{"id":35509,"date":"2023-10-20T14:39:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/the-one-thing-governments-should-do-to-help-startups-and-other-words-of-wisdom-from-an-aussie-vc-in-silicon-valley-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:39:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:39:01","slug":"the-one-thing-governments-should-do-to-help-startups-and-other-words-of-wisdom-from-an-aussie-vc-in-silicon-valley-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/the-one-thing-governments-should-do-to-help-startups-and-other-words-of-wisdom-from-an-aussie-vc-in-silicon-valley-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"The one thing governments should do to help startups and other words of wisdom from an Aussie VC in Silicon Valley – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There\u2019s only one thing that governments should be doing to help drive innovation and assist the growth of startups, Zetta Venture Partners<\/a> general partner Ash Fontana says.<\/p>\n

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In an AMA run by Blackbird VC<\/a>, Fontana – an Australian venture capitalist who helped launch the fundraising business at AngelList – says governments should focus on something simpler than trying to change culture: \u201cspending money\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s it. If you ignore the hagiography about cultural visions and brilliant curricula, you will see that startup hubs like Silicon Valley were spurred by massive government spending,\u201d Fontana says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIdeally the government would spend money on areas in which the country already has a competitive advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This doesn\u2019t mean the government has to spend extra money either, Fontana says, but rather to reinvest it in more important areas.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m not arguing for the government to have more money to spend, just that if it does have money and wants to spur innovation then it should spend that money rather than use its power for other things that will get in the way of growth rather than fuel it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Fontana has been working as a VC in Silicon Valley for more than seven years now, and shared a number of useful pieces of advice and wisdom during the Q&A session.<\/p>\n

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What he looks for in a startup<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fontana has a \u201cvery long list\u201d of things to check off before investing in a startup \u201cfor the long run\u201d, including:<\/p>\n