A key tool that promotes innovation by weeding out weak patents that can be weaponized against startups is being scaled back by federal policymakers.
Using her background in cryptography and mathematics, Gadalia Montoya Weinberg O’Bryan set out to challenge the current standard of multifactor authentication used to protect user and company data. Her company, Dapple Security, simplifies the authentication process using biometrics. We had the opportunity to chat with Gadalia about her journey to founding Dapple Security, data privacy policies, and more.
Reverse logistics is managing the redistribution of returned or surplus unsold goods. Amrita Bhasin is working to make reverse logistics a mainstream corporate concept. Through her startup, Sotira, Amrita aims to reduce waste and increase producers’ bottom lines. We sat down with Amrita to discuss her company, her experience raising capital, and working in an industry transitioning directly from pen and paper to AI.
Dunya Analytics is providing digital tools to help businesses measure, manage, and report on biodiversity and nature-related risks. We sat down with their founder and CEO, Megan Pillsbury, to talk about her startup, her experience applying for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants, and more.
After a career in the startup ecosystem, Alex Smereczniak knew he wanted to help others along their journey to entrepreneurship. Using his experience franchising his laundry business as an example, Alex co-founded Franzy, a research and matching tool assisting individuals in opening franchises. We had the opportunity to chat with him about his product, the franchise industry, and more.
Earlier today, Engine Advocacy released a letter to Members of both Houses of Congress, strongly advocating for legislation this year to increase access to visas for qualified, highly-skilled, foreign-born graduates of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines from U.S. universities.
The letter can be read here, and we urge you to contact your Members of Congress as well, and tell them to move on important legislation this year.
While the internet and startups play a critical role in driving innovation in content industries, the relationship between incumbent companies and their young competitors has never been harmonious. From the advent of radio to the launch of Napster, disruptive technologies have experienced legal barriers to markets. The Internet Radio Fairness Act of 2012 -- introduced by Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden in the Senate and Utah Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz in the House -- will help boost web-based music services by leveling the playing field for all radio broadcasters.
Internet radio broadcasters pay higher rates to play the same songs than other music distributors using different technologies. An August Brookings Institution paper on the rate differential concluded that the policy discourages new companies from entering the market. The paper notes that internet radio companies may be compelled to pay a larger share of their revenue to acquire the rights to play music than other radio services using different technologies, such as satellite radio.
Constant innovation drives the music industry. Where iTunes and Pandora began disrupting through digital distribution, companies like Grooveshark, TuneIn, and Spotify continue to push the envelope. Young businesses often have the greatest difficulty maintaining steady revenue flow. Government shouldn’t be in the business of increasing barriers to entrepreneurship and propping up incumbent industries. We welcome Senator Wyden and Representative Chaffetz’s bills and encourage Congress to pass legislation that promotes competition in all markets.
Commissioner Julie Brill of the Federal Trade Commission joined us yesterday to discuss issues impacting technology companies at an event co-hosted by Engine as part of the Congressional Internet Caucus’ State of the Net West series. The commissioner heard from entrepreneurs, policy wonks, journalists, and activists in the technology and startup ecosystems. You can watch the event in full here:
FTC Commissioner Julie Brill @ Engine from Engine Advocacy on Vimeo.
We are encouraged by federal regulators’ increased interest in connecting with entrepreneurs on policies that influence their businesses. Q&A from the crowd touched on a number of tech policy subjects including Do Not Track standards, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the commission’s work on mobile app privacy, and its actions against larger companies like Facebook and Google. The conversation primarily centered on regulations’ impact on innovation across the internet economy.
The FTC has focused on providing guidelines to developers to better and more clearly inform mobile app users. A recent Pew Internet and American Life Project survey found that more than half of people that use apps decided not to download a program based on information about the data it would need to collect to operate. It will be important for the commission to keep in mind the sophistication of users as it continues to pursue guidelines on the amount of information and disclosure imposed on mobile developers.
