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The Death-Spiral Of American Entrepreneurism
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
If American Entrepreneurism is in a death spiral, then so too is the U.S. economy and the state that lives off the surplus generated by American Entrepreneurism.
The self-congratulatory rah-rah about American entrepreneurism rings hollow, as the evidence is conclusive: entrepreneurship, new businesses and the source of new businesses, self-employment, are all declining.
Two recent articles describe the trend: American Entrepreneurship Is Actually Vanishing. Here's Why (Inc)
American Entrepreneurship: Dead or Alive? (Gallup)
The Inc.com piece is a nuanced look at entrepreneurship that tries to find a silver lining in the abysmal data: perhaps we're simply not looking at the right metrics. Perhaps entrepreneurship is best measured by self-employment rather than by only counting businesses with employees (which, by the way, includes incorporated self-employed).
This is very sensible, as self-employment is the ground floor of entrepreneurship. If your one-person business takes off, then you hire employees and scale up from there.
Alas, the feedstock of small business--self-employment--has been in structural decline for decades. I've covered self-employment in depth for years: Endangered Species: The Self-Employed Middle Class
The Decline of Self-Employment and Small Business (April 22, 2013)
Financial Independence via Self-Employment: How Do We Do It? (September 23, 2015)
The chart of self-employment is unambiguous:
The Gallup article and chart are also unambiguous: Entrepreneurship is in structural decline, and the health of the economy and the state that depends on tax revenues is at stake:
Here is a chart of the number of new enterprises and those that have closed: much is being made of that tiny uptick in new businesses; now that the birth of new enterprises exceeds the death of existing enterprises by a wafer-thin margin, victory is being declared:
Not so fast, rah-rah cheerleaders. Look at the chart with the expansion of the U.S. population as a baseline. While population rose 42%, the number of new firms actually dropped precipitously.
While the financial media focuses on the handful of multi-billion dollar success stories, in the trenches of the U.S. economy the story is quite different: American Entrepreneurism is in a death spiral. On a per capita (per person) basis, American Entrepreneurism is in a free-fall.
And if American Entrepreneurism is in a death spiral, then so too is the U.S. economy and the state that lives off the surplus generated by American Entrepreneurism.
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And what powers entrepreneurship? Cheap resources.
Try bloody hardwork.
Exactly correct ( #1 )
but but shark tank.
Pipe Dream
Shark Tank
Lottery
Shark Tank
Most Americans want a "jawb". They want to clock in, be told what to do, and clock out and get drunk after work watching sportsball games.
Schools DO NOT teach entrepreneurship. They teach you to line up in straight lines, face forward, take tests by memorizing factoids, yet consulting others for advice is labeled as "cheating".
The system does not want entrepreneurship. They want zombies clocking in for $10 an hour and being dependent on subsidies and welfare programs to make ends meet.
What was the good old saying..?: "I don't want a nation of thinkers, what I want is a nation of WORKERS." Right?
:)
F*ck shark tank it's merely entertainment.
Scratch Off (yes it's part of Lottery)
Shark Tank
Watching that show, I’d probably buy, less than one product in ten, that they’ve put out there. I’ve seen gourmet cookies, fashion jeans, custom oven mitts and a whole bunch of useless crap, I don’t give a flying ferp about. I’ve applied to their show and the individual Sharks and got nothing, but a couple of the boiler plate responses, like “It’s not a fit for us”. Like making money, isn’t a fit for you?
Hard work is required but without resources that hard work goes absolutely nowhere and accomplishes exactly nothing.
The "American Dream" isn't built on hard work or freedom. It is a very temporary phenomenon that is the result of burning millions of years of fossil sunlight.
Who upvotes this moronic leftist satist binary shit?
If by "burning millions of years of fossil sunlight" you meant that society is on an endless march toward monopolies by ever expanding global corporations with no hope of trust busting from a purchased Congress to improve competition and endless liquidity for fuel from those same bankers that purchased Congress, than I agree.
Corporate customers have no desire to mess around with start-up companys and their inherent lower prices & higher risk. Start-ups come with baggage that no corporate lifer can stomach like: no fancy facilities that are dripping in debt; ridiculous quantities of SG&A dead weight; stylish image; energy in developing & nurturing a new customer-supplier relationship; etc.
Oh look, another butthurt peak oiler.
Entrepreneurship has existed since the dawn of civilization. No advanced energy sources required.
