Gmail is not the start of this. It is also not the mail readers that create the threads; it the mail sending program that builds the thread structure. Look at the full headers of a piece of email and notice the In-Reply-To: and References: headers. Those headers are what makes threaded conversations work. The mail reader just follows the links. These headers are added by the sender. Threads were messed up for a long time since a lot of mail sending programs did not add these headers. Everyone participating in a conversation needed to add these header to make conversations work.

Entrepreneurs have tax problems too...

I think the AMT treatment of 1202 gains is the bigger offense. I just sold a startup and basically received nothing form the 1202 exemption. When you get done with the AMT it actually cost me money over normal capital gains because of the phase out of deductions. 1202 election is not optional. I can't do 1202 roll over, I need that money to live on.

Sure I have a giant AMT credit that I can carry forward, but I'm a normal person and it is unlikely that I will ever be able to consume it. Obama's increase of this to 75% or 100% is pointless if it continues to trigger the AMT.

There are parallels when the company fails. I has a loss carry forward that took me fifteen years to consume. During that time it earns no interest and loses value with inflation.

Bring back backwards income averaging and remove 1202 from the AMT. Smartest strategy right now is for the entrepreneur to put half his founder's stock into a Roth IRA.

VCs have a giant advantage. You can diversify and you are partially shielded from the risk. You don't get stuck with big losses when the business fails. You're better off than the entrepreneur.