1. Development and research are two different skills. Not all developers are good researchers, and not all researchers are good developers. With that said, t

1. Development and research are two different skills. Not all developers are good researchers, and not all researchers are good developers. With that said, there are people who are good at both; Dennis Ritchie and Jeff Dean are great examples. 2. The biggest barrier to starting a research lab is how will this lab make enough revenue to fund the lab’s operations and the living expenses of its staff? A significant challenge of running a research institute is fundraising. The first thing a lab must do is to establish a mission. Will this lab do long-term, speculative work or will it aim for shorter-term surer bets? What are the lab’s boundaries; what stipulations from funders can it live with, and what ones are unacceptable? I say this because as a researcher, I have learned The Golden Rule: “He who has the gold makes the rules.” Another way of putting it: “he who pays the piper calls the tune.” It is often the case that money comes with strings attached; it’s up to the lab to determine which strings are acceptable or not.