The G8 and Startup APEC

Despite more research and data from the World Bank and OECD—and while plenty of attention has been given to ‘SMEs’ in the past—multinational government gatherings have largely ignored the importance of stimulating new high-impact startups as a prime global economic growth strategy. This needs to change. Upon request, I provided thoughts for this weekend’s G8 meeting hosted by President Obama here on the East Coast at Camp David. Next month I have accepted an invitation to travel to Seoul to help launch Startup APEC where leaders appear poised to do more than pay lip service to entrepreneurs and rather include them in their central strategy for building economies.

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Startups Key to Growth in Postconflict Areas
Entrepreneurs have an important role to play in reconstruction efforts in conflict and post-conflict zones to create sustainable economic growth and stability. But first they need a level playing field—or at least something close to level—and in far too many cases the international aid community is focused on microenterprise at the exclusion of potential high-growth, high-impact entrepreneurs. [More]

Legislation Aimed at Retaining High-Tech Immigrants
A new piece of legislation introduced by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) aims to stem the tide of high-tech immigrants returning to their home countries immediately after they finish their studies. The Sustaining Our Most Advanced Researchers and Technology (SMART) Jobs Act of 2012 allows foreign-born, American-educated holders of masters and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields to remain in the United States to work and create jobs. [More]

Entrepreneurs Gauge States’ Friendliness: Idaho #1
If you are reading this, chances are you have seen any number of surveys and indices that rank the U.S. states according to their climate towards small business and entrepreneurs. Unlike other rankings, a new survey from Thumbtack.com has gone straight to the source. Partnering with the Kauffman Foundation, Thumbtack.com conducted a two-month survey of over 6,000 small business owners nationwide on the friendliness of states towards small business and about small business finances in order to measure states and cities along 21 metrics. [More]

A Look Back at Innovation Daily
Each day, Innovation Daily checks the pulse of global innovation-- courtesy of Innovation America. Here, we take a look at a handful of relevant stories it compiled last week. [More]

This Week in Entrepreneurship Policy
While members of the House are back in their home districts for a two-week recess, the Senate has several committee hearings and events that may be of interest to entrepreneurs and followers of the startup ecosystem. The economic dialogue between U.S. and China gets a look from the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs while others focus on less government IT spending, the government’s role in energy innovation and innovations in health care delivery. [More]