Now that the election is over, we hit up some of the smartest, hungriest folks in tech to get their wishlist for the next four years with Obama running the show. From immigration reform to education and an end to partisan gridlock, tech entrepreneurs will be demanding a lot of the president in his next term. Nerd cred or not, it's clear Obama needs to deliver to keep the tech economy vibrant, and the startup world's most creative minds making a beeline to the United States.
- Get to Work on Immigration Reform
Kevin Hartz, CEO Eventbrite
Technology has made the world a much smaller and more open place. It's also been a clear economic growth driver. As such, immigration reform to help attract talent worldwide, and incentives to new businesses to drive growth are top of mind. Either way, the innovation economy makes unequivocal positive impact independent of politics.
Naval Ravikant, founder AngelList
Passing the Startup Visa would be incredible. It would help us import more scarce technical talent. We need to separate the skilled and unskilled immigration debate. Pushing educational initiatives into technical education would also be good. What's going on right now is that, as Dilbert creator Scott Adams put it, "the smart are getting richer" - mostly through huge leverage in the form of cloud computing, smartphones, open source, etc. Declaring a war on the rich could spill over into the smart. The better solution is to create a more technically leveraged workforce.
Other than that, don't mess with the current system too much. I'd leave the rest of the system as is. One thing I am concerned about is that politicians are so intent on punishing bankers and private equity funds for the 2008 crash that they're going to increase taxes and financial red-tape on entrepreneurs along the way.
- Set Some Policies on Privacy and Personal Data
Andy Hickl, co-founder and president Saga
I really hope that the next administration is going to have something to say about how companies handle personal data. Tech companies are swimming in personal data collected from their users -- and users are only too eager to fork over some bit of private info to get their hands on the latest app or gadget. Many tech companies are doing the right thing and taking extra steps to safeguard their users’ data. But how much is enough? What's the gold standard? Until we get some Federal framework in place that lays out how companies should safeguard personal data, it's still going to be the Wild West.
Anthony Goldbloom, CEO of Kaggle
As a data company that does work in healthcare, HIPAA, the legislation that attempts to protect patient privacy, does far more harm than good. It does not fully protect patient privacy, while making it difficult for medical researchers to access the data that might contain life-saving insights, and for healthcare companies to use predictive modeling (a great tool for supporting preventative medicine). HIPAA should be reworked to better support getting insights out of medical data. In practice, it’s almost impossible to fully protect patient privacy anyway
A nice-to-have would be measures that simplify the administrative burdens involved in running a company. For instance, we have employees in California, Indiana and New Jersey. We file tax returns in each jurisdiction and have different obligations to our employees in different jurisdiction. Streamlining this process is not something a president can do alone, but it’s unlikely to happen without a presidential push.
Narges Bani Asadi, CEO, Bina Technologies
Those of us at the intersection of big data and genomics are also very concerned about privacy mandates. The genomics revolution must define "clear policies" on who can access and use whole genome data – including health insurance providers and third-party data storage companies such as "cloud computing"
services.
The Obama administration may indeed need to influence the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which protects patients' medical information, or the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which is intended to prevent employers and insurance companies from misusing genetic data. Additionally, patients need to be informed about what it means to have their genome sequenced-- who can access their data, how it might be used, and the consequences of specific test results.
- Better Math and Science Education, and More Funding for Research
Jeff Bonforte, CEO, Xobni
Obama should prioritize research and development in fundamental, long time-frame science areas like space, environmental preservation and recovery, energy, materials, etc. This has many benefits, but the most important are to inspire the next generations of entrepreneurs, inventors and innovation. Disruption begets disruption. Core improvements in these areas drive massive innovation downstream. For example, fund internet development and you get Google, et al. Fund energy breakthroughs and we will see massive improvements in computing ubiquity and power.
For the short term, citizens that are safe, healthy, educated and well-employed provide fertile markets for both existing players and new entrants alike. But massive imbalances of wealth distribution ultimately makes these goals impossible, and undermines startup markets.
Dean Rotchin, president and CEO, Blackjet
BlackJet’s biggest issue right now is talent, and we are not alone. I believe Obama’s clear focus on education, especially in math and science is critical for solving this problem in the long term.
Real wealth creation results from finding and developing new and better solutions. So, the idea of cutting education in public schools, universities and research institutions would be antithetical to solving our problems. In fact, cuts to education and research could be catastrophic for the tech industry, which is for the most part a function of the skills of our workforce. Adversely affect the education system, and the tech industry suffers and wealth creation suffers as well. We need a political approach that promotes education and research in order to cultivate talent, encourage the talent to stay in the U.S., and help grow our advantages in technology.