This small sized entrepreneural credit union has a very solid business model........ -_-
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/10/2-million-mortgage-no-down-payment-no-jok...
Nope. Knowledge and freedom to use that knowledge powers entrepreneurship.
Spoctor Din
Even more exactly correct ( #2 )
Thanks Mon, low and slow is how I like to fly too,,,
Spoctor Din
Well then.
If you know how to turn lead into gold and have the freedom to use that knowledge but you can't find any lead as a feedstock how much gold will you produce?
Exactly none. No matter how much you know, how much freedom you have you've still got 0 economic activity without resources.
Can't get around physics.
>The only way to get gold is transmutation.
How about you sell the things people want in exchange for currency, which you then use to acquire gold? Or is that too difficult and circuitous for your tiny Malthusian brain?
Before pitching your business plan to investors, make sure you aren't violating some other alchemists patent on Pb-Au transformations.
Don't care about cheap resources if I have the capital to purchase what I need, when I need it. When I have to spend capital, in time and money, to overcome bureacracy and regulation, that is a complete waste of something I've worked to produce. Being self-employed, .GOV takes a whole lot out of my pocket and gives me virtually nothing in return; no help on health insurance, no safety net if I run into financial trouble and certainly not if my business fails, and it provides virtually no protection from something as frivolous as a lawsuit from someone who shares an agenda with the government on how their beliefs trump mine. And then when .GOV takes that money from me and selectively hands huge amounts to their cronies or to big established businesses and I can't get a contract or loan because I'm not willing to support them politically and I'm not a 'minority'(although I think we're fast becoming one) what can I do to level the field? Complain, to who, .GOV? 'You didn't build that!' My $.02, $.01 after taxes...
Even more exactly and completely correct assuming that you want gubermint OUT of your business, not taking from you, instead of "providing" you with expensive, little value, stuff for the money that they take from you ( #3 )
.Gov has now requires me obtain a permit and to develop a plan to show how the condensation from residential HVAC system will not adversely impact the "waters of the state"
How fucked up is that? Is that Fed.gov or a state.gov?
You've got to be kidding....or exaggerating......or......or something!
So the unit removes water (humidity) from the surrounding air through condensation, drips that condensation onto the ground so it can evaporate into the surrounding air again........ and .gov needs a "plan" to explain how that will not "adversly impact" things?
Yup, suspicions confirmed. We are lost and screwed.
Unless you're kidding.......or exaggerating.......or.......or something!
Its merely an index for the death of the US Constitution.
FUCK YOU SelfGov. I have had my own business, it was anyting but cheap - the liability insurance alone was thousands of dollars every year. Required trade memberships, continuing education, entire forests died for the paperwork.... "Sick days" were days I worked sick. Never again (in the USSA) I would have made more money and been under a lot less stress AND had benefits if I had spent those years flipping burgers.
Everything is awesome! Are cam girls accounted for in the self employed statistics? Heard the UK made some changes in what is included in their GDP calculations.
Working the system is the new small business enterprise.
+100
And the way you said it sounds so much nicer than gaming the system.
Dr. Engali, unfortunately your comment is true. I can't upvote you because I don't approve of it, and like hell your comment deserve a downvote. Howze about a kiss instead? :-* (assuming you are male :) (What the hell, a kiss if you are a gurl too ;)
(Where is that damn stupid troll/bot that dwonvoted all the reasonable comments?)
The abilities of the mind are finite.
Like the gold rush we have had the entrepreneurial rush and have pushed current technology to it’s useful, consumer affordable limits.
Still room to make consumer useful medical detection and self-help devices but that would be fought.
Current technology is no-where near its useful limits. AGI will be produced in the next few years, then men will be as gods. Then you will see what an enhanced, superintelligent mind is capable of.
the vampire squid has drained the life from everything! Bankers do little work and then STEAL the proceed! Break up the crooked banks....they have TOO MUCH POWER!!!!
I have to agree with the chart. What usually happens, is the business is shut down when a person retires, or it is sold. But it has to be sold to someone who knows how to run it. I doubt I could find somebody with the technical skill and background to step into my business. As a business that is technology-based, what will probably happen is that I will sell it to a larger, established company in a similar business. It could continue and survive like that. With most Americans sinking in debt, how could an individual afford to buy my business on top of their car loan, mortgage or rent, and maybe a college loan as well? It's pretty sad. Being your own boss was a dream come true for me, but now for most people, it's just a dream.
I guess the best thing we can do is pray that you live forever?
