120+ Startup Founders and CEOs Have Signed so Far
Dear Members of the Washington State Senate,
We appreciate the efforts of the Legislature to foster a strong and vibrant economy in Washington state. Over the past several decades, Washington has benefited from the growth of the technology sector and our state’s rising status as a global technology hub. Today, the tech sector is a leading driver of job creation and economic growth, employing more than 410,000 Washingtonians with well-paying jobs. This all begins with startups, which are the foundational pillar of this innovation ecosystem.
Recognizing the importance of startups to Washington’s economy, we wanted to draw your attention to the harmful impacts of SB 5096 on Washington’s startups, entrepreneurs, broader innovation ecosystem, and competitiveness as a technology hub.
Capital Gains Tax Hurts Startup Employees and Ecosystem
This bill comes at a time when Washington’s startups already face a challenging market as their consumer and business customers struggle with the headwinds from the risk-averse economic climate created by the global pandemic. A capital gains tax would penalize founders and their employees during an already unprecedented period.
Notably, the bill impacts startup employees at an outsize rate. Income for employees at startups is often substantially lower than mature technology companies due to limited capital in the early years as the business begins to develop a product, customer base, and revenue. Founders’ shares and stock options are a primary compensation strategy used as a way to encourage those early-stage employees to forgo higher wage jobs at established companies and take the risk for working at a startup. Realized capital gains on founders’ shares and stock options are already taxed at the federal level. Taxing those gains penalizes employees and encourages founders to form their companies in other states, or to relocate to states that do not have a capital gains tax. The result will be a loss of jobs and economic vitality in our region.
Further, a state capital gains tax may spur investors to cash out of already existing investments in our businesses and reappropriate this capital into startups outside of Washington, or into investments that do not create jobs for our state. By shrinking the available capital, this bill would slow the engine that has created most of the economic growth, innovation, and job creation in our state over the past few decades.
Capital Gains Tax Adversely Impacts Washington’s Competitiveness
The vitality of Washington’s innovation economy is at an inflection point. Tech companies and their employees in Silicon Valley are relocating to states with more favorable business climates. Meanwhile, the pandemic has made virtual work environments the norm, which has allowed companies to recruit and retain talent far away from their headquarters. Washington is in a position to gain from this. Our state has a large pool of talent, companies consider our region favorable when compared to the Valley, and our stature internationally has grown in the past decade.
At the same time, the cost of living is rising in our state and many legislators are making national headlines vilifying our industry. This makes Washington less competitive each year. A capital gains tax would remove a meaningful attraction and retention mechanism and will harm our competitiveness even more.
Strengthening Washington’s Startup Ecosystem
We welcome the efforts of the Legislature to advance education programs that grow our talent pool, create startup programs that make it easier for underrepresented groups to launch a company, and genuinely engage in a public-private collaboration to build a strong economy. However, SB 5096 places a burden on entrepreneurs and job creators while weakening Washington’s innovation ecosystem – a key driver of job creation and growth for our state’s economy, not just for today, but for the future.
We encourage Members of the Legislature to vote NO on SB 5096, and we welcome the opportunity to discuss measures to grow the startup landscape and innovation economy in Washington.
Sincerely,
Acumatica
Jon Roskill, CEO
AdaptiLab
James Wu, CEO
Aditi Consulting
Raja Narayana, CEO
Advocat Technologies
Pradnya Desh, CEO
Aerostrat
Elliot Margul, CEO and Co-Founder
Agile Systems
Allan Beals, Founder and CEO
Agility Design
Dan Blase, President
AirGO.Ai
Jeff Zika, CEO
Airwavz.tv
Bonnie Beeman, CEO and Founder
Ampd
Joshua Gebhardt, CEO & Co-founder
Apptio
Sunny Gupta, CEO
Asha AI
Rashmi Joshi, CEO & Founder
Asignio, Inc.
Kyle Rutherford, Founder & CEO
AstrumU
Adam Wray, CEO & Founder, Kaj Pedersen, CTO
Avara Construction
Benjamin Petter, President
Avept, Inc.
Stanton Maines, Co-Founder & Vice President
Bassler Consulting LLC
Patricia Bassler, Founder & CEO
BirchAI
Kevin Terrell, CEO
BitTitan
Geeman Yip, Founder & CEO
Capital Planning LLC
Michael Miller, CEO
Care Papers, Inc.
Carl Rogers, CEO
Code Fellows
Jeff Malek, CEO
CodeSmart, Inc.
Mark W Meyer, President
CoreStack
Ezhilarasan (Ez) Natarajan, Founder & CEO
Covenantz
Pericles DeAvila, CEO
Daily Magic Mobile Inc
Marianna Vallejo, CEO
Dataweave Inc.
Krishnan Thyagarajan, President
DKParker LLC
Dave Parker, Founder & Managing Partner
Dolly
Mike Howell, CEO
Donuts, Inc.
Akram Atallah, CEO
doxo
Steve Shivers, CEO & Co-Founder
dToor
Christina Cyr, CEO
Easy Metrics, Inc.
Dean Dorcas, CEO
Echodyne
Eben Frankenberg, CEO & Co-Founder
Edizeven
Shilpi Gupta, Founder & CEO
efelle creative
Fred Lebhart, CEO
Electric Pen
John Pletsch, President
Enlyft
Lokesh Dave, CEO
Esper.io
Yadhu Gopalan, CEO & Co-Founder
ExtraHop
Jesse Rothstein and Raja Mukerji, Co-Founders
FanWide Technologies Inc.