We will continue to host events that connect entrepreneurs and startups to policymakers and we hope to continue our partnership with the Congressional Internet Caucus in the future. If you would like to find out more about Engine events join us as a member and we’ll keep you in the loop.
San Francisco commuters! Hate traffic? Stuck on a slow BART train or Muni car? Having trouble flagging a taxi or locking up your bike? Now is your chance to come together to help the city improve one of its key services: transportation. We’re inviting you to spend a weekend using technology to help San Franciscans get around.
Next month, on the weekend spanning October 19-21, Engine is co-hosting reroute/sf, a hackathon focused on improving transportation in San Francisco, with Hattery Labs, SF Mayor’s Office and the SFMTA. Don’t ride public transport? No worries -- we’re looking for commuters of all stripes that bike, walk, ride, or drive to join us.
Teams of one to four developers, designers, and business people are invited to the Hattery to build open source technologies that address transportation challenges in one of three areas posed by SFMTA and the other co-hosts: data collection, trip planning, or rider feedback. If there’s something not on this list you’re interested in solving, awesome. Hack whatever it is you think needs fixing. Winners will work with the City to implement their technology and, of course, receive prizes.
For more information and to sign up, visit hattery.com/reroute.
Engine is excited to host a townhall with Commissioner Julie Brill of the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday at 4:00 pm. Join us for the event at The Hattery in SOMA (414 Brannan Street, San Francisco, California). Video will be available after if you can’t attend. We’re bringing together startups, entrepreneurs, policy wonks, and lawmakers to talk about data, privacy, and other policies that impact small businesses and technology firms. Commissioner Brill’s visit is part of the Congressional Internet Caucus’ State of the Net West series.
Why should startups care about the FTC? The agency has been working to create guidelines for businesses on consumer privacy, releasing its “final report” on the subject March 26. Data exchange is central to the relationship between internet-based businesses and their consumers. Maintaining and enhancing trust between innovators and users will be critical to the continued success of startups across the web.
While the commission has focused on large tech companies, search engines, internet service providers, data brokers, and web browsers, perspective from dynamic young companies may help in the construction of policies that preserve the internet ecosystem that has opened doors for entrepreneurs.
Large companies tend to have established practices that are easily conveyed to users and the government. Startups, on the other hand, often change strategy, business model, or size rapidly and require a great deal of flexibility. Policymakers must be mindful of these difference as they consider rules that would affect tech companies of all ages and sizes.
Data’s regulation is one of the areas addressed in the issue book we circulated at the party nominating conventions a few weeks ago. So far, the government has taken a relatively low-impact approach to the regulation of data in the form of privacy, cybersecurity, and data breach rules. Calls for the government to become more involved have intensified in recent years. It’s critical that startups and entrepreneurs make their voices heard in this debate to ensure that the opportunity to innovate remains open.
Dialogue between entrepreneurs and lawmakers like Commissioner Brill will be critical to the success of government and business. For new rules to effectively protect customers, businesses must be able to grow, innovate, and offer new products to consumers. Engine’s goal is to foster these connections, inject startups into the policy dialogue, and promote entrepreneurship in Washington and beyond.
Photo courtesy of Priya Deonarain.
Yesterday, members of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship called for a hearing on the state of entrepreneurship in America, citing the need to support U.S. job creators at a period in time when new startup formation is slowing.
New firm establishments are the driving force in the U.S. economy, responsible for virtually all net new jobs created in the past three decades. Senators Jerry Moran from Kansas, Scott Brown from Massachusetts, and Marco Rubio from Florida requested the hearing in a letter to Chairwoman Mary Landrieu, citing America’s significant decline in international rankings of startup friendliness. “Once in the top five, the United States has dropped nine places in international rankings...in just four years,” the Senators wrote.
How are the Senators suggesting we regain our edge? With startup-friendly policies to encourage entrepreneurship and new firm foundation. Specifically, with Startup Act 2.0, a bipartisan bill introduced in both houses of Congress earlier this year, and co-sponsored by Senator Moran.
