"The United States has led other nations in creating a legal, economic, social, and political ecosystem that has proven extraordinarily effective at fostering entrepreneurship. Evidence of this country's status as a powerful launchpad for entrepreneurship runs throughout its history. It is not a coincidence that America was itself an entrepreneurial venture in Revolutionary times, nor that many of the early settlers were themselves merchants and entrepreneurs....

Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Ross Baird argues that the innovations that truly matter don't see the light of day. A handful of people in a handful of cities are deciding, behind closed doors, which entrepreneurs get a shot to succeed. The resulting system creates rising income inequality, stifled entrepreneurial ambition, social distrust, and political uncertainty. In this book, Baird demonstrates how and where to find better ideas by lifting...