding in federal and state government buildings across the country. But their perspective should be front and center for policymakers.
Engine's Startup Policy Agenda for 2023 highlights the voices of those startup companies, investors, and support organizations as they discuss in their own words the obstacles they face and the ways policies have helped and hurt them. We hope it serves as a high-level overview of the issues we hear about from startups every day and a jumping off point for policymakers looking to support the technology industry's small businesses.
Read the agenda here.
