This letter is to my peers in the high-tech community.
Hi all;
K-12 education in Colorado is being decimated. The ongoing budget cuts are not cutting education to the bone, they're lopping off major appendages. The future of Colorado will be determined by the educational level of our citizens. And at present we're headed toward mediocrity.
Proposition 103 on this November's ballot will return sales tax rates to those of 1993. Remember 1993? The era of Clinton, peace, and prosperity? The increase in taxes will add up to about one Latte/week per person.
Will this make our K-12 schools superb? No. But it will have a significant positive effect, for two reasons. First, it will undo cuts that have clearly reduced the quality of our K-12 system. Second, the legislature last year passed SB-191 which is bringing on some very effective changes to the system (including the ability to fire poor teachers). But implementing SB-191 will cost money.
I could give a detailed argument as to what we gain from an improved K-12 system. But I don't think that's needed because we all face this every day as we're trying to find qualified people to hire. Our state's shortage of educated workers is the biggest limiting factor for high-tech businesses in this state. And the only way to address this is to graduate more students from High School ready for College.
Passing proposition 103 is a game changer for our state, turning our education funding from a race to the bottom into one that with adequate funding for the schools and implementing SB-191 will put us on the road to being a leader in this century. It's rare that we have a chance to directly have this level of impact.
So what can you do? Two things. First winning elections costs money (unfortunate but true). Make a donation to the Yes on 103 campaign. If all you can afford is $5.00, then donate $5.00. But donate what you comfortably can. And businesses as well as individuals can donate, with no limit.
Second, talk to your friends and neighbors. Most people understand that education is the key to a good job and degrading our schools is sentencing children to a lifetime of economic poverty.
The one recent poll shows support for this statistically tied. If we in the high tech community step up, we can pass this. (And for those that don't make a donation – no more bitching about your inability to find qualified people to hire.)
Thanks - dave
The economy is stuck in neutral. But even worse, the economy has fundamentally changed and everyone is focused on trying to return to a world that no longer exists. We liberals castigate conservatives for wanting to return to the 1950's with white picket fences. But many of us liberals are trying to return to a world with plenty of well-paid factory jobs. That world is also long gone.
It's not just that factory jobs have been moved to China, it's that many of those jobs have been eliminated via automation. And as 3-D printing moves into the factory line, we're going to see the elimination of most of those jobs in China too.
When this country was founded 60% of the employment was on the farm. Now it's 2%. We get more food but have done so while reducing the labor needed by 30,000%. The number of factory jobs needed have been on the same trajectory and even without outsourcing, most of these jobs have been going away.
We also have to embrace the fact that the world is flat. We are now competing worldwide. Some of us in industries where there is no advantage to any physical location (like mine), some where some advantage remains. But every one of us is now competing for work with people in Shanghai & Mumbai. And to compete successfully we have to embrace the advantages of that larger playing field, not bemoan the disadvantages of additional competition.
So what to do?
The future belongs to those who dominate in the key components of the global economy. In the last century America dominated because we had the largest and most advanced manufacturing base in the world. And we had a transportation infrastructure to match. That provided the basis for our economic and military domination of the planet.
Going forward the key component is education. The future belongs to the country, the corporations, the people who have the best education. And best is not just advanced degrees, it is degrees combined with creativity and a willingness to try the unknown. The future belongs to the Thomas Edisons, not the Henry Fords.
For the State of Colorado to be one of the leaders in the future, and not just a giant ski resort serving vacationers from other countries who better embraced the future, I think we need to focus on a primary goal. And I think we can get the leaders of both parties to agree to this goal. And that is:
Yes we have other serious problems that need to be addressed. But with an educated populace addressing the other problems becomes a lot easier. And without it, addressing the other problems is a lot harder. In some cases impossible. Because that educational level directly relates to higher tax revenue and lower unemployment.
We also have to face the fact that other countries explicitly have similar goals. China and India are very focused on getting everyone they can through college. They'll be at this level in another generation or two. And some European countries are approaching this goal today.
If we get serious about education determines the future of this state. At present we're headed for 2nd world status because we're in neutral while other countries are full speed ahead.
I don't have the time to do it this year. So I'm hoping some other blogger will step up. If you do please let me know and I'll post a link to your blog from here.
And the big issue of the election remains - do we freeze Boulder as is, which means it will become richer and whiter. Or do we allow increased density for housing which is the only way to retain some middle class housing.
It would also be nice to get someone on council who will pay attention to the needs of the high tech start-up companies located here.
Update: If you saw the below occur, please contact Dective Kurt Foster BPD at 303-441-4329.
There's something nice about watching someone perform a job, any difficult job, and they do so perfectly. I got to see that up close on the Hill this afternoon.
I'm paying for parking when a cop comes up the sidewalk really quickly. The first thing that went through my mind was did I do anything wrong as he was headed in my general direction. He went up to some guy on the sidewalk, turned him around, and started to frisk him. Pretty straightforward.
