| I think this is very realistic when technology risk is involved in a field that is always going to be capital-intensive, it's so different than software you've got to start with more. But $400,000 is a lot of money so the confidence has to be there for all, that they will actually make enough progress before the money runs out so that it's comparable to what a more mature operation would have who is worth over $2 Million at least. Even if the new venture is still ramping up and not yet expected to have marketable products, services, or IP yet, that kind of progress needs to be there or how could further investment be justified. Basically it can be just one or two top performers actually capable of accomplishing a couple million worth of work, or building something that would otherwise cost almost $3 Million if given this type of opportunity. OTOH you could get 10 to 20 contributors who each work with lesser resources but could still build equal momentum over a respectable runway. If either of these or anything in between is built for $400,000 that's a good start for all. In my field I could dispatch a calibration crew from a single reference instrument, or arrange with a preferred client to maintain theirs as a reference instrument and go labless. Too bad Theranos ended up taking massive funding instead of you less-well-connected biotech entrepreneurs, so much real progresss could have been deployed instead. |