Angel Insights Blog

By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director

The Angel Capital Association has been very active in educating policy makers in Washington, DC for six years, and I am proud to say that this Fall ACA has ramped up our activity and effectiveness even more.  In case you missed it:  here’s what the association has done to advocate for startups and angels in the last two months, and providing insights to our members:

• Wrote a letter to the Trump transition team – ACA’s memo highlights the importance of new businesses to job creation in the US and the need to promote policies that free up capital and minimize regulatory burdens.  The focus is on what President Elect Trump can do immediately, during his first 100 days, and also in his first year in office on everything from appointing SEC commissioners who understand early-stage investing to keeping the current accredited investor definition the same to tax policy that catalyzes investment in high growth, innovative startups.

• Provided insights on the 2017 White House and Congress to ACA members (ACA members click here to read) – ACA’s government affairs firm, Eris Group, provided details to ACA members on what might happen in Washington next year – and what it means for angel investors.  ACA members can click here to get a broad update on potential actions by the President-Elect and what changes in both the House of Representatives and Senate might mean for everything from the budget to tax reform to angel issues like updating the JOBS Act.  This analysis follows a special session ACA leaders and Eris Group did on November 9^th at the ACA Angel Insights Exchange in Nashville.  

• Published a column in Inc on how President Trump can catalyze job growth- ACA Chair Christopher Mirabile wrote, Reconciliation: Shaping Trump’s Policies to Drive Innovation and Growth.  He astutely points out, “Two very different and inconsistent threads emerged from President-Elect Trump's campaign - one pro-business and one populist. Because of the gaping dichotomy between those two threads, the value and importance of the innovation economy is being overlooked and therefore greatly underestimated. For the good of entrepreneurship, jobs and the innovation economy, it is vital that we reconcile them, especially as policies and legislative priorities come into focus.”

• Authored Forbes column, Policies That Can Make Entrepreneurship Great Again – My column last week summarized ACA’s letter to the Trump transition team, with practical ideas and current legislation that can make a difference for the angel and entrepreneurial communities.

• Participated in the White House’s Entrepreneurship Initiative – Our work on “The American Angel” was highlighted in a November 30, 2016 White House fact sheet celebrating entrepreneurial programs:  “The Angel Capital Association committed to publishing diversity data, and is conducting the first-ever study of the demographics of American angel investors, including how and why they make investment decisions, with research partner Wharton Entrepreneurship.  The results of the study will be published this spring, along with best practices that can help connect angel investors with diverse entrepreneurs in diverse regions, which will be tracked and publicly reported over time.”

• Supported International Entrepreneur Rule and Offered Improvement Ideas - Many angels have noticed the unique capabilities of entrepreneurs from outside the US to build great companies. Now, finally, so has the American federal government (noting that our colleague Canadians have been all over this for some time).  The Department of Homeland Security released rules that would allow more foreign born entrepreneurs to stay in the US longer to grow their companies.  One of the main requirements is for angels or VCs to invest in their companies.  The rules will become final after a review of comments to the first public draft.  ACA’s support of and recommendations for improvement are here. 

ACA has angels’ backs.  We will continue to walk the halls of Congress, the SEC, the White House, and anywhere else we need to be to promote the importance of startups and angels, and the policies and legislation needed for the strongest possible startup and innovation ecosystem.  We also need your help – if you’re interested in being part of ACA’s Grassroots Group that talks with Members of Congress when they are in their home districts, shoot me an email.