"I doubt I could find somebody with the technical skill and background to step into my business."
Jesus harold christ this is the biggest problem with 'merica.
Too many narcissists.
And then a big business steps up and eats up the small guy and then wastes money and effort and does a worse job than the poor guy.
Hey call mexico or india and retire in style asshole.
Hey what you do isn't rocket surgery, fuckstick and I don't know many retirees who are worth a shit no how.
This country is full of worthless humans.
Let the fucker collapse into anarchy and death.
Merry Christmas!
Love, Harold!
G.O.D., you need to start/have your own business. How about I start one for you (you finance it of course) and you run it. You are too rude, crude and unrefined to attract or retain any vendors/customers/clients, but me being the upbeat, open-minded jovial person who could have a great day whether locked in a white room with a pile of sand or at a landfill, I'll consult for you to keep you going for years so you can enjoy "the biggest problem with 'merica."
PS I thought about you today, someone was blathering about "safe spaces" and I told them that the only "safe space" is in a coffin. Usually I'm not so rude ... but when I am rude I have the "balls" to do it to a person's FACE - online you don't know who you are communicating with, so it is "safe" to be rude, yes??? You want to be rude to me then do it to my face, I refuse to set foot in FL again, I'm near Houston, we can have fun visiting NASA and other attractions beforehand; I suggest a cup and mouthpiece.
Or, you could do like so many others before you used to do, and bring on somebody as your heir apparent...ensuring that he/she is not only trained and ready to take over when you depart, but also have the financial resources to purchase the appropriate stake in the company. But I guess long term thinking, like so many other things in this country, are just quaint, antiquated ideas these days.
I am always looking for business opportunities ... and if I can't do "it" I know someone who "can" ... or certainly several people who know someone who "can".
1993-2015.
I am no longer willing to risk my capital. Sweat equity. Time. Health. For public takers benefits and pensions. And even if I ever wanted to be financially raped again , it's not even feasible to begin another start up again.
Who is John Seasmoke ????
the big corps, in order to protect their domain and grow, have teamed up with govt, which has hence made it extremely difficult for new upstart businesses to form and take away market share
you know,
fascism
I don't know what that combination means, but it makes me sigh in sadness.
xoxo
Ana
Doesn't take too much entrepreneurship to operate a lawn mower, flip a burger or fill a taco.
'Doesn't take too much entrepreneurship to operate a lawn mower, flip a burger or fill a taco.'
Was that meant to be ironic?
Imbecilic
Ironic
These are words that begin with "I" now
http://www.eyeneer.com/video/rock/king-crimson/elephant-talk
Even an imbecil can be right. no?
Look around,,, highest number not in the workforce,,, little to no manufacturing, equates to little to no skills,,, Americans walking in Malls with their heads down transfixed with their IGadgets and spending money taken from the few that still are employed and given to them.
Calling names when some are trying to point out problems is a refusal to accept what has been done to us. By acknowledging that they have turned us into cattle creates the anger to fight back. Otherwise we are just the stupid lemmings they think we are.
Check out Seasmokes comment...
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Imbecile
Yeah, a busted clock is right twice a day.
Some years ago I wanted to start a business, I went to college for a business degree to learn about accounting, marketing, advertising ... Holy shit school had deteriorated since I graduated. I found out that everybody is a winner! (everybody is a weiner if you ask me, and second place will always be first of the losers), grade inflation, all sorts of absurd shit ... GROUP EXAMS were what put me over the edge.
This year I am back in school to learn a trade skill and am at a loss for words how bad it is. The textbooks are in their double digit editions and FULL of mistakes - absolutely useless, but at least they cost a fortune. Chairs are now designed for fat people and terribly uncomfortable for a healthy person. "Political correctness" - OMG, don't worry about getting me started on that shit 'cause it is so stupidly out of control I wouldn't know where to start ... well, I start like everything else: Fuck your political correctness, let's see you not laugh at this incredibly sexist joke: ____
My dad had his own business, and his biggest consistant complaint was the inability to find quality employees, I'm glad he's not here to see how things have deteriorated. I would still like to start another business, but not in the USSA.
Ironic and Sad.
A: It's unfortunate but true for the skills involved.
B: It's about all that's left for Americans. Look around when out on the road. Many, many landscaping LLC's, small restaurants etc. Almost zero manufacturing. What this leads to is a completely unskilled work force which I reference above in item A.