Startup Act 2.0 contains provisions to ease the way for foreign-born entrepreneurs to remain in the country after graduating from U.S. universities, so they can start their businesses on U.S. soil and create local jobs. It provides incentives to get R&D from our universities on the market. And it provides tax incentives that could encourage investment in startups to create new jobs, boosting startups in driving economic growth and employment. Engine has been a strong supporter of the policy measures proposed in Startup Act 2.0, with information and a tool for action here.
We encourage Chairwoman Landrieu to convene this hearing on entrepreneurship in America. Congress needs to hear from the founders and innovators driving the economy and creating the products that will keep America globally competitive.
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Our trip to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions are more proof of Engine’s ability to build the discussion about startups and create knowledge about the critical role innovation plays in our economy. We’re back from a busy few weeks in Tampa and Charlotte. Fresh and energized from talking with hundreds of engaged Americans as well as policymakers from both sides of the aisle about the importance of startups and the innovation economy, we’re looking forward to continuing to work on these issues in the coming months leading up to the election and beyond.
Key at both conventions was the growing certainty that innovation is an issue of national importance. Across the board, people from both parties, from communities all across the country, are concerned with economic prosperity and global competitiveness. We saw this at panels with Startup America and Huffington Post at both conventions. We saw it at events we co-sponsored with Startup Rockon. We heard it from the candidates themselves in their speeches.
We were able to connect with people from all across the country, showing them how high-tech industries and startups in their communities are helping to drive the economy with our data visualization, built on Google maps in partnership with the Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BACEI). And we launched a guide to the key issues that are affecting startups and innovation.
We’ll be continuing to work with BACEI to examine the data around high-tech sector job growth across the United States, with a full report from BACEI coming out in the Autumn. And we’ll be working with policymakers and candidates to educate them about the issues and help them make good calls for startups in the next Congress and beyond.
If we’re dragging our feet a little after day three of the Democratic convention, we’re not alone. The nominating conventions have been jam packed with great panels, networking events, and opportunities to educate policymakers and convention goers alike about startup issues that will be impacting America’s economy for the next four years.
Yesterday, we kicked off with a breakfast with the Vermont delegation to the convention, as well as special guests Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. We look forward to working with Senator Leahy and the Senate Judiciary Committee on innovation issues after the November elections.
A Huffington Post lunch panel “What is Working” focused on how America can harness innovation to solve national economic and socio-economic challenges. We also attended the “What is Working” panel at the Republican Convention in Tampa with different panelists, and it was refreshing to hear viewpoints about innovation across the political spectrum. Hosted by Arianna Huffington and Tom Brokaw, yesterday’s panel included Julian Castro, the San Antonio Mayor who impressed delegates with his keynote speech Tuesday night and artist will.i.am, who talked about his collaboration with NASA and his commitment to bringing STEM education and entrepreneurial opportunity to all Americans.
At CEA’s Innovation Nation event, we spent time chatting to Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon about the innovation economy. We then joined our friends from Tumblr to watch the speeches. Former President Bill Clinton highlighted the vital need for innovation and skilled labor to the future of the U.S. economy.
Clinton said, “There are already three million jobs open and unfilled in America mostly because the people who apply for them don’t yet have the required skills … the old economy is not coming back, we’ve got to build a new one.”
We’re excited today to keep spreading the word about the issues policymakers should focus on to keep entrepreneurs and the internet economy flourishing before the conventions close. We look forward to continuing to work with both parties into the next Congress on issues vital to the future of our economy.
A rainy Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention saw speeches from candidates, elected officials, and celebrities with a particular focus on the importance of education to the economy. Engine has pursued greater support for education in the United States and the speeches last night in Charlotte drove home the importance of this resource to American ingenuity.
Keynote speaker Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio, put a sharp point on the issue, saying “you can’t be pro-business if you’re not pro-education.” First Lady Michelle Obama, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and actor and former White House liaison Kal Penn each made calls for continued support and reform of the education system from pre-K to Pell Grants.
