[eesmith]

It started even earlier, with US military funding projects in microwaves/radar, electronic warfare, and aerospace.

Think Varian, which developed military applications for the klystron, including nuclear bomb fuses.

The first semiconductor companies were considered too risky for military funding, so used risk capital.

See Steve Blank's writings on the Secret History of Silicon Valley for more, like https://steveblank.com/2009/10/29/the-secret-history-of-sili... .