When I grew up I was surrounded by skilled people. Machinists, pipe fitters, crane operators, industrial plant electricians, mill wrights, welders and whathaveyou. These people gave me incentive to be a productive person but,,, although an honest living, mowing someones yard isn't exactly what most would like to make a career of.
This nation has been destroyed by politicians and unnecessary digital machines (basically toys) whose only purpose is to put people out of work, while keeping them entertained and do nothing for society as a whole. Politicians suck off those still working and digital machines aren't consumers.
to all be done by robots soon
"Surplus" is more important when discussing energy. If that goes, there's nothing entrepreneurs can do to reverse the tide.
Regulations....to start a business now is stupid...you will drown in regulations.....OSHA...Employees...Insurance...taxes...Fire and police....you have 40-50 different government departments to just get open on the first day...your first employee is just someone who fills out all these forms every month...
Thats why you dont open a NEW business.
You buy a failing one. That's how 95% of the people do it these days. Or you file for an LLC and work out of your house.
Why do you think college grads try to strike it rich in the software development area? Because any area of business that actually requires you to make a physical product, is about 50x harder requires 50x more capital, is impeded by 50x more regulations etc.
Another nail in the coffin for America's manufacturing sector.
Yea, its harder these days but what isn't? I think this is as much a statement on the lack of drive and abilities of the average American these days.
The high cost of self-purchased Obamacare encourages people to be wage slaves rather than entrepreneurs.
The Inc.com article is actually very good and pretty much spot on. As a Solo Entreprenuer, I've applied to many different VC firms, at least 50 and they all come back with "it's not a fit for us" or no response at all. They'll fund food delivery apps by the dozens (like the 1.5 million for Deliveroo), or Pley, which is a toy rental business, where people can rent Lego's to each other, or Fan Cred, where Sports Fans, can share their fondest memories. And it gets even better! They're funding some site, where High School Reunion people can have a safe place to converse! Go to any of the VC sites and look at the team profiles. They all look like a bunch of techie geeks, who've never ever, gotten their hands dirty.
I perused a VC firm, called N***V*** , the opening screen touts "High Conviction, Hands On Seed Investors" where one of the founders, *****, stated this in his bio: Rob is a co-founder and Partner at N***V*** Ventures. He tries to spend as much time as possible working with entrepreneurs to develop products that solve important problems for everyday people.
So I sent him my pitch deck, for a very useful product that already has backing from three corporations, including Snap On Tools. This concept has never been done before, it's got a patent and a lot of people I polled, really like it. He emailed me back telling me "it's not a fit for us". So I emailed him back and called him out on his lie of "developing products that solve important problems for everyday people", because basically he was full of crap, if he really believed he was doing this. Bedause millions of people, who work on their own cars, would love to have my product! Imagine everything you need to know about your car, printed on a credit card. Air, Oil and Fuel Filters, all the part numbers for up to five brands. All the Fluid Specs and Capacities, Oil, Coolant and Transmission. PCV Valve, Wiper Sizes, Replacement Bulbs and Lamps, Battery, Radiator Cap and even the Tires! I made up a bunch as samples for my 1995 Corvette and it is awesome to be able to walk into an AutoZone or Pep Boys and not need to look up anything! The CarInfoCard rocks! But these stupid SOB's are all affluent and drop off their Beemers, Benzes and Audi's at the dealership and cannot see it at all!
One Millionaire told me "Tesla is going to do that". Another VC firm had some young woman picking out who was going to even be considered and on the phone, she asked me: "What if you uplift a passenger vehicle to a commercial vehicle, what will happen to the insurance?" And I'm thinking to myself, WTF!!! I've never even heard of "Uplifting" a vehicle and I have my own Shop! All their websites tout big promises of 'Disruptive Data" and building "Pillars" and on and on, but if it's not cute or sexy, forget it. I should've came up with an App about how your House Plants might feel on a particular day and how I can soothe them, that would've got some serious attention with the VC Clowns out there. I gave up and next month, I'm going to go after the Investors themselves.
STP - Your product sounds great. Maybe you can combine it with a big data app that takes a part # on your card and searches all the junkyards in an X mile radius for possible matches and compares the prices to retail shops like Pep Boys. My son goes junkyard hunting for parts on a regular basis. If he knew which junkyard to go to ahead of time using an app combined with all the stored part #s and specs. for all of his vehicles...
