Scrolling around the comments, I'm not seeing much discussion about funding. Are billionaire friends a requirement to set up an independent research organizatio

Scrolling around the comments, I'm not seeing much discussion about funding. Are billionaire friends a requirement to set up an independent research organization? Asking as an engineering PhD doing what feels like gopher work for big companies. I have armchair dreams and ideas for doing research again, but I've never been clear on how one would get that first grant. Also, as an alternative to a purely academic route, is it practical to create an institute focused on more worldly things like patents or consulting? I imagine a professional network would be key no matter what path you take!