The Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs

not too bad

in US

1. SPACE-BASED SOLAR POWER,
2. ADVANCED CAR BATTERIES,
3. UTILITY STORAGE,
4. CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE,
5. NEXT-GENERATION BIOFUELS

“For at our best, this nation has never feared the future,” he said. “We’ve shaped the future. Even when we’ve endured terrible storms, we haven’t given up or turned back — we’ve remain fixed on that brighter horizon. That’s how we’ve led in the pursuit of scientific discovery; and in turn that’s how science has helped us lead the world.”

“the government to create a new immigration class for founders of new firms. Every year, Graham’s “Founder Visa” program would let in 10,000 immigrants who’ve shown a plan for starting a new company. These people would be barred from working at existing companies—in other words, they wouldn’t be “taking American jobs.” Instead, Graham argues, they’d be creating jobs”

“Weber was interested in what happened to religious movements after the passing of their charismatic founders. Most religions begin with prophetic leaders, such as Jesus Christ, Mohammad or Buddha, who attract followers with their magnetic personalities and, often, their anti-traditional messages. But after those leaders pass, their charisma and message must be “routinized” if the movement is to survive. Their teachings and methods must be institutionalized, becoming the basis of new traditions.”

routinization of charisma, Max Weber

“The year of 1989 began the water weaponry revolution. The origin of the Super Soaker® actually dates back to 1982 when Dr. Lonnie Johnson, a nuclear engineer, first had the idea of making a high performance toy water gun. At the time, he was employed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena California as a spacecraft systems engineer on the Galileo mission to Jupiter. As a part time inventor, it took eight (8) years before the gun was finally introduced to consumers. ”

government serving as first customer; part funded by In-Q-Tel

How basic research can repair the broken U.S. business model

Apollo program engaged at its peak, 400,000 people

R&D Troubles in the U.S.

calling for the equivalent of a Manhattan and Apollo Projects

IBM, Microsoft, Dupont

“more R&D is going on globally”

“Discovery drives innovation, innovation drives productivity, productivity drives economic growth.”

“Much of the best technical talent has been drawn to the promise of riches from Wall Street and financial engineering. “

“We need to reestablish a culture that rewards and celebrates the scientist who is willing to work on tough problems even if the commercial return is less certain. Given that the U.S. economy is so much bigger than it was 40 years ago, and so much less competitive internationally, 10 or more equivalent corporate research labs are needed for critical mass. The most likely candidates are the top research corporations today—IBM, Hewlett Packard, Cisco, Google, Exxon Mobil XOM, DuPont, Microsoft, Apple, 3M MMM, General Electric, Boeing BA, and others. Many of these companies already have hundreds of PhD researchers and scientists on staff, and while their labs mostly focus on shorter-term development goals, they still retain the spirit of scientific pursuit.”

“TAX INCENTIVES COULD HELP

Consider that the Bell Labs budget peaked at $1.6 billion in 1982 (about $3.6 billion in today’s dollars), and $20 billion would fund, say, three large labs and five smaller ones. Split in some ratio between public and private sources, $20 billion is not a large number. As noted earlier, IBM, Microsoft, and HP already spend $17 billion annually on R&D. If leading companies committed 5% to 10% of those R&D budgets to pure research (up from 0% to 5% today), in exchange for a tax credit or a government match, a new innovation ecosystem would quickly begin to build critical mass. From the government’s perspective, the money put toward innovation today is the highest-return investment it can make.”