Thanks! That would be a great future add-on, as many junk yards have a list of parts and many pick and pull, actually list the vehicles they have as well. The CarInfoCard is going to be an App as well and I’ve already got quotes for both Apple and Android support, as well as a comprehensive web site.
A lot of these VC types, want you to go through some kind of ‘Tech Camp’ or an ‘Accelerator’, before you can even beg them for money, but my deal is pretty much ready to launch! The data from the corporations isn’t cheap, nor is the card printer, thus, I can’t start small, but have to be able to service the National Market, immediately. The neat part about it is, that you don’t even have to enter ‘Year-Make-Model-Engine’. All you have to do, is enter your License Plate and the system will cross reference the VIN and give you all the parts you need. Go check it out, on CarInfoCard dot com. Too bad, the VC idiots, playing ping pong in their office, don’t get it.
Yea, I pitched Nicaraguan Vaginas for some $$ too.
LOL! You probably had better luck with that, then I have, with an actual useful product concept!
If you want to fight the system, become self-employed and free. Too much negativism here. Hard work and more hard work and you can make it.
Doing what - providing a service that people with money need and will pay for. Example: My wife has heart issues and was hospitalized briefly in the Spring. She did 3 months of cardiac rehab as an outpatient. The co-pay was $50 per session - that adds up to $1,000 per month. After she was done with that, I hired a personal trainer for my wife.
The trainer comes to the house 3 times per week. One session of 1-1/2 hours costs $70. The trainer is a nice women in her late 30's, who is certified in rehab medicine. My wife's heath is improving - she is getting stronger and has a positive attitude to getting better. The trainer has a good business - brings some gym equipment and nothing else. The trainer sees 5 persons per day x 5 days a week, earning $1,750 per week. She grosses more than $80,000 per year; likes what she is doing; has no bosses; and has the ability to shelter a decent part of her income from taxation. She may not be getting rich, but she is financially independent. She could do more - like supplying specially prepared meals - but she does not want a larger businesses.
The path of least resistance is to work for someone else. Try a side-line business. I have been working for myself for more than 40 years - had no prior training - it can and is being done.
Good luck.
"Hard work and more hard work and you can make it."
Doesn't fly much any more. Problem today is,,, not only do you have to work for your business but, you also have to support all the government parasites that attach themselves to you. This raises the cost above the margin which kills the business slowly over time.
Start sucking the dicks of zoning board members, planning commissions, signage approval boards, etc just to start a business that is guaranteed to fail 90% of the time!
Facts about owning your own business. Four out of five fail in the first 5 years. Of those that survive, four out of five of them will fail. Even in the ones that "succeed", many are working long hours for very low pay. They have no benefits like your employer paying half your health insurance or contributing to a 401K. At some point the entrepreneur's wife packs up the kids and leaves. A life of failing and poverty is no way to raise kids. All this for a long shot at a jackpot or some vague idea of "independence".
It's just like the casino. Everybody sees the winners. Nobody notices the losers. Don't forget that the casino was paid for by the losers.
What is the alternative? For me it was to find a job I didn't hate too much. When I left work I left the job there and had my own life. I lived frugally, saved, and retired. I see most of the so-called entrepreneurs I have known still struggling. They have a lifetime of trainwrecks behind them. This is no way to live, folks, especially if you have children.
roddy6667 you understand the reality of business ownership. My dad had his own business, he worked 25 hours a day eight days a week. My mom left him when I was a preteen so often I had to go to work with him after hours, including Sundays. When I started my own business a few years ago I finally understood what he was all about ... and why he paid that attorney to be there twice a week. I got to know my dad more after I started my own business than I did the 17 years we were in each others lives. I wish I could have shared that with him.
That is a reality. Wife and I tried to start a business, didn't anticipate the time committment, failed and went into bankruptcy.
It hurt, but we learned our limitations the hard way. Kids are older, still have ideas about a small effort, but will have a much better sense of what it takes in time and money.
Land of the fee, home of the tax slave. The only problem in this country is government.
Not totally dead.. The real entrepreneurs, that is, the smartest ones, simply fuck off offshore and set up business tax free there, and tell the fucking monkey faggot and the IRS to go fuck themselves
Despite all the hype over startups and VCs, there is increasingly little capital available in the 'real' economy for business formation. Financialism has spent the past 30-35 years excessively rewarded, while actual creators of value have been actively oppressed by the economy and the central bankers. Even rank and file workers, whenever they've been on the cusp of significant participation in the gains of a vibrant economy, have been kneecapped by central bankers convinced that inflation is just around the corner and that interest rates need to increase.
