Earlier this month, a group of U.S. Senators led by Amy Klobuchar introduced the New Business Preservation Act to incentivize venture capital formation around the country. The Act, which allocates $2 billion to states under the “Innovation and Startups Equity Investment Program,” enables investors in undercapitalized regions to leverage federal dollars into startup investments. It avoids two well-known traps for government-sponsored venture programs by requiring that public funds are matched with private dollars and that capital is deployed by professional investors.
VC: An American History (Book Review)
Seemingly everyone in my network has been busy the last few weeks reading Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It, the highly anticipated book by Andreessen Horowitz partner Scott Kupor that published last month. By all accounts, it’s an excellent guide for helping entrepreneurs and other onlookers understand the practicalities of the venture capital business. I look forward to reading it soon. I, on the other hand, have been focused on a very different type of book on the venture capital industry. VC: An American History is a fascinating tour of the genesis and evolution of the venture capital business, spanning more than 200 years of development. The book was written by Tom Nicholas of Harvard Business School and released just one day before Secrets of Sand Hill Road. I have been eager to get my hands on this book since first learning about it months ago, and I’m happy to say, it didn’t disappoint.