I look on government programs to help startups with cynicism for exactly this reason ... the guys who put things like that together often have little idea what the guy on the frontlines is dealing with.
Personally ... if Obama announced that Startups would only pay 10% in taxes (or something like that) for x amount of years and gave us access to (heavily discounted healthcare plans) ... I'd be content.
As it is currently structured, Startup America doesn't factor into my life one bit ... and I'm working on a startup.
SBJA pretty much does this -- accelerated expensing AND 0% capital gains if you hold for 5 years. I think they've done a bad job marketing it, but it's amazing.
All they need to do to encourage some kinds ("scalable") startup activity is to get out of the way. For supporting random small business startup, I think enhanced loan packages, education, etc. can help -- maybe partner with organizations like SCORE. I'd also like to see "start your own business" assistance for separated military personnel.
Personally ... if Obama announced that Startups would only pay 10% in taxes (or something like that) for x amount of years and gave us access to (heavily discounted healthcare plans) ... I'd be content.
As it is currently structured, Startup America doesn't factor into my life one bit ... and I'm working on a startup.