16 Ways to Grow an Innovative Ecosytem

There are thousands of startups in Silicon Valley and in clusters in other major cities, but the majority of them don’t get past the Series A stage. Even fewer of them go on to become the “unicorn” companies with valuations in the billions and with global clout.

Earlier this year Marc Andreessen, one of my favorite investors and a renowned serial entrepreneur in his own right, published sixteen ideas on Twitter how to expand the number of stand-out startups over time. Below is a roundup of those tweets:

0/Sixteen somewhat-less obvious ideas for how to expand the # of “unicorn” great tech startups over time — per query by @trengriffin!

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

1/More Montessori & Montessori-style, free-form, and/or project-based K-8 public & private schools.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

2/Entrepreneurship magnet/charter schools — specifically designed to produce enterpreneurs, vs cogs in the industrial machine.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

3/Significantly expanded summer tech, science, math, entrepreneurship programs/camps for grades 5-12.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

4/Significantly expanded internship programs at tech companies of all sizes for both high school and college students.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

5/More interdisciplinary college programs — particularly engineering + business, and liberal arts + engineering.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

6/Comprehensive inclusion programs for underrepresented groups for each of the preceding five ideas.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

7/More public research universities should pursue the Stanford/Berkeley mentality/model; also, repeal Bayh-Dole.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

8/Comprehensive legal and regulatory reform to open access to federally-funded research; also, pass Aaron’s Law.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

9/Reform, or better yet eliminate, software and business method patents. Redefine patent trolling as a form of felony extortion.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

10/Fully portable economy-wide benefits, including health care, retirement savings, and immigration status.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

11/Eliminate tax credits for home ownership, and implement tax credits for renters.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

12/Implement tax credits for child care services for working parents.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

13/”Opt in” innovation zones with regulatory relief for various categories of new technology.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

14/More long-lockup capital at all levels of corporate capital structure.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

15/Eliminate tax credits for corporate debt, and implement tax credits for corporate equity.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

16/Zero capital gains tax for equity held for 5+ years, paid for by higher capital gains tax for equity held for <2 years.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

Routine conversation with legislators: “How do we get more successful tech startups?” Do X, Y, Z. “Oh, we can’t do *those* things.”

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 16, 2015

Which ones do you feel Marc nailed? What did he miss? Let us know in the Facebook comments box. We plan to summarize and feature some responses in another upcoming blog article, so get your voice heard!

Photo by: Robert Scoble