I'm still mostly computer-less until at tomorrow at earliest, but Sean Garrett at 463 pointed me towards his most excellent rant on...well...everything I think is true about the Washington-Silicon Valley idea gap.
Money quote:
On the other hand, next month I'll be walking around DC with Robert Scoble and showing him (and his Valley audience) what's what and who's who. We should have some good conversations and maybe restart what Sean and I both agree is so desperately needed.
To be continued.
Money quote:
But, I can't help but think that one of the biggest trends of the last decade of tech policy is how the rich have gotten wiser and the poor, less informed. That is, the big and/or smart companies have made a land rush to DC to hire the best staff; secure lobbyists and establish control over the existing trade groups. This has had the effect of transferring much of the tech policy conversation and work to DC. Now, this may seem like a no-brainer and the right thing to do (which it perhaps is), but it wasn't so long ago that there were many more public forums in Silicon Valley that revolved around policy issues...Sean wants to know who is going to take a leading role in reestablishing a vital and necessary link and educating the "little guys." He suggests someone like Michael Arrington, but despite his law chops I don't think he's the right man for the job. What we need is someone who understands Washington and technology from an inside perspective on both. I try and speak to both sides, and certainly have the experience in both camps, but a real pro could make a big difference.
...The net impact of all this is that the CEO of the emerging start-up that may or may not be the next Facebook rarely reads about key policy issues that may impact her business and almost certainly never sees her peers engaged on them. If confronted, the CEO would probably say that she assumed that the Googles, Ciscos and Microsofts of the world were taking care of a particular issue. And, while that may be the correct answer, is it the right answer?
On the other hand, next month I'll be walking around DC with Robert Scoble and showing him (and his Valley audience) what's what and who's who. We should have some good conversations and maybe restart what Sean and I both agree is so desperately needed.
To be continued.
Thanks for the good words, Andrew.
But to clarify one point... I don't think Arrington is the answer, either. I just posited that he has become the default Pied Piper on policy issues for the little guys (for better or worse).
I think you are right on what type of person it should be. An educated, wise VC with a lot of credibility and board seats at some of the key start-ups would be one person who would have a lot of impact.