Angels sing: ‘frankly ridiculous’ restrictions might ‘destroy Silicon Valley’
venturebeat.comThis bill strikes me as being a little odd in light of the drive toward the small and agile versus the monolithic and too big to fail. I think this paragraph sums up the potential for disaster:
"Obviously, I’m deeply concerned about Senator Dodd’s proposal to place these restrictions on angel investing. I think angel investing is undeniably one of the largest engines for job creation as well as innovation and competitiveness on the global scale for the United States. There’s no doubt about it that the restrictions that he’s proposing would absolutely chill investing."
Chilling investment is the last thing that bootstrapping start ups need.
Given that the bill enshrines the "too big to fail" concept and those who fit that definition (as the government will define it), perhaps it's not so surprising.
Given that it potentially extends to dentists (http://volokh.com/2010/05/04/could-senator-dodds-consumer-pr..., be sure to look at the update at the end), the total chilling effect on the smaller parts of the economy might be substantial.
Dodd's looking out for big companies like the dominant insurance industry in his Connecticut.