Our recent work with the Bay Area Council Economic Institute highlights the critical role technology jobs play across the country. We can’t continue to fill these jobs without qualified workers graduating from U.S. schools. The strength of our economy is dependent on the quality of the students we graduate, particularly in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.
Engine is excited to hear more about plans to boost education and will be continuing our conversation with elected officials and delegates throughout the convention season. Stay tuned here for updates from Charlotte and don’t forget to look through our primer on issues that matter to startups.
Today marks the first full day of the second leg of the party nominating conventions. Last week, Engine traveled to Tampa, Florida, speaking with policymakers and delegates from the Republican Party about issues that impact startups. This week, we’re excited to be in Charlotte, North Carolina, soaking up the sun and engaging with policymakers and delegates from the Democratic Party.
Just as in Tampa, we have a packed schedule, meeting with decision-makers and convention-goers alike to discuss the issues facing startups in America this election season, into the next Congress, and beyond. Yesterday we attended a panel discussing the role of social media technology in the political process, hosted by Major Garrett of the National Journal and Garance Franke-Ruta, with the Obama Administration’s Chief Digital Strategist Joe Rospars, as well as panelists from Google, Facebook, and Twitter. From those monitoring the buzz around key political events, we heard that social media is having a major impact in terms of political engagement and that its impact is considerably higher than it was just four years ago.
We’re excited to be partnering with StartUp RockOn, a group promoting entrepreneurialism in both Tampa and Charlotte for the conventions. Last night we co-sponsored an event with the StartUp Rockon team, and we’ll be seeing them again during the convention for a series of panels and other sessions.
Engine will be promoting sound policy on the issues that count for entrepreneurs and innovators. We’ll be passing around a primer on these issues and others that affect startups, and talking to policymakers about how they can help set an agenda that will impact the growth of the U.S. economy and our continued ability to compete globally. As we head into the fall campaign, we’re looking forward to discussing these and other issues for startups in greater depth, working to improve entrepreneurs’ standing as the leaders of the economy.
Engine leaves Tampa today after making our first trip to a party nominating convention. We’ve worked to raise the profile of startups and the issues that confront them at the convention through a primer on startup issues and a data visualization highlighting the role of tech across the country. Engine wasn’t alone in talking about technology at the conventions; former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the case for high skilled immigration in her speech Wednesday night.
“They have come here from the world's most impoverished nations just to make a decent wage. And they have come here from advanced societies as engineers and scientists that fuel the knowledge-based revolution in the Silicon Valley of California, in the Research Triangle of North Carolina, along Route 128 in Massachusetts, in Austin, Texas, and across this great land,” said the Stanford University professor.
Dr. Rice is exactly right about the importance of immigrants to this “knowledge-based” economy, but what she may not know is just how many places are home to these technology industry jobs. Engine has created a data visualization to demonstrate the importance of technology to communities around the country. This includes the innovation hubs she mentioned, but also areas not usually thought of as “high tech” in states like Colorado, New Mexico, and Minnesota.
As we head north to Charlotte and the Democratic Convention, we will continue to talk about the issues that are impacting technology startups across the country -- from skilled immigration, to STEM education, to broadband and spectrum, to patent and financial regulation. We hope to see some of you there. Stay tuned!
What a week. Speeches! Panels! Data Visualizations! Engine is making the most of our first party nominating convention tour in the southeastern United States and it’s been a pleasure spending time with Republican policymakers and delegates talking about issues that matter to startups.
Throughout the week, Startup RockOn, a group showcasing and promoting startups, hosted a series of panels and events on topics including innovation in digital media, government and startups, and female founders. The Startup America Partnership joined on many of these events. Startup America also worked with The Huffington Post to host a lunch on job creation that particularly highlighted the role of startups. The lunch was followed by a startup expo allowing entrepreneurs to connect with delegates and the media.
Engine has been participating at each of these events in addition to highlighting our data visualization of tech jobs at an event co-hosted by Google and Bloomberg. Startups are central to the dialogue on the economy at the RNC and we plan to keep that dialogue moving forward in Charlotte.
