I share your admiration for the spirit of “doing hard things.” But I would highlight that, because progress in some sectors is more visible or dramatic (space, supersonic travel) than others (computation, genomics, materials science, logistics, renewable energy) it's easier to miss the latter. But it is still progress, even if it compounds incrementally and is less celebrated by the venture class.
Likewise, in suggesting a three-part model (individual, state, entrepreneur) I think you risk under-valuing other parts of the ecosystem that enable progress. NASA, Bell Labs, SpaceX are products of public–private symbioses, not just individual entrepreneurial daring. I share your belief that mindset is a real challenge (especially in Europe), but think part of what drives psychological and cultural shifts is designing institutional capacity for long-horizon risk in a low-trust, post-growth context.
Still, I appreciate the provocation. We need more confidence and curiosity about what “hard problems” mean in this century.
I sorely wish we had more and stronger public-private partnerships. I just don’t see it. At times I feel like the bureaucratic machine is eating itself. The latest changes with NASA leadership shows it’s hyper-politicized and EU is stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to big trans-national bets (ie having to choose between national champions for political wins and trans-national Incs)
I share your admiration for the spirit of “doing hard things.” But I would highlight that, because progress in some sectors is more visible or dramatic (space, supersonic travel) than others (computation, genomics, materials science, logistics, renewable energy) it's easier to miss the latter. But it is still progress, even if it compounds incrementally and is less celebrated by the venture class.
Likewise, in suggesting a three-part model (individual, state, entrepreneur) I think you risk under-valuing other parts of the ecosystem that enable progress. NASA, Bell Labs, SpaceX are products of public–private symbioses, not just individual entrepreneurial daring. I share your belief that mindset is a real challenge (especially in Europe), but think part of what drives psychological and cultural shifts is designing institutional capacity for long-horizon risk in a low-trust, post-growth context.
Still, I appreciate the provocation. We need more confidence and curiosity about what “hard problems” mean in this century.
I sorely wish we had more and stronger public-private partnerships. I just don’t see it. At times I feel like the bureaucratic machine is eating itself. The latest changes with NASA leadership shows it’s hyper-politicized and EU is stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to big trans-national bets (ie having to choose between national champions for political wins and trans-national Incs)
Ben Reinhardt who now runs Spec Tech has written a lot about this problem. https://blog.benjaminreinhardt.com/wddw