As in any cutting-edge technology: enough willpower and finance to explore the design space until a design with sufficient potential is found and its technical

As in any cutting-edge technology: enough willpower and finance to explore the design space until a design with sufficient potential is found and its technical challenges overcome. Academia often has already explored the design space. The industry then tries to commercialize one of these approaches. Often, they turn out to be a dud: the challenges are too large, or they are solvable but the technology is ultimately impractical for some reason, or they are a dead end and thus won't be relevant for long enough to build a company on it. And then there are various non-technological human failure modes that can befall a company...