Just read a really interesting piece by Dan Schwabel on the Amex Open Forum called Why Startup America Makes Your Life Better. He talks about President Obama's "Startup America" legislative agenda introduced, with the support of companies like American Express and Microsoft, to support entrepreneurship in America by lowering the barriers to entry for starting a business.
The article offers a simple, top-line summary of the initiative, noting practical ways it will make business start-up easier and more attractive, including cutting taxes on small businesses and making access to capital easier. However, one line stood out to me more than any other:
The Kauffman Foundation reports that nearly half of Americans ages 8 to 24 have either already started a business or want to start one.
This was powerful for me; a clear statement of the surviving essence of the American spirit. When I think about the history of the US, and what has carried us through past two hundred plus years as a nation, I see again and again this thread of youthful, optimistic, we-can-do-something energy. From the first Europeans who braved the Atlantic in tiny leaky boats to come here and start a new life, to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak holed up in a garage, the evolution of America has been fueled by people being ready and willing to try new things, even if it meant moving way out of their comfort zone and flying directly in the face of common wisdom.
That's why I loved the quote about young people wanting to start businesses. Here we are in this current wacky economy, with indicators pointing in seemingly mutually exclusive directions: the job market is strange, no one feels particularly comfortable or sanguine about the future...and yet, almost 50% of our young people want to start their own business. It's reassuring and inspiring.
And doing whatever we can to support that impulse in practical ways - ways that help the best and most productive ideas rise to the top and flourish - is something we can each do to help insure a better, more vibrant and opportunity-rich future for ourselves and generations to come.
