It's possible that just filing a patent does this.
1) become an employee somewhere that will pay for all your patent applications.
2) have some sort of reward system so that filed patent applications are counted positively on an employee review, or have a modest financial gain (some employees have from modest to substantial gains for filing patents)
3) have unofficial reward systems (such as peer respect) that also benefit the employee
4) "person with most filed patent applications" or "person with most really cool applications" leads to employee rise to power.
1) become an employee somewhere that will pay for all your patent applications.
2) have some sort of reward system so that filed patent applications are counted positively on an employee review, or have a modest financial gain (some employees have from modest to substantial gains for filing patents)
3) have unofficial reward systems (such as peer respect) that also benefit the employee
4) "person with most filed patent applications" or "person with most really cool applications" leads to employee rise to power.