He refers to finding cures for cancer as a Big Idea, but has any IT investor ever invested in such a thing? I believe Kleiner Perkins does biotech, but most others stick to specific niches.
IOW I don't think the money that went to Facebook would go to life sciences. I think it would just go to other IT startups.
yep. gates has enabled research that simply would not get done otherwise because it is not viewed as being a good candidate for development. that is, vaccines.
but i don't think he's looking for a return in monetary terms. he's looking for results of a different kind.
and that's the difference.
now, the question to ask is whether the investors that enable these sv startups have enough capital that they could fund projects to get non-monetary results, even if it means they might take a loss.
that's why things like spacex and such are different. it's not just about the money.
the worst part of this facebook ipo is it is totally unnecessary. they do not need the capital to carry the facebook idea forward. there is no reason they need to pass the risk on to the public.
when you invest in facebook you do so for one reason only: a financial return. facebook contributes little to society. it's technology that makes the contribution. this is hard for some people to process. but you can take away facebook and technology still remains. everything that we are doing with facebook is still possible. the network effect is still there.
IOW I don't think the money that went to Facebook would go to life sciences. I think it would just go to other IT startups.