Of the many factors that have contributed to today’s challenging startup environment, perhaps the most surprising in the wealthiest country in the world is a lack of access to capital.

I grew up in a lower-middle-class family in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and I never once thought I wouldn’t be able to start and own my own business. That was a right that I had as an American. Entrepreneurship is not exclusive and cannot be only for the privileged. New small businesses have long been the vehicle for economic advancement for the middle class, and as I outline in BOOM: Bridging the Opportunity Gap to Reignite Startups, we need to bridge our country’s current entrepreneurial opportunity gap to resuscitate our middle class.

Female entrepreneurs received only 2.2% of venture capital funding in 2018. Women of color received less than 1%. Answer by Craig Hall, Chairman and Founder of HALL Group, Author of BOOM

Craig Hall, Founder of the Hall Group, says a lack of capital is preventing entrepreneurs from starting businesses. His book is called “Boom: Bridging the Opportunity Gap to Reignite Startups.” Bloomberg Business Week Hosts: Carol Massar and Jason Kelly. Producer: Paul Brennan

When I started my business in the late 1960s, it never occurred to me that, at 18, I couldn’t start a business of my own. That was one of my rights as an American citizen. Indeed, when I started, I had few regulatory and other external obstacles to overcome. Today’s entrepreneurial climate is just the opposite. Despite the fact that entrepreneurship is more popular and praised than ever, entrepreneurs pursuing their version of the American Dream are burdened with overbearing regulations, lack of access to capital, burdensome student loans, and public policies that favor big businesses over new startups.

Craig Hall’s new book, BOOM: Bridging the Opportunity Gap to Reignite Startups, officially hits store shelves today.