Re:Goodbye Academia
by newyorklenny on Monday March 03, 2014 @03:55PM
(#7336381)
Indeed, I left academia for a startup. Securing funding for ZappyLab is by no means easy (http://anothersb.blogspot.com/2014/03/hello-startup-sequel-t...) But as hard as it is, there are many VCs, angels, and there is crowd funding (we are running a Kickstarter campaign now). Certainly not easy, but there are more options. You run a genetics lab and lose your NIH grant - where do you go?
Re:Goodbye Academia
by daniel_reetz on Monday March 03, 2014 @05:11PM
(#7336894)
Wherever you go, whatever you do, do this: quadruple your effort and input into your relationship with your wife.
Re:Goodbye Academia
by ForHackernews on Monday March 03, 2014 @04:10PM
(#7336493)
Do VCs not fund biotech startups? Or are they only interested in social media iOS apps?
At least with a start-up your fate is much much, much, more in your own hands. It's really pretty astounding nowadays how many grants get rejected over the the tiniest things. I just had an application rejected (with high marks) due to it (1) focusing too heavily on what the call for applications primarily asked for, and (2) not numbering the pages.
But what surprised me most was that at the end of the essay, after having described his fear of facing such uncertainty in NIH funding, the author mentions that he left academia to co-found a startup making software for life scientists.
Wait a minute — don't small software startups have equally poor success rates? (e.g. http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-truth-behind-9-out-of-10-st...)
If uncertainty of success was his major concern, hasn't the author chosen a pretty poor next step in life?