More on Change.gov - Startup America

Over the weekend, my good friend Marc and I brainstormed an idea for the Obama team, and Marc submitted it to the Citizen's Briefing Book. Perhaps it will get some attention, and Marc will be called into action to lead it :)

Details:

Startup America: Bringing Innovation Back to America (A Government VC Fund)

I have been watching the government bailout with intrigue for several months, wondering why America is investing billions in industries mired in uncertainty, merely prolonging the inevitable. Therefore, I propose Startup America, an initiative for the government to invest $1B in venture capital financing to startup companies in a variety of different industries, with up to $1M per company. The fund would work in much the same way a typical seed stage investment company works, whereby there would be a board to review each idea on a variety of metrics, and upon submitting a term sheet, the government would receive equity for their investment. This would allow the government to recoup their investment and potentially more while providing a great financial resource for our citizens.

Startup America would ensure that innovatiion remains America's strongest asset. It would create jobs and industries for thousands, if not millions of people. It would certainly jumpstart the economy. It would create tremendous value for depressed areas all across the nation, providing people with resources to turn their dreams into reality. It could be the first step in solving our energy crisis, curing cancer, improving education, eradicating homelessness and malnutrition, improving foreign policy, increasing security, and vastly improving current technologies . The possibilities are endless. Our minds are our only limitation.

change.gov

Last night I listened in on a panel and was reminded again of the super use of Internet and social network technologies by the Obama team.

The New York Times reported that Obama met with Marc Andreesen at the San Francisco airport in February of 2007 to discuss how the Internet and social networks can be leveraged to communicate his message. It was the beginning of a well orchestrated campaign that leveraged these tools to not only communicate a message, but to build a brand, and to empower people to be part of the change they wanted to see. There was not a day that I did not refresh my Facebook feeds without seeing friends joining Obama groups or attending Obama events or communicating Obama messages in their status updates. It allowed us all to be part of the experience versus just voters. We felt a connection with the brand and we took a sense of ownership during the campaign. We adopted the message and not only became supporters but became evangelists by enlisting our friends to join in on Obama groups or to distribute/attend events or to communicate messages to their friends via their status updates. The result is now obvious and nearly two years after Obama's meeting with Andreesen, we are set to swear in a movement that we hope will indeed finally demonstrate a government of the people and for the people.

If the trends of the campaign continue, there is no doubt that the Obama administration will continue to leverage the power of the Internet to allow all residents to be a part of government on a daily basis. The launch of Change.gov, in addition to the current presence across social networks gives the administration a two-way communication with the American people (make that the world). If you visit Change.gov, you will notice something called the Citizen's Briefing Book. This is where people can stop in and share ideas with the Obama team and then it is opened up to the masses to vote the idea up or down (+1 or -1), very much like Digg. The ideas receiving the most votes will bubble up to the top and come to the attention of the administration. Interestingly, I just visited Change.gov and noticed that the idea with the most votes is Ending the Marijuana Prohibition with 72,310 votes. Hem, I wonder how the administration will respond to that one. While the discussion of ending marijuana prohibition might be political suicide in most cases, if truly over time the wisdom of the crowds points towards this as an issue that is important to a majority of Americans, the administration will have to have an answer in some capacity.

We are moving into an era where all our voices can be heard in government, and on January 20th when Obama is sworn into office, it is all of us who joined in on Obama groups, advertised Obama events, or wrote about Obama on our status updates that are also getting sworn in. For it is us through the power of the Internet that made this happen, and it will be us through the power of the Internet that will continue to participate in the administration. I Hope.

2009

I spent new year’s eve having a quiet night in with my girlfriend. Although we are grateful for many things like our health, our family, our friends, and most importantly the freedom to wake up and pursue our passions, we just did not feel right about celebrating this year.

In both of our lives, we have never seen the world in such a state of volatility, uncertainty, and despair. Two things stand out above others:

1. The ongoing global wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur and many other regions which our media fails to bring to our attention: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ongoing_conflicts. In the addition, the current escalating violence in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis that has once again unfolded in the region.

2. The global financial meltdown. In the U.S., we had leveraged a false sense of reality to finance our excessive ways for too long and those false realities were unmasked this past year.

a) Houses appreciating at an 8-10% clip between 1998-2006, compared to a less than 1% clip between 1930-1997

b) Foreign ownership of U.S Treasuries growing from about 20% in 1996 to about 60% today

c) Total debt as a percentage of GDP approaching 300%

d) an explosion in subprime lending.

All of this resulted in the U.S. becoming a pure consumer economy, as we borrowed beyond our means to spend/consume/spend/consume/etc. Over 70% of our GDP is now associated directly with consumer spending versus real value creation. The false sense of realities came crashing down on us this year and this past holiday season we witnessed the vulnerabilities of the U.S. consumer economy when consumers have less access to debt. With the credit markets in a total state of redefinition, the U.S. economy is now in a state of equal shock as it has to come to grips with real value creation versus living in excess through the false realities noted above. The net result is a decrease in consumer spending and an increase in unemployment. Both of these in turn lead to greater foreclosures, temporary deflation, and long term inflation as a result of the actions from the fed/treasury. The pain of this financial crisis is felt by everyone, from families losing sources of income, to families forced into foreclosure, to retirees forced out of retirement, to students without access to student loans, etc. It is a crisis unlike any our generation has experienced.

As such, we just did not feel right celebrating this year, and instead had a quiet NYE with the hope that collectively as a nation we can create a more peaceful and prosperous 2009. With change ready to take the helm in the U.S. on January 20^th, we are hopeful that the global wars and humanitarian crises can be met with intelligence versus violence. As for the economy, which we have more direct control over, it is time to create versus take. It is time to wake up and build businesses that create value, create jobs, and grow our economy through value creation versus consumer spending. It is time to become disciplined about not living beyond our means and spending our limited time creating value versus spending. It will help us not only economically but spiritually.

Here is to Hope for a better 2009 for everyone, let us all do our part!