Don’t forget to check out our primer on the issues impacting startups, and keep this dialogue moving in your community as well.
The tech sector may be driving the economy where you least expect. Today, in collaboration with the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, or BACEI, Engine launches its first major research project, demonstrating the importance of technology and entrepreneurship across the American economy. We invite you to explore the data and see where innovation is happening.
Engine is San Francisco-based and we hear from people in business and government alike that startups and technology are centered in Silicon Valley, where a small network of innovators, investors, and entrepreneurs build the “new economy.” But in Engine’s effort to connect policymakers to entrepreneurs, we have worked with startups located across the country ranging from Kansas to Georgia to Michigan.
Our work with BACEI aims to tell the whole story. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Establishment Time Series Database, BACEI calculations show that tech jobs and startups aren’t isolated. In fact, as BACEI economist Ian Hathaway told us last week, growth “is not only a ‘tech center’ phenomenon.” Communities including Dayton, Ohio and Troy, Michigan, and Columbia, South Carolina have experienced growth in technology employment exceeding 10 percent in 2011.
What BACEI observed:
Let’s unpack this a little bit. Based on Department of Labor definitions, technology industries are those that include a very high share of technical disciplines -- those in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (STEM). If you’ve been following Engine, you’ll know STEM employees play a critical role in startups and technology and that the need for STEM professionals has led to calls for new legislation to bolster startups.
Second, our data visualization tracks jobs in the private sector. This means we’re looking at all the jobs at companies in technology industries, not just workers with these professional skills. These industries include computer hardware, software, systems design, and information; high-technology communications and electronics equipment; internet publishing and web search portals; data hosting and processing services; pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing; aerospace manufacturing; architecture and engineering services; and research and development services. We aim to show that technology doesn’t just create jobs for engineers and computer scientists, but managers, designers, salespeople, and executives as well.
Finally, the startup data we track reflects new business establishments -- first-year startups -- in the same technology industries. This includes businesses across the board, including sole proprietorships that are not captured by Labor Department or Census Bureau data. It’s a broad net and captures a comprehensive picture of tech startup growth.
Our research aims to think critically about how technology, the internet, and entrepreneurship shape our economy. The first step is to dispel a few misconceptions about the location of tech jobs. Going forward, the analysis will provide insight into labor trends and their impact on public policy.
We want consumers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to dive into the data -- looking at their own backyard or at the national level -- to gain a better understanding of how technology influences jobs. We think you might be surprised.
The sun has finally broken through Isaac’s clouds here in Tampa as Day 2, and the real action of the Republican National Convention, gets underway. The Engine team and a few of our members are coming together here in Florida for a full day of meetings and events with political leaders from across the country.
Yesterday was a relatively quiet day here in Tampa, with the Convention being called to order, and less than two minutes later gaveled to a close, by RNC Chair Reince Priebus. A few events did remain on the schedule outside the convention hall, however, with technology issues at the forefront of many of them. In the morning, our team attended a briefing in Tampa’s historic Ybor City neighborhood on social media and how it is changing politics in this election year, with the National Journal’s Major Garrett, Atlantic Magazine’s Garance Franke-Ruta and CBS News’ former White House Correspondent Norah O’Donnell. Their guests, which ranged from Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to Governor Romney’s digital director Zac Moffatt and others, all sounded notes of optimism on the use of new technologies and their impact on the process.
Gov. Snyder, dubbed “Governor Hangout” by his constituents for his use of Google’s video technology to hold town hall meetings around the state, talked about his engagement strategy with voters and how his office uses technology to provide “top-notch customer service” to Michiganders. You can hear more about his strategies by following him on Twitter, @onetoughnerd.
Today is a day packed full of great events in and around the convention hall here in Florida, with Ann Romney and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie taking to the podium among many others. Keep up with what we’re doing by following us on Twitter with more exciting news to come.
Today, Engine launches its inaugural trip to the party nominating conventions to promote the cause of startups and entrepreneurs to policymakers and delegates in Tampa, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina. Our first priority: Highlighting the issues that matter to small businesses, technology startups, and entrepreneurs.
