[jedberg]

It is certainly a handout to rich people, but it does serve a purpose. If you have a choice to invest in a startup vs a more stable investment, the $10M (or now $15M) in tax free gains is a strong incentive to choose the startup investment over something else.

And at the end of the day, small businesses usually drive the most innovation, so getting rich people to direct their money into startups instead of big companies is good for the country as a whole.

[GoRudy]

Having personally invested in 100+ startups I can say the tax benefits are never part of the calculation.

[jedberg]

Having invested in 150+ startups myself, I can tell you that it definitely is for me. I would certainly put more of my money into other investments without QSBS.

[msgodel]

How would taxes or any other cost not be part of the calculation? That makes no sense.