To get out of the COVID downturn, & prevent the next pandemic, we are going to need innovation & entrepreneurship. The bad news is that both were stalling long before the pandemic. The returns to research are dropping across many fields & number of startups has been declining. 1/

There are indications that both problems are getting much worse in the pandemic. Business starts fell to their lowest level in over a decade, and there are problems with trying to do science entirely remotely & distant. 2/ https://twitter.com/mitsmr/status/1284352954603130881

Just as there isn’t one cause, there won’t be a single answer, but we need to consider how to get things back on track. Government spending on research is one way to help, it boosts both science & startups. 3/ https://twitter.com/emollick/status/1228074317042184192

Supporting potential founders can also help, especially finding founders from historically underrepresented groups, who tend to find markets others would not. Many Americans want to be founders, but few take the steps needed, because of a lack of resources & knowledge. 4/ https://twitter.com/emollick/status/1244735701251489795

We can also consider regulation to eliminate the incentive of big companies to buy startups just to shut down competition. For example, 6% of all pharmaceutical startup acquisitions are made to KILL the startup’s big innovation so that it doesn’t threaten the incumbent. 5/