We chose to highlight eight issues that are shaping the startup space, connecting with entrepreneurs to provide insight into how these issues impact their businesses. Our goal is to give convention-goers and decision makers from both parties perspective on some of the biggest issues Congress will have to weigh after the votes are cast.
Check out “Our Internet, Our Economy: Issues Impacting America’s Startups” here and visit engine.is throughout convention season for our updates on the ground at the conventions.
The future of America’s economy depends on policymakers embracing and fostering technology, according to Google’s Chief Counsel Kent Walker, who spoke at an open forum about the intersection of technology and policy earlier this week. Around 200 attendees gathered in Aspen, Colorado for an annual gathering of the Technology Policy Institute -- a Washington, DC-based policy think tank -- to discuss the most pressing policy issues the innovation economy currently faces.
Near the top of that list is how we think about software patents. As many startups have discovered in the course of building innovative products, our current system is largely broken. Walker, who has a long history of serving with some of the leading names in American innovation, from Netscape to AOL, identified three areas of policy development that would better serve the innovation community.
First, we should re-engineer the patent system to support, rather than attack innovation. Google made some news on that front last week by unveiling its Prior Art Finder database, a tool that examiners and applicants alike can use to search earlier patent applications and avoid duplicative applications. Walker asserted that further steps would be necessary, including re-thinking the utility and viability of the software patent overall, but resetting the system to be one of support is a good first step.
Walker also suggests extending a provision in The America Invents Act that weeds out counterproductive financial business model patents, to include software patents. This measure, along with working directly with the Patent and Trademark Office to discontinue issuing these types of patents in the first place, could ease the burden on examiners and applicants alike.
Finally, Walker warned that innovators must work against the expansion of the current system of litigation that is driving much of the conversation on patents. As a community that has been besieged by a broken patent system, we can and should fight to make serious public policy inroads to better serve the needs of our industry. As Walker says, we must embrace the future, and heed the Samuel Morse telegraph case of the 1800s, by seeking not to define and codify law according to what we know today, but to take care not to impede progress in areas which we haven’t yet explored and discovered.
Walker’s full remarks are available here. Engine will continue to explore opportunities to influence public policy around patents and will continue to update. If you have a patent story to share, let us know about it. info@engine.is
The Federal Communications Commission announced Tuesday that more Americans are connected to broadband, signaling an important step forward for startups and small businesses across the country. The commission released its Eighth Broadband Progress Report -- a congressionally-mandated overview of expansion of broadband -- that reported about 19 million people lack broadband access, seven million fewer than in its 2011 overview.
While Google Fiber gigabit speeds in Kansas City have grabbed headlines in recent weeks, vast areas of the United States lack access to adequate internet services. Rural communities in particular are cut off from communications infrastructure, limiting entrepreneurial opportunities for web-based businesses in these areas.
Broadband is the most basic tool startups require to succeed. Whether a young company is developing ground-breaking software, creating the next best-selling video game, or simply setting up an online storefront, businesses need connection speeds that support the services they need.
Inadequate dial-up or expensive satellite link services are the only options in many areas, limiting the connectivity of current devices. Economically, many far-flung communities are difficult to connect for telecoms, as they offer little or no return on investment. The economic stimulus passed by Congress in 2009 allocated billions of dollars to alleviate this pressure, but administrative requirements and the seasonal nature of construction has hindered the deployment of internet services to neighborhoods and homes.
The report is good news, but more needs to be done to connect the 19 million Americans cut off from broadband opportunity. Engine will continue to advocate for innovative strategies to close the broadband gap, including TV white spaces, subsidy reform, and municipal fiber. There isn’t one simple solution for closing the broadband gap, but these tools are available to policymakers and should be explored and tested.
Image via broadbandmap.gov
Today Engine hosted Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), a member of the House Democratic leadership, at a lunchtime roundtable with members of the startup community. The meetup was part of a series of events hosted by Engine at the Hattery offices in SOMA to promote dialogue about policy issues that are impacting startups across the country.
