The Pilot Program

A good candidate for a research startups satisfies 3 criteria:

1. A well articulated mission and reasons why it’s important.
2. A capable and committed team.
3. The idea is not well supported via other means (academia, venture capital, etc).

We aim to make the process easy to get started with quick response times, so even if you’re unsure it would not be too burdensome to submit a proposal and test your ideas.

Publications can be a valuable outcome of a successful research startup, but they are not required. The team can publish when they believe they have significant and reliable findings that are worthwhile to disseminate to the broader ecosystem. To counteract the “publish-or-perish” culture in academia, we generally encourage you to publish less but better, or not at all. There will also be other channels for publications above and beyond traditional academic journals. We anticipate that teams will generally produce more publications when research startups reach a milestone or a conclusion (positive or negative).

Probably not. In most cases, working at a research startup will likely take up the majority of your attention and time. In a few cases, like that of specialty research contractors, you may work part time in the early stages.

Within a research startup, the governance burden is concentrated on the board of directors. Anomaly Research, as the parent organization, will place a specialized board designed for research startups (which we call the “research board”). The research board has the responsibility to see that the teams are focused on the mission. They have the power to oversee the performance of the leadership team, order data audits and peer reviews, and initiate leadership changes if necessary.

It depends. Some research startups are intended to operate indefinitely. Others will have preset deadlines to achieve their mission. We expect most research startups in the early stages to have some time constraints that are tied to their milestones.

There are overlaps between research startups and tech startups. Both are striving to build useful capabilities. Research startups typically work on projects that are deemed difficult to commercialize or too risky for the venture capital ecosystem. Research startups prioritize value creation via scientific innovation and do not have financial expectations of fast growth. Some research startups can morph into tech startups, which means adding business operations for commercialization and value capture.

FROs are really interesting organizations and we consider them as a specific type of research startup. They are non-profit, time-bound, and talent-intensive projects that require large scale funding. Other types of research startups can differ from FROs in how much resources and coordination are required to get started, how they operate, and how they are governed. Some research startups can morph into FROs. Existing research startups can benefit from the work of FROs. FROs can also spawn new research startups when they conclude.

The research startup model doesn't fit all projects. Here are some good reasons not to pursue this path:

1. If you plan to conduct open-ended research, you should pursue your project in academia and not in a research startup. There are more resources and support within the existing academic institutions for purely exploratory work and you’ll have a better chance of success there.
2. If similar projects are already funded or fundable by venture investors, you should not pursue the research startup path. It likely means the core scientific and technical problems are de-risked enough for the venture capital ecosystem. You will have a better chance of success in finding support within the established startup investor community.
3. If you’re part of a corporate research lab and your work is in alignment with your employer’s business strategies, you should not pursue the research startup path. Large corporations and businesses can simply muster more resources to support your project and you’ll likely have more success there.
4. If you want complete legal control over your project, you should not pursue a research startup. Part of the research startup model includes governance structures that introduce checks and balances that will take some control away from you.
5. If you’re a solo researcher, starting a research startup is not ideal as the model is a team-based model. Anomaly Research will provide opportunities for individual researchers in the future, but the program structure will be different from that of research startups.