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>We're not a startup and not looking to reach a broad audience, get investors, or create a product. We even wrote a thing a while back regarding our not being a
by aphextron 9y ago
>We're not a startup and not looking to reach a broad audience, get investors, or create a product. We even wrote a thing a while back regarding our not being a startup, because it is an unfamiliar concept to many people: http://elevr.com/were-not-a-startup/ http://elevr.com/were-not-a-startup/
Huge respect for the work you guys have done, but I think this is an unfortunate mindset. The real magic sauce for American capitalism that has driven us to such heights of technological achievement has always been about the synthesis of lofty, idealistic goals combined with the desire to make lots and lots of money. I don't think those two things should be separated as an either/or. There is certainly a need for pure basic research funded by private industry. But the real goal should be figuring out how we can do that in a way that is economically sustainable both short and long term.
- norswap 9y agoBell Labs, Xerox Parc, nuff said.
- panic 9y agoCould either of these labs be described as a "startup"? Fundamental research seems hard to do while searching for the revenue to stay alive. You need a stable source of funding, either from a large corporation (like SAP, Xerox or AT&T/Western Electric) or a government department (like DoD/ARPA) -- not VC funding which carries the expectation of near-term growth.
- nl 9y agoThat's precisely the point the post you are replying to is making.