Keep the Talent (and the Ideas) Right Here

Photograph by David Yellen

34. Jeffrey Bussgang

General partner, Flybridge Capital Partners

Rare is the venture capitalist who gets involved in public policy—most entrepreneurs are more interested in hustling their businesses than working with local government to foster a startup-friendly environment. This is one reason why Jeff Bussgang stands out among his peers.

A general partner at Boston’s Flybridge Capital Partners who also teaches at Harvard Business School, Bussgang was tired of losing talented foreign students when they finished school, taking their startup ideas with them. So he hatched a plan to expand work visas for them, and convinced the Patrick administration to fund the resulting Global Entrepreneur in Residence program. His next challenge was convincing Governor Baker not to kill it. “It’s got extraordinary potential and could attract thousands of entrepreneurs,” Bussgang says, explaining how the legislation could give Boston a distinct competitive advantage.

For all its success, Bussgang says that the Boston-area tech scene could use some bigger thinking: “There isn’t perhaps as much change-the-world ambition on a global scale here. If you’re an incredibly ambitious -entrepreneur, there’s this sucking sound from Silicon Valley.” —George Donnelly

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