Symon Perriman, CEO & Founder
FileOnQ, Inc.
Kim Webley, CEO
Flowplay
Derrick Morton, CEO
Flyhomes
Andrey Nokhrin, Growth Manager
Formotus, Inc.
Adriana Neagu, President/Co-founder
Forms On Fire
Kendall Kunz, Founder & CEO
FreeGren Digital
Dan Sundgren, Co-Founder
FreeMo
Leigh Hunt, CEO & Founder
Freshworks
Pradeep Rathinam, CCO
GitClear
Bill Harding, CEO
Goldfinch Partners
William McNichols and Sean Collins, Managing Partners
H5 Group LLC
Tony Hancuff, President
i8 Labs
Kouji Kodera, CEO & Co-Founder
Indigo Slate, Inc.
Aaron Duggal, Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Industrial Software Solutions
Glenn Carlson, President & Founder
Innov8.ag
Steve Mantle, Founder & CEO
Integrated Register Systems, Inc.
Arnold Mortzheim, President
iSpot.tv
Sean Muller, Founder & CEO
Jag Journey, LLC
Sharon Couts, CEO
Juanita Bay Trading Corp.
Robert Hearst, Venture Capitalist
Keepe
Rishi Mathew, Co-founder & CEO
Komaya
Rosalinda Saxena, Co-Founder
Kurvv
Ryan Lee, CEO & Co-founder
LendMe, Inc.
Amanuail Ambaye, Founder & CEO
MacroHealth
Virgil Bretz, Co-Founder & CEO
Magick.ai, Inc
Brian Mellinger, President and CEO
McObject
Steven Graves, President and Co-founder
MediaPRO
Mike Metzger, CEO
MedVenture App
Emily Cheng, CEO & Co-Founder
Metrolla
Alexandra Reynolds, CMO & Co-founder
Modern Electron
Tony Pan, Cofounder and CEO
Modex Inc.
Dale Larson, CEO
Moment
Marc Barros, CEO
MoxiWorks
York Baur, CEO
Mystery
Shane Kovalsky, Co-founder, CEO
Navnetics
Estelle Giraud, CEO
Neal Analytics LLC
Dylan Dias, CEO
neu
Claude Mbemba, Kwame Boler, Co-founders
Nintex
Eric Johnson, CEO
Nori
Paul Gambill, CEO & Co-Founder
Northwest Tank & Environmental Services, Inc
Remy Cano, CEO
Odysseus Technologies, Inc.
Dr. Bryan E. Laubscher, Founder & CEO
OfferUp Inc.
Nick Huzar, CEO
Optio3 Inc.
Sridhar Chandrashekar, Co-Founder, CEO
PDM Automotive
Johannes Crepon, CEO
Plateau Software, Inc.
Brad Kleinfelder, Founder
Point Inside
Jon Croy, CEO
Precision Image Analysis
Mary Waiss, Founder
Pro.com
Dean Falconer, Founder
Pulse Labs
Abhishek Suthan, CEO
Pure Watercraft
Andy Rebele, Founder & CEO
Red Bison Technology Group LLC
Martha Bejar, Co-Founder
Bill Owens, Executive Chairman
Resonance AI
Randa Minkarah, Co-founder & COO
RevelHMI
Robin Elenga, Founder & President
Revolution Agriculture
Richard Brion, Founder and CEO
Rooster Park
Scott Ruthfield, Founder and CEO
rThreat Inc
Hugo Sanchez, CEO, Cofounder
Sappington Co.
Tim Goggin, CEO
Satchl
Cody Myers, Co-Founder & CEO
Sea-Level Operations
Rex Frank, CEO
Sensoria Health Inc.
Maurizio Macagno, CTO and Co-Founder
Skilllyft Inc.
Shipra Aggarwal, Owner & CEO
Sound Biologics
Wei Yan, CEO
SportsTrace
Max Montrey, Co-Founder & CEO
Strix Leviathan
Jesse Proudman, CEO
Swift HR Solutions, Inc.
Shannon Swift, Founder/CEO
TalkSocket
Andrew DeLorenzo, Co-Founder & CEO
Teal Communications
Michael Johnston, Co-Founder & CBO
Temporal Technologies
Maxim Fateev, Co-Founder & CEO
Terraclear
Brent Frei, CEO
Test Innovators
Edan Shahar, CEO
Thriva
Catherine Crandall, CEO
Turnstone
Scott Lee, CEO
Unaffiliated
Mark Mader
Uplevel
Joe Levy, CEO
Upstart Group
Sue Sanford, Co-founder and CEO
Validar Inc
Victor Kippes, CEO
Velosys, LLC
Chris Wade, CEO
Virtual Therapeutics Corporation
Dan Elenbaas, Founder & CEO
Web42
Heather Kendall, Co-Founder / CEO
WideNet Consulting Group
David Tang, President & Co-Founder
With Hope
Don Hernandez, Founder and CEO
Wrench, Inc
Edward Petersen, Co-Founder & CEO
YourBase
Yves Junqueira, Co-Founder & CEO
Zipwhip
John Lauer, CEO
*We keep this list as up to date as possible. If you sign outside of business hours, note that there may be a delay in adding your name to the list.