What startups taught me about science
Two worlds that seem opposite but keep informing each other.
The first time I worked at a startup I was surprised by how much I missed the whiteboard — the slow, speculative kind of thinking that doesn’t need to ship by Friday.
But I also noticed how much faster I got at deciding what mattered. Academic research can afford to be thorough in ways that companies can’t, but that thoroughness sometimes becomes a way of avoiding commitment.
I carry both habits now. I’m not sure they’re fully reconciled, but I think that tension is useful.