Meanwhile, government-conjured up scams make their friends wealthier and wealthier, at the expense of most others. Whether its Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, or the military industrial complex that pays a thousand bucks for a special Milspec-certified hammer that otherwise could be bought for $10 at any hardware store, the scams run far and deep.
Then we have nonsense dreamed up by the private sector to suppress new business formation by depriving our best and brightest of the capital they need to actually start startups. The H-1B visa has been devastating to the start-up culture as the wage suppression that it has caused has robbed the innovative class of the capital to move forward. Most startups are usually started by people who have spent a decade or two in the paid workforce. The H-1B visa denies many of our best and brightest innovators of the chance to get into the workforce, and when they eventually do enter, wages are so low that saving is extremely difficult while raising a young family, enjoying a middle class lifestyle, etc.
I started my own business once, then realized that my butthole was sore from the government shoving a tax dildo up there. Got a job.
Heh, just look at the way gigs are derided in social situations. Most entrepreneurial activity is gig to gig. You won't attract a wife untill successful, and by then too late to have kids. Good luck.
Traditional (non-software) small business is being cannibalised by silicone valley. Add to that, small business has to fight legislation headwinds aimed at their suppression by big business lobbyists. Add to that, disposable income is shrinking because of stagnate wages and rising non-discretionary costs. Unfortunately, not everyone can be a software engineer, even ma n' pa restaurants are getting whooped by the big chains. There's not much left but mowing lawns . . . I would not want to be a young person in this economy . . .
Software people aren't doing that well either. And most of the SV tech companies don't actually make money.
Don't forget the ACA. Who can take the leap and start a new business when you will be raped by the IRS for not having "insurance". Even if you don't need it.
In ultra-liberal havens such as Illinois and California they want all the money to give off to their public union members.
To these people it's the government, not private industry that makes the economy.
Risk off. Return on (even of) investment with any startup or self-employment in the US these days is an astonishingly bad trade.
You can't compete with the big corporations who have crony access to favorable legislation, and often use it to crush the competition.
Excellent perspective. Entrepreneurship is the sole source of wealth known to man. As it goes, so goes the economy and standards of living. Yet the mainstream obsession is with how much money to print and how much regulation to impose to thwart entrepreneurs. A committed focus on and acceleration of the means of destruction. Insane.
This is not complicated. The FIRST question a person who wishes to start a business today (OR the LAWYER that person feels REQUIRED to hire to start a business) asks is NOT "How do I make money at this?" Instead, its: "How do I avoid getting in trouble IF I do this." And the answer is, generally, that the costs of avoiding trouble are too high to move ahead.
Entrepreneurism is alive and well in Congress, they're selling everything, even US citizenship to Muslims and in CA we have more pot shops and whore houses than starbucks.
It's a growth story.
We're in a new era of capitalist morality, the Mexican President advocates selling heroin
When I graduated with a BS I focused on joining startups as a co-founder, creating products and services, and I created a great many in my career. It was a VERY TOUGH STRUGGLE, with frequent setbacks, abundant hardship, draining sacrifices, and very poor lifestyle of brutal hard work day after day with no time off for years. Eventually I created enough wealth in the stream of products and services that I had created, measured by the wealth in my stock options to be able to sell all the stock and retire wealthy at age 44.
I would NOT want to do that again, even if I had the energy and ambition of youth.
BUT
I doubt that I COULD DO IT NOW if I was young and wanted to because of the harsh anti-entrepreneur, anti-success policies and regulations and the stagnant economy.
The quality of life in America is on a trajectory of continuous decline, and the primary cause is the coercive-collectivist socialist regulate-and-control everything maximum-entitlements regime in WADC.
Last point: the VC are treacherous parasites - your company may get money from them, but you WILL lose both the company you created AND your ability to continue working in it due to all the political strife and conflict that the VC's imposed incompetent overseers will bring with them. If you decide to make a deal with the devil, then you better do so WITH a VERY WELL PLANNED simultaneous exit.
Was visiting the Mises website. Production-new businesses included- is related to scarcity. We don't have any scarcity in this country because of the lack of real GDP growth. We don't have the GDP growth because the government is just to big and stupid. We have a big government because we vote the fools in office. We vote the fools into office becasue we are lazy and want somebody else to solve our problems.
For the middle and lower class that leads to a squirrel cage existance that is tough to get out of.