Spring has sprung in DC—the Cherry Blossoms are out, and the buses full of students are everywhere.
First stop for the day was Congressman Barney Frank’s office to discuss an initiative to develop a clean energy accelerator park in New Bedford, MA. More on this later, but a few immediate takeaways:
—The prep work for the FY 10 budget is essentially done, the real work now begins behind committee doors to sort out specifics and priorities. FY 11 efforts begin soon…
—Legislators have limited control over flow of stimulus dollars; they can endorse (and you should engage on this), but ARA (stimulus) money will flow through mostly pre-existing channels, which is both good and bad.
—Earmarks may or may not be dead, but it’s clear that they have changed with the notion of competitive bids for any earmark that does make it into a budget. How that will work? Anyone’s guess at this point.
—The Staffers are good, smart, and extremely busy; be prepared, respectful, and get to the point—and, as always, relationships matter.
Extra credit trivia question: How many monuments are there in DC? I don’t know the answer but it’s a big number.
Jim
[Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a travelogue written by venture capitalist Jim Matheson, who is in the nation’s capitol as part of a DC Fly In organized by the New England Clean Energy Council. You can read his first post here.]
Author: Jim Matheson
Jim Matheson is a general partner at Flagship Ventures in Cambridge, MA. He joined Flagship in 2000 and focuses on new ventures in the IT and special technology (e.g. nano-technology, specialty materials, and energy) arenas. He brings to this task 20 years of technology and leadership experience across a variety of organizations and roles designing, engineering and deploying sophisticated technology platforms. Jim formerly served as a Navy fighter pilot including duties flying combat missions from aircraft carriers, and as a TOPGUN Instructor. He also gained broad experience in emerging weapons system design, testing and procurement, and was deeply involved in many of the military’s IT modernization initiatives.
Jim earned an MBA from The Harvard Business School, and a Bachelor of Science (with honors) from the United States Naval Academy, and he continues to serve as a Commander in the US Naval Reserves. He serves on the boards of Flagship portfolio companies Avidimer Therapeutics, e-Dialog, Genstruct, Mascoma Energy Corporation, Novomer, Tira Wireless and vmSight, and is Chairman of the Board of Ze-gen. He was previously a director of Yantra (acquired by Sterling Commerce / SBC) and Flamenco Networks (acquired by SOA Software). Jim is on the Board of New York-based hedge fund Black Horse Capital, Common Impact (a non-profit providing IT services to other non-profits), and the Center for Women & Enterprise, and is actively involved in numerous entrepreneurial and venture capital organizations including the New England Clean Energy Council, the MIT Enterprise Forum, The Deshpande Center, and The Service Academy Business Network.
View all posts by Jim Matheson