“The gap between ‘sci-fi,’ — that which was once imagined — and ‘sci-fact,’ that which becomes manifest and real, is shrinking.” — Josh Wolfe, Lux Capital
I’ve been looking into industries a lot recently that require a background in science: Space, Quantum computing, Biotech, Oceantech, CRISPR. These industries are building very deep tech, and they require years of fundamental knowledge of the space to fathom how to build a company in the sectors. A trend that I am seeing is that PHDs and Scientists are assessing the risk of whether they should start a company and deciding to go for it!
After all, the first part of SciFi is Science!
For a long time academia has been divided from entrepreneurship. The option of starting a company didn’t necessarily transfer over, the risk was too high, and the lack of experience in building a business is always enough to stop someone from doing something. The trend I see happening, is that scientists realize they are solving some of the worlds hardest problems, and if they want to do it their way, they have to take the leap.
To me this has been such a huge pocket of untapped potential. At Boost VC we try to see the most SciFi and innovative of ideas, and most Science Fiction is stuck in labs, being researched. I want it on the streets to bring the planet together. A bridge is being built between academia and entrepreneurship. I believe that startups are going to lead to the next major breakthroughs in aerospace, computing, physics, and chemistry.
Apply to Boost VC Tribe 12! Accepting people who are solving the hardest problems today.
More people are identifying this trend too, Lux Capital has been moving on it for a while — here’s an article from last week
This post was largely because of a conversation I was having with Nabeel Hyatt at Spark Capital.
