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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

#81

Post by Balgair »

klhugo wrote: post #54

I'm in the middle of a PhD myself, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I actually agree with the author, certain fields are just very complex to develop a solid understand without proper mentoring and support you would get as a grad student. That said, maybe the real issue is not the fact we need two PhDs each, but the question I want to raise, do PhDs need to take 4/5/6 years? (I'm not even considering the case…

5+ Years PhD programs are completely unnecessary. After quals, you should do some research and write that up. The research may take a year, it may take two, it depends. Write it up and publish it. Do that again, maybe, it depends.

One of many hiccups is in the submitting and review process. It takes ages. Sure, some areas are less, some are more, but three year long submit/review periods are not unheard of. Reviewers want another experiment, another control, they don't get back to you until February even though you submitted in mid-November, you can forget August as a working month, etc. Unless your PI is well connected, getting published takes forever.

I have a paper that has been in reviewer hell for the last seven years, for example. It's nutters.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#82

Post by thinkloop »

It was always in the cards. At one time a high-school degree was advanced, then mandatory, then college was minimum, now masters, soon phd's then multiple phd's. The issue is physics, the universe is too complex, see the three-body problem [0] (if the entire universe consisted of just 3 particles, that would already be too much for us to calculate). Complexity explodes exponentially. We reach computation barriers immediately. Which explains why stuff like true self-driving doesn't even come close to meeting promises and similar.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-body_problem

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#83

Post by neltnerb »

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…

Yeah, I was surprised to see the article start from a clearly true starting point and then veer way off into left field talking about not having enough talent or coordination (the founder's problem) instead of the actual issue of VC expectations.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#84

Post by neltnerb »

mNovak wrote: post #75
vervez wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SBIR funding is critical for hard science ventures early on. It's also a good indicator to future investors of potential hard science projects that a panel of experts in the area has reviewed and approved government funding for the idea, and the team is at least decently competent to meet the milestones of the SBIR. This helped Ginkgo Bioworks before they received more than half a billion in private investment.

There's decently large amounts of money to be had with SBIRs, but they are a moving target--you end up stitching together many different smaller projects to slowly ping pong your way to the end goal. Of course they're also very slow to apply, decide, reapply, etc

And consume massive amounts of a small startup team's highest skill expertise for weeks to have any chance of getting.

And have a known death valley and cash flow issue unless you have other investment already.

But they're a nice to have for sure. Just not enough to keep moving for long enough to get most hard tech startups funded.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#85

Post by hobofan »

albertTJames wrote: post #69

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,…

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

I'm pretty sure that the idea here is that "double PhD types" like you would be the ones to build a workplace where this is possible and breaks the mold.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#86

Post by qchris »

dnautics wrote: post #49
Metacelsus wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>a company that demoed reconstituted mock vegan meringues that had residual trifluoroacetic acid in their demo day samples Yikes! I've had some protein preps go wrong, but never this wrong!

if you've ever done an hplc with triflouracetic acid, I promise you there's residual tfa in there, even after a round of lyophilization. Though typically I'm not putting HPLC preps in my mouth. The burney/tingley sensation on my tongue was unmistakable and very reminiscent of the residual feel you get after pipetting 100% TFA in the hood. I strongly believe that this startup did not know that about TFA, but it's basi…

If anyone asks you to do this, please make renting a Blueberry a condition of your participation.

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#88

Post by throwaway8451 »

Igelau wrote: post #57
b4ke wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was this gpt-3??? I’ll see myself out. Lol

There's probably a good German word for the sudden doubt in one's humanity you get when you unintentionally fail a Turing Test. It's like the feeling I get when motion-activated sinks don't see me.

Two suggestions:

Menschlichkeitszweifel (Menschlichkeit = humaneness, Zweifel = doubt)

Turingzweifel (Zweifel = doubt)

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#89

Post by PinkMilkshake »

It seems like many areas of human endeavor are complicated enough that you could become an expert of a field as opposed to an expert in a field. For example, could you have university courses that build experts of biological research as a field and not ever pick up a pipet? Does that already exist?

Re: The dual PhD problem of today’s startups

#90

Post by jvvw »

klhugo wrote: post #54

I'm in the middle of a PhD myself, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I actually agree with the author, certain fields are just very complex to develop a solid understand without proper mentoring and support you would get as a grad student. That said, maybe the real issue is not the fact we need two PhDs each, but the question I want to raise, do PhDs need to take 4/5/6 years? (I'm not even considering the case…

The UK has 3-year PhDs. I was 24 when I submitted my thesis!
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