While in the Valley, Rep. Hoyer is visiting large tech companies like Cisco, Google, and Facebook as well as startups and entrepreneurs. The conversation touched on a variety of issues affecting the community, including skilled immigration, STEM education, and broadband access for rural Americans. The group also discussed issues important to the health of our economy and the U.S. as a whole.
Engine member and healthcare startup Morpheus took the opportunity to demo their product for
the congressman, which gives cardiologists a non-invasive, 3D view of the human heart -- a piece of technology created by foreign-born, U.S.-educated entrepreneurs.
Engine will continue to keep you posted about opportunities to engage with policymakers as they meet with members of the startup community.
Over the next few weeks, Engine will embark on a trip to the party nominating conventions in Tampa and Charlotte. We’ll hear President Obama and Governor Romney speaking about the agenda for our country for the coming four years. And alongside some of our leading entrepreneurial members, we’ll be meeting with leaders and policymakers from both parties -- talking with them about the role startups play in growth in the economy, and how we can work together in the next Congress and beyond to craft better legislation and regulation in this arena.
We’ll be working alongside our friends at Startup America, the Consumer Electronics Association, Google, and many other companies and interests to provide a view into the startup community at a number of events at both the RNC and DNC. We’ll also be releasing resources for candidates and advocates at both conventions, which we’ll pass along here as well.
If you’re attending, make sure to keep an eye out for us, and if you’re not braving the convention heat, we’ll be updating here and on Twitter and Facebook with updates from the excitement in both cities.
Image courtesy of clmclarty
A week and a half ago, NASA landed its Curiosity rover on Mars, opening a new stage of exploration on our neighboring planet. The mission opens doors for the next generation of Americans to experience the boundaries pushed by NASA as images of the Martian landscape are posted across the web.
Carl Sagan’s Emmy and Peabody award-winning 1980 series Cosmos highlighted the power of astronomy, cosmology, and exploration and inspired a generation. Sagan has again become popular on the internet, on YouTube and in memes lately, alongside Richard Fenyman and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Users are attempting to recapture the spirit of Cosmos and evangelize science and technology anew. While I have many favorite moments in the series, one video that sticks with me is Sagan teaching children in a Brooklyn classroom about the universe. I would easily trade all of my schooling to be in that classroom on that day.
You may be wondering why all of this matters to startups. It’s
hard for me to look at individuals like Bobak Ferdowski, Flight Director for the mission, or Sagan, Feynman, or deGrasse Tyson without dwelling on the importance of education to the future of innovation and technology in the United States. Despite a revival of enthusiasm for these scientific public figures, fewer students are graduating with high tech degrees. According to the Department of Commerce, fewer than forty percent of students entering college pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics leave with a degree in one of these fields.
The U.S. needs STEM graduates to build more than Mars rovers. One stereotypical image associated with startups is of enterprising college dropouts building businesses in garages, but the fact is that STEM graduates are needed to build the next generation of American businesses. Recent debate over immigration reform for high skilled workers demonstrates the need for more students ready to take on the technical challenges posed by businesses that harness technology -- whether computer science-based or in fields such as health and energy -- to create a new class of disruptive products.
The discussion of education and U.S. schools’ priorities have lagged behind the debate about NASA’s funding in a time when the economy dominates U.S. politics. Lawmakers need to make a stronger connection between education, scientific achievement, and the progress of the economy as a whole. Startups and high tech firms help drive job growth beyond STEM degree holders. Research has shown that startups that survive and become successful companies create millions of jobs, most of which include administrators, accountants, and executives.
Though its easy to focus on our differences in an election year, the success of NASA serves as a reminder of our commonly held values and the importance of pushing boundaries, exploring, and innovating. We need more than the space program to inspire students to reach for the stars. Lawmakers need to make sure this generation of American students have the resources, encouragement, and opportunity to launch the economy of tomorrow.
Image via NASA.gov
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