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The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

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Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#61

Post by thinkingkong »

Igelau wrote: post #41
Andyfilms wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This, 100%. The author says how difficult it is for multidisciplinary teams to come together when they don't understand each others skillsets--but the same applies to the investors themselves. When you start talking about these complicated ideas, there comes a point where unless the investor is involved in the industry they're investing in, they simply won't understand the true impact of it. My company is trying to r…

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Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#62

Post by op03 »

Andyfilms wrote: post #29
woeirua wrote: post #25

The reason you don't see more startups in the hard sciences is not due to the lack of hybrid talent as this article surmises. It's because: 1 - VCs are reluctant to fund capital intensive startups that have time horizons for exits that are significantly longer than software based startups. 2 - The product lifecycle is so much longer, which makes it inherently much riskier. In many cases it can be years before you eve…

This, 100%. The author says how difficult it is for multidisciplinary teams to come together when they don't understand each others skillsets--but the same applies to the investors themselves. When you start talking about these complicated ideas, there comes a point where unless the investor is involved in the industry they're investing in, they simply won't understand the true impact of it. My company is trying to r…

This is describing just one painful route up the mountain.

There are other routes, which usually involve sucking it up, going and working at Wall St or SV for a couple years till you know the "right people" and they know/trust you. After that happens the type of conversations change drastically.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#63

Post by hogFeast »

If you are in SV, it can seem like the world is moving very fast (and within SV, the number of things that people are trying and call "technology" is much larger than the number of things that people outside SV either want or need). But we are still at a very early stage of the "computer age". We have definitely seen a small transition towards more modern ways of working but the process is still very far from complete.

And a lot of this is very prosaic. It isn't about designing some world-beating technology but finding stuff that works and doing it well. Neither of these tasks are particularly straightforward either, knowing what to do is usually not a big problem in business, knowing how to do it is far more difficult problem (ironically, tech is probably one of the best examples of this).

Just generally: believing in constant progress, believing in the mystical power of technology are common psychological habits of humans (Marxism, to name an example)...but it wasn't any easier to make technological discoveries two centuries ago. Literally, these people had none of the knowledge we had today, there was no way to share information, the barriers were huge. Innovation has never been easier.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#64

Post by CalChris »

Don't we already have experience with this? In the workstation era, companies like Sun and SGI did hardware/software co-design. Sun was founded with expertise on both sides and an MBA type CEO in Scott McNealy. So I don't think think this is any insurmountable gap and that any dual PhD companies will have a generalist CEO.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#65

Post by not2b »

rabidrat wrote: post #39
michaelhoffman wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a computational biologist I have gained sufficient expertise in both computation and biology to know that most of the magic AI biomed stuff proposed by people who have expertise in only one of these areas is utter nonsense. Two PhDs that don't speak the same language isn't a great solution, but one PhD who is a jack-of-both-trades isn't the only alternative either. I feel like I've done well with alternating colla…

Maybe you need 3 PhDs for 2 fields: one to go deep in each field, and one 'jack-of-both-trades' to mediate and translate between them.

Yes, I think that works best. You need an engineering leader who has some understanding of all of the important problem areas the company faces, even though he/she is unlikely to be the company's leading expert in any of them, or more than one of them, so good decisions can be made.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#66

Post by not2b »

pnathan wrote: post #13

The solution involves large companies, not startups. You have an infrastructure and a pool of highly qualified applications that aren't going make or break their personal finances on these problems. These are classic coordination problems, and it requires people skilled at this aspect. Large companies don't talk about their work in this area much for a while for a variety of reasons. Bell Labs was a thing once.... It…

Unfortunately large companies invest much less in longer-term research than they used to. Bell Labs was a thing ... once.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#67

Post by didntknowya »

woeirua wrote: post #25

The reason you don't see more startups in the hard sciences is not due to the lack of hybrid talent as this article surmises. It's because: 1 - VCs are reluctant to fund capital intensive startups that have time horizons for exits that are significantly longer than software based startups. 2 - The product lifecycle is so much longer, which makes it inherently much riskier. In many cases it can be years before you eve…

yea i hate when VCs think they can treat a biotech/sciences startup is like a Saas...

like why can't you change a few lines of code, iterate your product multiple times a week and pivot???

because science.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#68

Post by CarbyAu »

rabidrat wrote: post #39
michaelhoffman wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a computational biologist I have gained sufficient expertise in both computation and biology to know that most of the magic AI biomed stuff proposed by people who have expertise in only one of these areas is utter nonsense. Two PhDs that don't speak the same language isn't a great solution, but one PhD who is a jack-of-both-trades isn't the only alternative either. I feel like I've done well with alternating colla…

Maybe you need 3 PhDs for 2 fields: one to go deep in each field, and one 'jack-of-both-trades' to mediate and translate between them.

So a "Science Communication" degree?

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#69

Post by albertTJames »

I have an MD and a PhD in machine learning, and in my experience this "double PhD" intuition is completely wrong. The first and main reason is because you do not hold multiple roles in a company, and you are rarely able to apply your expertise in multiple domains - one domain will passively or actively be picked for you. Except maybe for some execs, who might apply their expertise at a high level. If you are in R&D, you will focus on one task. If you are a CEO, it can give you a good bird's eye view but nothing that would match a good board. And as CEO, you will not be researching, and you will need specialists in both disciplines.

The second key reason why this fails is that people/colleagues/managers do not understand highly diverse skillsets. They do not let you be both. Maybe a culture shift is comming, when more people with multiple skillset will be available, maybe specific roles would be tailored for polymaths, but right now it is not the case.

There are probably workplaces where it is possible, but I have never seen it done properly.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#70

Post by dannykwells »

The author has...never heard of biotech VC? Where even the VC have PhDs and the founding team and not just 2 but 10 and also 4 MDs and capital intensive business is accepted and understood?

Seems like the author just doesnt get biotech and now that biology is becoming tech is confused where their amateur startups fit. Answer: no where.

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