Strategies: Mr. President-elect, please remember entrepreneurs

— -- An open letter to the incoming president:

Like all Americans, we in the small business community congratulate you on your victory and are optimistic about the hope your election brings. Now we'd like to answer your call.

On election night, you set out your vision: "There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair." You asked the American people to join you in remaking America "block by block, brick by brick, callused hand by callused hand."

Well, Mr. President-elect, small businesses live on those blocks, have laid those bricks, and know what it's like to have callused hands. Now we'd like to lend those callused hands to partner with you.

As you set policies and a course for the future, let us help shape that future. You'll invite corporate leaders to advise you on economic policy, but keep this in mind: the average lifespan of a Fortune 500 company is only 40 years. The future of America depends on small and new businesses.

In my nearly two decades advocating for small and emerging companies, I've had a unique perspective on the two types of entrepreneurs in America, and both should have seats at any policy table.

First, I literally live in Silicon Valley. I live and work next to people creating some of the most exciting companies of tomorrow. These entrepreneurs — when you talk about access to capital — think about venture capital and angel investors. They need tax policies that keep that money flowing. They need an even playing field to make sure they can compete with entrenched industries. They welcome governmental commitment to the technologies of tomorrow.

But I also figuratively live on Main Street. I travel the length and breadth of America, hearing concerns of small business owners in places like Sioux Falls, S.D., Muncie, Ind., Boise, and Greenville, S.C. These entrepreneurs are enabling American cities to survive. Access to capital for them is their local bank, an Small Business Administration loan, tapping into home equity or using a credit card. They need a healthy credit market. And they could use help finding ways to grow — affording employees, technical assistance, reaching markets.