When you think of the U.S., you often think of the word “opportunity”.  For hundreds of years, people have immigrated to the U.S. because it was the “land of opportunity”.  That isn’t to say that there aren’t many hurdles – you need an idea, skills, drive, sometimes capital, a dash of luck, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.  But generally speaking, with enough of those ingredients you stand a chance of being successful.
You also need to be conscious of the laws that apply to your business.  If …

Consumers are frustrated.  As innovations lead us to newer, better, faster, more powerful products and services, we keep finding a disparity between our purchase of those products and services and the rights we have to them.
Google and Amazon both recently announced online music “lockers” that allow consumers to upload music – that they have legally purchased – for backup purposes and to stream via a web browser or mobile app.   But the music labels think they should be paid to allow this type of service.   As a result, …

By @RoccoTarasi
In the last month the SEC has said that it will consider changes to certain capital markets regulations, including:
1. Raising the 500 shareholder threshold that triggers a public disclosure of financial results (and usually results in a public stock offering);
2. Adjusting the ban on general solicitations that prohibit or restrict publicizing share offerings; and
3. Allowing some form of crowdsourcing to raise smaller amounts of capital from a larger group of investors.  (via Mashable and VentureBeat)
Changing these and other rules are long, long overdue.  Our capital markets operate under some …

President Obama has signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law.
Besides my general opinion on the size and role of government(*), I wasn’t happy about the initial drafts of the law due to its impact on a start-up companies’ ability to raise angel funding.
Under the previous regulations, start-ups raised angel funding from only “accredited investors” to minimize their legal costs, hassle and time to close.  During the initial drafting of this new law, Congress proposed raising the bar to quality as an accredited investor from a …

What a coincidence that on the day I finished listening to the audio version of The Big Short by Michael Lewis, the SEC announced charges against Goldman Sachs for improprieties from the subprime mortgage mess.  A lot has been written about Goldman’s central role in the subprime industry since the meltdown, so it is not a surprise that they were the first investment bank to be targeted.  Will they be the last?  Only time will tell.