As a venture capitalist for 19 years, I was amused at Jeffrey Clawson's "Venture capitalist experience no qualifier for White House" (Opinion, June 24). Clawson obviously knows nothing about how venture capital works.

The short-term outlook for business is created by the public's constant desire for quarterly financial information. This has nothing to do with venture capital.

Very few venture capital funds want control of a company. Most are happy with a minority interest and work with management to help a company succeed.

The goal of venture capital is to grow successful companies. As companies succeed and become more profitable, employees are hired, salaries are raised, bonuses and options are provided to employees and money flows to all employees, not just a privileged few.

That is why Bain Capital and Romney's track record are so remarkable. Through investing in companies like Staples and helping them succeed, Romney helped create more than 100,000 new jobs — all without a dime of taxpayers' money.

Few candidates have a better understanding of today's economic challenges than Romney. Most important, he knows how to fix our problems. That is why I and most venture capitalists support Romney for president.

Todd Stevens

Salt Lake City