Comments about ‘Matthew Sanders: The decline of the great American startup (+video)’

Gone are the days of the responsible and ethical American businessman. Today, he is obsessed with price gouging, offering the cheapest product, the worst service, and getting rich as soon as possible no matter the ethics.

We need better government, yes. But we desperately need better more honest businessman. Without that, the savior could come down to reign and still not get anything done.

My biggest worry when I started my company? Getting healthcare insurance for my family for the first year or two. Private insurance is incredibly expensive.

Fortunately, my wife found part-time work that provided insurance, and we went that route for almost two years.

Still, I think one of the biggest problems for those starting up companies is the non-existence of a basic safety net. Hopefully states that decide to increase Medicaid eligibility will see an increase in individuals, now provided with a safety net, who will start their own companies without having to worry about what happens if mommy or daddy gets sick.

For an explanation of the decline in America, contact the present occupant of the White House and his war on business!

At almost every military installation where I served, come payday there would be a number of card games, usually it was blackjack. As often as not the games were given names according to the type of players. Married guys and Big boys were the most prevalent. Married guys bet nickels and dimes and only lasted a few hours. In the Big boy game the bets were unlimited and the game sometimes lasted all day and all night.

Sometimes the winner(s) from the Married game would join the Big boys game to the cheers of the Big boys for the infusion of “new money”. The game would end only when most of the players had exhausted their funds and the final person or two was almost totally exhausted themselves.

Capitalistic business is much the same. Millions of little people are sucked into the business game by the flamboyant propaganda of being in business for yourself. The business game unlike the card game is not a game of statistical chance. The odds are stacked almost entirely with the Big boys by law.

The strategy of the Big boys is still the same.

@ Ultra Bob. Your comments show you have never ran a business! By the way, you are in good company because neither has Barrack Obama.

MtnMan: America picked the best man for the job and it was NOT a businessman for the many reasons pointed out above.

America is NOT a business, if it were, slavery would still exist, so that the owner (dictator) could maximize his profits.
America is a group of people trying to live together as a society NOT a few selfish folks trying to earn the thing the admire most "cold hard cash."

Being from Hayden ID I understand your "Real" disgust with the President? (and babies)

@Happy Valley Heretic
"Being from Hayden ID I understand your "Real" disgust with the President?"

The 'anyone who disagrees with Obama is a racist' line of thinking is evidence of the real racism in of America. As long as the diatribes of Chris Matthews and Al Sharpton are viewed as "progressive", I will proudly reject the condescention of phony liberalism

It is true that the entrepreneurial playing field favors the Big Boys, but that's not due to over regulation. It's simply the way things are when "because I can" is the only explanation required. That explanation is why entrepreneurs start businesses and it is why private equity Big Boys take home all the marbles, or worst, ineptly euthanize the company in its infancy.

In addition to a good product and reality-based market, most successful startups require shifting from a product focus to a business focus wherein finance-driven instincts are frequently counter to those that had previously grown the company. If this occurs too late, the company flounders. If too early, the golden goose becomes a meal. If done ruthlessly, only a fool plays twice.

Too many founders of successful companies have been sparingly rewarded by their financial overlords as their holdings are crushed by multiple funding rounds. These entrepreneurs do the math and realize they could have done just as well drawing a comfortable salary from an established business. VCs are called Vulture Capitalists for good reason. When the vultures are eating the geese, you need look no further to explain disappearance of the later.