No, I think pure research can be and usually is ordinary research. I agree with your points about the young and non-established being good bets for big thinkin

No, I think pure research can be and usually is ordinary research. I agree with your points about the young and non-established being good bets for big thinking. But I think the PhD is an unsuitable vehicle, partly because it's not well-designed to handle failure (your analogy with startups is great and instructive on this point).