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What our members have to say...
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"It was a great experience and had some serious investors interested with our products and services/business plans and financials which hopefully will turn into fruitful business partnerships. Thanks to Tania for coordinating and encouraging us to get in time before the half of the year starts."
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Georgina Sybico - Roving Theatre Adventures |
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Startup America panel: Firms need capital, smarter regulations
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Access to capital was the No. 1 concern voiced by businesses at this morning’s Startup America roundtable, an Obama administration initiative to increase the focus on entrepreneurship and early-stage companies.
“U.S. economies and world economies are shaped by breakthrough innovations,” said Rich Lunak, president and CEO of Innovations Works. “In my experiences, those types of companies need three things: innovative ideas, world class talent, capital.”
To address the first issue, Lunak suggested that research funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health be made flexible enough to use a portion — up to 1 percent — for basic commercialization research.
He also said federal funding for university research should consider the colleges’ track record of commercialization when handing out future money.
Lunak also sounded a popular call for an angel investment tax credit, which is already available in 22 states and has been introduced in Pennsylvania, he said.
“Free up capital,” demanded Mark Peterson, president of Bridgeway Capital.
“We need more capital to get out,” he said. “We’ll make more loans if we have more capital.”
Petra Mitchell, president and CEO of Catalyst Connection, an economic development organization for the region's manufacturing industry, mentioned the high cost of healthcare and manufacturing regulations. “We have a tremendous skill gap in manufacturing — there is not a pipeline of people willing to take these jobs.”
The need for clarity in healthcare reform came up several times.
Frank Hood, president of Revenue Enhancement Strategies Inc., a healthcare consultancy, suggested the development of interstate small business healthcare consortia, which happens to be one of the most popular suggestions on Startup America’s digital sounding board.
Speaking of healthcare, Amy Hancock, owner of Advantage Home Health Services LLC, came to listen to what other small businesses, and especially government officials, think about what’s putting the squeeze on small health companies like hers.
Physical therapists, over the past ten years, have been getting more advanced degrees and graduating with higher salary expectations. At the same time, Medicare reimbursements are decreasing, so what’s a small business to do, she wondered.
Meanwhile, businesses involved in energy work demanded that the federal government establish a national energy policy. That would provide certainty, direction and, by extension, investment.
The crowd of about 200 participants varied from leaders of large companies, such as Draeger Safety Inc., to Daniel Burillo, a soon-to-be graduate of CMU’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Program who is looking to start a management consulting business focused on sustainability. His top start-up challenge is: “Finding clients.”
Teresa Rae, deputy director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, said the agency is working to get its 700,000 patent application backlog down to 350,000. And, if Congress funds it, the office is looking to hire another 1,500 application examiners. “So spread the word, there are jobs at the patent office,” she said. “Not at the moment, but soon.”
Rae praised the America Invents Act, which has gotten Senate approval, as policy that will spur and ease the burden on innovation by establishing a first-to-file system.
Today, arguing that an applicant actually invented something first could cost $400,000 to $500,000 in legal costs, she said. The new act would establish a patent application as proof.
“In patents, we were very exited by much of the patent reform act, but there is some terror among many entrepreneurs about the first file provisions,” said Thomas Petzinger Jr., co-founder of Knopp Biosciences and CEO of LaunchCyte.
The Startup America initiative aims to increase the number of entrepreneurship education programs, provide more mentors to entrepreneurs and make it easier for early-stage companies to get the capital they need to grow. The initiative also will work to boost the commercialization of technology developed at universities and federal laboratories.
Information from the eight roundtables will be compiled into a final report that will go to each agency involved.
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