‘FIRST LET’S KILL THE ANGELS

I wrote about the Dodd bill and its problems last week. But a new problem has surfaced that has major implications for the US economy and our ability to grow it.

For all intents and purposes, the bill will utterly devastate angel investing in the US. And as we will see, that is not hyperbole. For a Congress and administration that purports to be all about jobs, this section of the bill makes less than no sense. It is a job and innovation killer of the first order.

First, let’s look at a very important part of the US economic machine, the angel investing network. An angel investor, or angel (also known as a business angel or informal investor) is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business startup, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. A small but increasing number of angel investors organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share research and pool their investment capital.

by John Maudlin

Full Story: http://thesmartmoney.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/first-lets-kill-the-angels-by-john-maudlin-in-outside-the-box/

(Many thanks to the NASVF http://www.nasvf.org for bringing this article to our attention. Please contact your legislators and let them know your thoughts on this incredibly stupid proposed law. Russ)