thread: Overexcited about the launch of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA). Having done private sector tech, govt science delivery, & some angel investment, I see govt risk capital as CRITICAL in making all of our futures brighter... https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-to-launch-new-research-agency-to-support-high-risk-high-reward-science

...and agree that different structures are needed for different types of projects. There has been comment about having different procurement rules for ARIA; I’d say they’re existential for this work - not a WASTE of public money, but a USE of public money, and a good one...

...and the critical mindset shift is to think about risk and return on a portfolio basis, not on a single project basis. One of our clients at @quantumblack (now the Group CEO of a major pharma) once criticised us that we’d done 5 projects with them, and they’d all worked...

...which was about the smartest criticism we ever got: his point was we weren’t pushing the client to be experimental enough or innovative enough if everything was working. That’s the mindset we need here, and the mindset that drives real breakthrough innovation.