> Grants are a pain to apply for (there's a reason that full-time grant-writers exist) and the feedback loop is very slow

Case in point, I saw this on the retraction watch twitter the other day: http://aushsiblog.com/?p=252

There was a grant application rejected because the header font was 13pt rather than 14pt. Most of us have to deal with some level of petty bureaucracy, but that level is just absurd.