And then it got interesting – the guy bolted and dove through the ornamental railing separating the sidewalk from the street. The cop grabbed his shirt and dived through the railing after him. They kept going connected by the t-shirt into the middle of the street. (Note to felons – wear cheap t-shirts that rip apart, not good ones that while they rip, do stay connected enough that you can't get away.) The cop finally got him down in the middle of the street.
This guy was fighting back hard trying to get away. And this cop was working to restrain him but did so in a manner that was gentle (that's the best word to describe it). He was doing his best to restrain him but was not doing anything more. There are a lot of ways to inflict moderate pain so someone focuses on the pain rather than fighting and this cop did nothing like that.
The cop asked for help and a couple of us helped restrain the guy so he could get cuffs on him. About that time a second cop showed up and grabbed hold of the guy from behind. At that point the first cop stood up and stepped away leaving it to the second cop. I'm guessing they figure that after wrestling someone down you're hyped up and better to turn it over to someone who does not have the adrenaline flowing.
I was impressed. The entire event was handled in as gentle a way as possible. And at the same time, there was no way that cop was letting the suspect get away. Very professional in both getting the job done, and doing so effectively with a minimum of violence.
We face two giant problems in reforming our campaign finance system. First, the stakes are so high that money will find a way to affect the outcome. Second, it take many many years to pass any real change, and about 4 months to figure out a way around them.
I think we need to take a very different approach. If we take as a given that there is going to be a lot of money spent, then we need to think of who we want spending it.
The best is having the candidates spend it directly. That "I'm candidate X and I support this message" has constrained what is placed in candidate ads. And they are held directly accountable.
Second best is having the parties spend it. They also are held accountable for what they say which constrains them a bit.
The other point is if a candidate is going to get millions of dollars, a candidate receiving 1 Mil from Goldman-Sachs is better than their receiving it from 200 employees at Goldman-Sachs. The single payment will buy less as the size of the donation will force that legislator to justify any vote that favors the large donor.
So here's my thought.
I'm not saying this is a great approach, just that it would be a lot better than what we have now. And I think we would then see a lot more of our legislators because it would drastically reduce the immense amount of time they presently put into fundraising.
As I said earlier the City decided to audit the tax payments of my company (because I was slightly critical of them).
My company sells enterprise software worldwide. We have the end of the quarter coming up and that is the busiest time, with the final working day of the quarter generally pulling in substantially more money than any other day.
And we're a small company so we have one accounting person. She is the one that creates quotes, generates invoices, etc. And when we receive a P.O., she's the one that then sends the customer their license keys. In other words, she's essential to finalizing the sale. She's also the one that will have to spend an entire day providing information to the City of Boulder tax people when they come to our office.
Cue the dramatic music… You can see it coming can't you… Of course they are coming on… March 31. This is akin to performing an audit on a retail store the Friday after Thanksgiving. Just one more way (of many) that the City of Boulder does it's best to harm local business.
For those considering locating in Boulder – there are a number of pluses here from the people to how pretty it is. And the Tech Stars program is awesome. But the city government is strongly anti-business. I think this comes from the large number of residents who are either trust fund babies, work at the University, or work in a research labs. To many of them private enterprise is unseemly and they think it degrades Boulder.
Ps – my CEO has told me that I am not to say anything "funny" to the city accountants when they're there. Darn – I was going to put a note on my door that said "Do Not Enter – Shredding Financial Documents".
From The Funded
Well, if 2010 was the Year of the Angel, then 2011 will be the Year of the Startup Default. There has been a convergence of trends where massive amounts of angel debt has been accumulating with no ability to pay it back and no conversion in sight.
I have seen this happen in the past. Companies get funded and move forward where everything depends on raising another round of funding by a certain date. But that next round rarely materializes. Never in the amount and at the time planned for. In the best cases something is worked out, although generally for a lot more equity than planned. But in most cases there isn't another round in time, and the company has to shut down.
Granted, I'm more financially conservative than what is optimal and so have taken no investments of any type. Funding in many cases is the best way forward (sometimes the only way forward). But make sure that the funding will get you to a point where the value of the company has clearly increased substantially. And make sure it's structured so that if the company is not able to raise another round, that the terms don't force the destruction of the company.
And here's hoping it's a minimal number of local start-ups that go under. But I worry that it could be substantial numbers.
Gee you write one slightly critical piece on sales tax, ok maybe two and...
The City of Boulder has decided to audit my company's tax payments. Gee, what a surprise.
So I would like to make the following statement:
Dear City of Boulder Tax Department;
I want to say that those earlier diaries were actually written by an intern and I just put my name on them. Needless to say this is totally the fault of said intern and she has been fired.
I personally not only think you are doing a superb job collecting taxes, but doing so in a way that all businesses find to be so smooth and easy that they are happy to pay taxes.
You are all also one of the best looking groups of people I have ever seen. I am surprised that Hollywood has not come calling to hire all of you.
I think I speak for everyone in Boulder when I say how lucky we are to have you working for us as our overlords.