Jake Sigal

Jake Sigal is the Founder and CEO of Livio. Watch his video as a Finalist in CEA’s Innovation Entrepreneur Award, Small Business Executive of the Year. Winners of the Award will be announced at CEA's Industry Forum in October.

Listening and creating an environment where people can communicate very well and offer their two cents to change the norm, that’s what we’re all about.

As the founder of a business, I think being entrepreneurial in everything that you do drives American business. When it comes to employees, everyone from accounting to product development to even the CEO has to innovate and be open to ideas. If you stick with a stodgy plan, you’re going to lose.

When it comes to government helping to fuel American innovation, I think the first thing it should do is stay out of the way. It’s important that businesses are not tightened down by mandates.

We need to be able to innovate and do what’s best for the business because the business will drive it -- if there’s a need for something, the business can help solve that problem.

For example, my inspiration for Livio Radio came when I realized there was an opportunity to take what satellite radio has done in providing great music that I love and take it to the next level, which is bring it over 45,000 stations.

I think the second thing the government can do is allow investors to invest their money in what they think is smart by providing tax incentives to investors for investing their own money directly into small business. Allowing investors to put money into businesses and giving them a tax incentive to support innovation and foster small business is really the key to success.