- Political Reform, and an End to Partisan Bickering
Chris C. Kemp, co-founder and CEO of Nebula.
Today, a gap is widening between how citizens interact with society, businesses, and each other and how they interact with their government. Never before has it been easier to richly interact with every person you’ve ever known, every company and brand you interact with. In Barack Obama’s second term, government agencies should be “re-booted” and “re-tooled” to interact directly with citizens through the web, social, and mobile applications that have become so ubiquitous in our lives. They need to retool their infrastructures to support direct engagement with citizens and more efficient execution of their missions.
Jason Cavnar, co-founder and CEO, Singly
As a citizen, I am looking for a leader who will actually lead. The U.S. political climate has reached an unacceptable and unsustainable point of stagnation and contentiousness. We sit at the crossroads of major historical shifts and we are not, as a nation, capitalizing on them, let alone leading in them. We are seeing huge economic, intellectual and spending capital springing up in what were previously third-world countries. And security, liberty and information access are all colliding forces that require speed and intellect. So leadership, boldness and intelligence are at a premium.
Peter Caparso, president Adyen
The bottom line is that we need someone to cross over party lines and create bipartisanship cooperation to get the economy moving. There has been so much bickering between the two parties that has led to minimal growth that for the sake of the country we need to put aside differences. As a fast-growing tech company, it is paramount that we have an environment where businesses can invest and grow without fear of financial contraction.
- Internet Freedom
Matt Mullenweg, founding developer, WordPress; founder, Automattic
At a macro level I hope the president keeps the economy on a path to recovery, and stays on the right side of anti-internet efforts like SOPA. What we're building with the web is too early to be marginalized by special interests so early in its growth. On a personal level, I hope he keeps fighting for protections and privileges under the law for my non-straight colleagues.
Even though the political process often frustrates me, I've seen its ability to influence the lives of my friends, family, and colleagues too many times to ignore it any more.
__Mark Phillip, CEO and founder, Are You Watching This?! __
Living in Austin, Texas, is strange, and not just because I’m a Brooklyn native. The juxtaposition of a fiercely liberal town set against a conservative backdrop creates the friction that much of the town's creative fire sparks from. It’s poetically fitting then, that most of this burgeoning startup hub is represented by Lamar S. Smith, the sponsor of the nearly universally reviled Stop Online Piracy Act.
Representative Smith is up for re-election this year and I was looking forward to casting a vote for any warm body (heck, I’d even take lukewarm) that was opposing him, but after years of Texas redistricting I was juggled over to District 25 — just one block out of Rep. Smith’s District. Sadly, he sailed through, but I would have thoroughly enjoyed casting that vote against him.
- Just Stay out of My Business
Andy Rachleff, CEO Wealthfront; faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business
I just hope Washington doesn’t get in the way. As a classic Silicon Valley New Libertarian I think government can only screw things up. Better to not try and fix what’s already working (as it relates to tech). To date politics has had very little bearing on how the tech industry functions. Over the past 50 years the single most impactful piece of legislation with regard to fostering innovation was the cut in capital gains rate from 50 percent to 28 percent in 1978. It ultimately led to a flood of venture capital, which in turn created the beginning of the Silicon Valley startup boom.
Generally, I would like to see more compromise. Our democracy was founded on it and clearly it doesn’t work without it. I would hate to experience another default threat. Clearly we need to lower expenditures and raise taxes on some to balance the budget. That can only be accomplished if politicians put the country ahead of their ability to get reelected.
Nicholas White, editor-in-chief and CEO, The Daily Dot
As an entrepreneur, I am consistently amazed at the constant hurdles and difficulties that the government throws in our way — and it's only been made worse by the growth in technology. We're a largely virtual company, employing people in seven or eight states. We could have a full-time person doing nothing but making sure we comply with each state's regulations and filing requirements. But of course, we can't afford that.
Beyond that, if Obama can actually get healthcare costs under control, that would be a huge win for business. Our healthcare costs went up almost 75 percent from year one to year two. It's our biggest unknown and out-of-control expense.
7.Barring That, a Well-Defined Business Climate Would Be Nice
Zach Nelson, CEO, Netsuite
I would be incredibly excited if Obama signed an actual federal budget. (Been waiting for that one for three years I think.) Also I am looking for the president to invest money in projects that deliver return-on-investment, rather than the usual vote pandering efforts our trillion-dollar deficits are currently used for.
