I am sure that many of you know about the recently launched Startup America initiative.  You can learn more about Startup America here.

Today, Startup America announced an expansion of its program partners.  The partners are donating real services, products, training, etc.  And there are BIG dollars involved.  The full announcement is here.

I am proud of Startup America and I hope it has BIG success and impact.   The benefits would be felt by many people across the country.  This is about massive job creation and economic development.

At the same time, I have one additional suggestion for the federal government: allocate real dollars to states to invest in venture capital backed businesses, ideally via established fund managers.  Now this is self-serving.  But, considering that it would not take much investment by the government to make a huge difference (for example, $1 billion would be about 5% of the VC invested dollars in 2010), this type of direct investment approach would make a true difference.  Startups need dollars.  Allocate $20 million per state and require that it be invested within one year.  There are many ways to skin the cat.

If you ever have a chance to ring this bell (assuming you support it) please do.