As an amateur inventor with a serious backlog of "hard tech" type inventions (e.g. actual products, not software or 'platforms') I've done my best to inquire and reach out to several different potential funding sources, all of which have been extremely quick to pass. The basic reasoning is "this doesn't fit with our preferred verticals" and I'm left to figure out what that meant other than We only speak app as a self-imagined consolation.
This article is not exactly re-assuring because the noted interests - AI, biotech, and energy - are all extremely crowded fields more than likely competing with large institutions, research organizations, and let's be honest, probably a TON of regulatory hurdles to consider if planning to do business in the US.
For context, one of my primary inventions is a mobility / utility device that would have residential, commerical, and industrial applications. By design it can be applied to a variety of uses. I've done basic patent research and the pathway looks extremely good, quite tempting for me to just go ahead and file ASAP. It's hard tech. It's not glamorous, but it's a huge market opportunity on prima face.
I've got a co-worker pal who finally got his beverage and branding invention patented and now he's in the marketing to local schools, catalogs, and if early indications are correct, he may have an genuinely lucrative future with it. In my view, he's a more likely investor target than anybody out on the West Coast or in a VC room. I simply base this perspective on personal experience and how this post sounds promising yet concludes with a short list of massive goals. Might as well wrap it up with "We just want to invest in a better mousetrap" considering the scope. Cottage industry isn't runaway freight train profit creation, I get that, but I'd also counter that if one wants to get into the next frothy bubble of biotech then good luck with that.
But YC is in the business of hopping aboard every rocket ship it can find. Sam & Co do not want to invest in small business. They want massive payouts. It's the only way the VC game works.
If you're dedicated to getting funding, you have to keep knocking on tons of doors until you find an investor that matches your particular payout goals.
The West Coast / SV venture capital scene makes a ton of noise about massive successes to entice many otherwise-profitable small business ideas to try and become huge. When they don't reach a hyperbolic trajectory, it's a VC failure, but the same business could have easily done well for the founders and early employees as a lifestyle business. A stable orbit if you will, but not going to the Moon.
Find investors who want reasonable returns from your business at your scale. Don't think that the SV VC approach is the only way to get your business idea funded.
Oh I understand, but in this case making such a public post about "come on, join us, we can do it" and then targeting essentially stud 'just graduated, have other backing' type teams in massive fields is conflicting to me. I'm basically under the assumption that any serious venture in AI, biotech, or energy can actually compete for investments outside of the YC sphere. As in, YC actually has more competition than these teams have to sacrifice to get started. It is common knowledge capital is sloshing around everywhere looking for yield and returns.
I do understand VC might not be the proper target in the purest sense but it's a similar story for most small businesses if I'm not mistaken. Like in hard bench science research - funding goes to those already being successful. Is it really practical to "boot strap" a hard tech company? I draw a lot of inspiration from the Wright Brothers, but I'm still pragmatic.
If there's a 'ground floor' arena where cottage industry would be best served, I'm all ears and would love links, guidance and direction to make progress. Not kidding, it's already been a few years and I've got another half a lifetime to keep plodding away.
Have you looked into SBIR[1] grants for developing your product? You might have to do a little leg work to set yourself up to receive Federal funding but if you'd like to commercialize any technology you'll probably have to do that anyway...
I'm in sort of the same train and am getting slow but steady progress. If you want to talk about things (without giving away anything) feel free to email me.
The problems you described with these fields are known as "barriers to entry". They are bad for competition and foster lower-order market structures and/or price distortion in virtually any industry, not just those in the tech sector. Thus they're generally frowned upon by all but the most extreme laissez faire capitalists:
This article is not exactly re-assuring because the noted interests - AI, biotech, and energy - are all extremely crowded fields more than likely competing with large institutions, research organizations, and let's be honest, probably a TON of regulatory hurdles to consider if planning to do business in the US.
For context, one of my primary inventions is a mobility / utility device that would have residential, commerical, and industrial applications. By design it can be applied to a variety of uses. I've done basic patent research and the pathway looks extremely good, quite tempting for me to just go ahead and file ASAP. It's hard tech. It's not glamorous, but it's a huge market opportunity on prima face.
I've got a co-worker pal who finally got his beverage and branding invention patented and now he's in the marketing to local schools, catalogs, and if early indications are correct, he may have an genuinely lucrative future with it. In my view, he's a more likely investor target than anybody out on the West Coast or in a VC room. I simply base this perspective on personal experience and how this post sounds promising yet concludes with a short list of massive goals. Might as well wrap it up with "We just want to invest in a better mousetrap" considering the scope. Cottage industry isn't runaway freight train profit creation, I get that, but I'd also counter that if one wants to get into the next frothy bubble of biotech then good luck with that.