A short talk arguing that startups need government contracts (demand signals) more than direct capital or grants. The speaker, a VC, contrasts grants — which only reward grant-writing — with contracts that validate market demand and help mobilize private financing and partnerships between government and private sector.
You know, I think there is a misnomer in government many times that if you're interacting with startups, what they need is capital, right? And so you see grants and funding that can go out to these startups. And look, as a vc, I'll tell you that's the last thing the startups need. What the startups need are contracts, right? The capital is out there with the VCs and the private community. And the difference between capital and contracts or grants and contracts is it's subtle, but it's incredibly important. Contracts come with demand signal. Grants don't grant, just says, you know how to write a great grant. But it doesn't give me any way to assess the market opportunity for the product or service that you're providing. A contract does. And the contract then allows the private sector to mobilize appropriately to see how we can either fund that entity or look to create other opportunities of financing along that path. And so I think these subtle but important differences are incredibly important as we think about creating a renewed partnership between government and the private sector.
Leading Innovation in State Government | NobleReach Scholar Melissa Lopez-Barbosa
