August 20, 2013
For the record .... I was laid off in Nov 2008. The company had just transferred me to Northern CA. I was 2 months pregnant with my first child and found myself with no professional network (all my contacts were back in Houston), no insurance, and no safety net (we had just liquidated ourselves to get out of the home we owned in Houston). Start Ups are what kept my family and I from having to move in with family back in Arkansas or Texas.
Over the last 5 years, I have been employed by 4 start ups. With out these opportunities my families economic outlook would have been very different. Also, the skills I obtained through the boot strap work that is required of all start ups means I will forever have a skill to fall back on and can in fact begin the process of launching my own company. Which I will be doing in Oct.
Please dont impede opportunity by overly regulating funding for start ups ...