Although there's not a single voice speaking for the industry, the expectation was that we could all sing together as a chorus. This got off to a good start with broad participation but it started to lose momentum when some of the key industry associations failed to show up regularly at meetings. We get bogged down in sorting out the priorities. This is understandable. Companies in different stages of development are faced with different problems.
Startups are more concerned about investment capital than stock options and marginal tax rates.
The Petter Task Force, in seeking some direction on how to appropriate this allocation, is getting mixed signals from the high technology community. To exacerbate matters further, recent assaults on the government's inaction have only served to widen the rift. An adversarial approach won't cut it. We need to bake a much bigger pie. Doing so requires us to develop a comprehensive approach which addresses all of the industry's needs and a plan of action on how to be most effective.