Startups create strong incentives to implement a simple solution to a severe problem.
"incentives" - because the founders can get rich if they succeed.
"implement" - because customers don't care about theoretical work, they care about solving the problem.
"simple solution" - because founders can't afford to design a complicated one.
"severe problem" - because the problem has to be bad enough for even a very simple solution to be worth paying for.
Now, to answer your question directly, why is there hope for startups even in highly technical fields where academia is slow and expensive? Because when people are laser-focused on solving specific problems like this, they occasionally make leaps of insight, either in terms of reframing problems to make them easier, applying newly available technology, or just thinking of a new idea on their own. Smart people can pick up skills surprisingly quickly when they're focused on solving problems.
Also, the incentives are strong enough that they can sometimes convince these skilled academics to quit/supplement their academic jobs with startup work.
"incentives" - because the founders can get rich if they succeed.
"implement" - because customers don't care about theoretical work, they care about solving the problem.
"simple solution" - because founders can't afford to design a complicated one.
"severe problem" - because the problem has to be bad enough for even a very simple solution to be worth paying for.
Now, to answer your question directly, why is there hope for startups even in highly technical fields where academia is slow and expensive? Because when people are laser-focused on solving specific problems like this, they occasionally make leaps of insight, either in terms of reframing problems to make them easier, applying newly available technology, or just thinking of a new idea on their own. Smart people can pick up skills surprisingly quickly when they're focused on solving problems.
Also, the incentives are strong enough that they can sometimes convince these skilled academics to quit/supplement their academic jobs with startup work.