Like anyone who has been dumped, shunned or just left; Massachusets tech scene is asking why me, why us, why did Facebook move to the Valley. We don’t even ask about Microsoft, the other Harvard drop out who changed an industry.
And while Menino is pushing the innovation center, Harvard lauches the “IPO” lab etc.
How about a bold Idea- Founder shares are tax free in Mass. Yes, if you are a founder and sell shares in your company here; you pay no tax. It changes the view of Mass not being business friendly. It gives a direct incentive for the key decision maker to stay( or move ) here.
It costs the state very little and would be move than off set by taxing the rest of the companies shareholders.
In Facebooks case Mass would get 6% of 50- $70 bln instead of zero.
not to mention jobs and the growth they create
…we were already touting ourselves as the 5th friendliest state in the union for business. Personally, I’m not a fan of offering shares to the public. This leads to the worst corporate behavoir of looking out for shareholders at the expense of other values. These shareholders did not put their imagination and sweat into creating Facebook, so why should they be given the opportunity to reap the profits?