To all the voices in the thread who are commenting on how only $3m is no Apollo project: my fusion startup in the 1990s was financed with less than that (even i

To all the voices in the thread who are commenting on how only $3m is no Apollo project: my fusion startup in the 1990s was financed with less than that (even including the inflation adjustment). Sure, we didn't make self-sustaining fusion, but it wasn't lack of money that stopped us. This level of funding may not give you an Apollo program, but it could easily give you a Robert Goddard. The section on "Why don't more people start them" was interesting to me. One hugely important thing I don't see mentioned as a possible cause is the failure path (i.e. what happens when you fail, which is the most likely outcome). This is drastically different in 'moonshot' fields than in software startups. In many fields, a failed startup causes permanent career damage, so that's a big reason why people don't start them. Because of this, I think the founder equity exchange program is a great idea. I would have happily diversified 10% of my stock with other founders, and it would not have de-incentivized us at all.