My primary interest was in maintaining a divided federal House and Senate. A divided government does the least harm, and has to compromise to make anything happen. I think politics always has an impact on business, but businesses can react to any political situation if they actually have a roadmap for what the government is going to do. The worst political environment is an unclear one, as businesses don't know how or where they should invest.
Ben Elowitz, co-founder and CEO, Wetpaint.
From this election it's clear that the people's No. 1 priority is improving the economy, and the same holds for technology companies like mine. In our business climate, the idea of "long-term investments" feels like it's shortened from many years to a few months, as though productivity increases are the only way to get returns. The result has been that bold growth strategies are surprisingly rare from industries under disruption, like media. We need confidence that the macro environment will support returns tomorrow for bold thinking today. Only that confidence can unlock spending to drive innovation, sales, and liquidity paths to create the virtuous cycle that will result in more investment and innovation.
Dixon Doll, co-founder and general partner, DCM
Adopt pro-growth and company-formation-friendly policies such as tax rebates or credits for hiring new workers, purchasing capital equipment, and opening new offices and plants here in the U.S. Also, I’d like President Obama and Congress to suspend or eliminate any new Affordable Healthcare Act related costs being mandated on small businesses.
The White House needs to accelerate support for the Startup 2.0 Bill, which has been stalled since before the election, and get it passed as soon as possible.
Incent corporate repatriation of capital held offshore. I think it's important to incentivize large corporations to bring capital back home and invest it productively in the U.S. To do that, we need to implement sharp reductions in repatriation tax rates, so that companies can actively and economically consider both U.S. and offshore M&A.
Emulate the Hong Kong tax code for a period of three or more years. Hong Kong is the most tax-friendly place in the world for entrepreneurs with its zero capital gains tax policies. I believe we should establish zero capital gains for new startup investments that are held for five years as more.
Gary Griffiths, co-founder and CEO, Trapit
How can Obama maintain the momentum in American small business, while supporting the fledgling entrepreneurs who will build the next great technology enterprises? Technology grants for small businesses. These would be easily obtained access to cash or low-interest loans - similar to tuition loans - for the computers and network infrastructure or services so crucial to getting a new business off the ground. This of course is has double impact - the direct benefit to the start-ups, but also the technology business that enjoy increased sales through these federal grants or loans.
Patent reform would help too. Unlike many bloated government bureaucracies, the Patent Office, one of the few duties of the federal government specified in the U.S. Constitution, is actually a cash cow, a self-funded entity, a portion of whose revenues actually are redirected to Congresses general fund. Simply plowing these funds back into the Patent Office, use for additional staff, could greatly impact processing performance. The president could simply make this change as a first step in a more comprehensive overall of this critical government function. Furthermore, laws need to be stiffened to prevent the ease in which foreign governments steal U.S. intellectual property with impunity.
- Disco Pants, and Other Political Issues
Chad Dickerson, CEO, Etsy
Etsy's 800,000 sellers have made sales totally more than $600 million as of the end of September (compared to $525 million in all of 2011). For all of the time that candidates spend talking about small businesses, they rarely understand these micro-entrepreneurs, many of whom are women running home-based businesses, juggling work and family priorities, and combining income from multiple sources to make ends meet. In the coming months, politicians will grapple with internet sales tax, the fiscal cliff, and the first-sale doctrine — all issues that impact our sellers’ ability to build and grow their businesses.
Jeremy Guillory, founder, High School Startup
Voter ID laws are something we care a lot about. These laws are meant to prevent voter fraud. They typically work by strictly limiting the types of photo IDs which are acceptable for voting. These barriers make it more confusing and difficult to vote, and will likely deter large numbers of high school and college students from voting. Maintaining proper photo ID is especially difficult for students who don't have cars, go to school out of state, or (as in my case) get a new address every single semester.
Chris Lindland, CEO and founder, Betabrand
While there are plenty of practical things the White House can do to help tech entrepreneurs, President Obama is an inspiration, and inspiration encourages folks to have big ideas and go for it. That's enough for me. But speaking purely out of self interest, I'd like the president to outfit the special forces in Betabrand's disco pants. Then they'd look like space warriors and all enemies would turn and run or simply dance.
Bonus Voice: Real Startups Just Keep Coding
Brian Helmig, co-founder Zapier
I'm a bit of a cynic, but at least for me, politics tends to be a bit of a distraction. Of course, I understand that many of the issues are incredibly important, but my disinterest is purely practical and not ideological. When customers need support, code needs written, and servers need upgrading, the political process seems far removed from my daily reality. So, like most of us, I watched the spectacle with a detached curiosity and then got back to work.
