5 Questions for Mark Heesen, NVCA President
We've got a new President and a new Congress. We've also got 5 Questions for Mark Heesen, head of of the National Venture Capital Association. 1. What is the NVCA’s top legislative priority for this session? First of all you have to look at the stimulus package. I think Obama understands very clearly the importance of cleantech and the importance of technology in general. Infrastructure is not just bridges and roads, but it’s also things like a new energy grid and greater broadband access. So, at the end of the day, what we want is to make sure those words during the campaign and inaugural address become legislative language. It’s a short-term priority, but also a top priority. 2. What is your general viewpoint toward what the federal government has done over the past few months, vis-à-vis the economy? We look at it from an entrepreneur’s viewpoint. After the bubble burst in 2000, Silicon Valley and its companies didn’t run to the government to bail them out. Entrepreneurial companies that fail, fail. So that’s our basic instinct. But I think that’s been tempered by the fact of a worldwide economic slump. And government is an integral part of venture capital, because we don’t do
