### Why DARPA? Because it enables projects that are too researchy for a startup, but too engineering/solution centric for academia. It tries to accomplish what industry wouldn't touch because it's too ambitious and what academia wouldn't pick because it's too use-case focused. And that's precisely what we need for solving hard problems that have big impact. ### Principles that made DARPA successful ##### Ambition Sufficiently hard problems that cannot be solved without pushing or catalysing new science. ##### Temporary staff Fixed term (5 years) technical project managers to organize and lead teams of contractors derived from academia, and suppliers/startups. Project managers are accomplished individuals in their respective teams. Fixed term allows for intense focus on taking quick bold bets to push progress forward, instead of playing a safe, long-term game. They're out irrespective of whether the project succeeds or fails. It also enables continuous influx of new talent that challenges the status quo of the previous teams. ##### No in house research It funds performers who work at their respective organisations across different universities and suppliers. They all meet once every 6 months to review progress. Cutting edge knowledge and equipment generally exist only at a few locations in the world. So instead of replicating that at a fixed place, it's better to contract them. Contracts allow quick hiring of experts (who don't have to quit their full time jobs). Eliminates politics, enables different teams to chase the same goal. Moreover, high-risk effort by a diverse set of world class experts can only be sustained for a limited time. Opportunities for progress are perishable. So either within a few years, either it can be concluded that this problem is solvable or not. ##### No open ended research Dedication to solving a well-defined, use-inspired need that requires pushing frontiers of basic science. That is, sticking firmly in the Pasteur's quadrant. ##### High-risk aggregation of low-risk projects A program is divided into smaller specific projects. While only 10% of programs succeed, only 10% of projects are abandoned. So, in nutshell, risk is shifted away from project performers to program managers who are tasked to imagine how everything will fit together to achieve the end objective. ##### Independence Teams don't have pressure to publish or raise grants. Just a clear eye on a goal. ##### Fast-moving legal processes for NDA and IP ownership Simple NDAs that can be executed in a day, and development contracts that allow for IP ownership with an option for future negotiation for exclusivity. ### Process ##### Identifying projects They have a clear mandate of avoiding and creating strategic surprise for the US. Towards that mandate, they regularly ask: - Which scientific field has advanced and can solve problems of importance? - Uncover an emerging user need that existing tech cannot address ##### Feasibility checks They allocate a small sum of USD 1.5 million to do a few initial "seedling" projects to ensure that the project is not impossible. These seedling projects acid test the riskiest parts of the program. The intention is to push core concepts of the program from "disbelief" to "merely doubtful". ##### Creating program plan Objective is to "be able to explain precisely why this idea will work to a group of really smart experts both in the area of the program and adjacent to it.” ##### Show that program objective is not impossible, show it's possible and then deliver it Not impossible -> show "on paper" that it doesn't violate known laws of physics, and a list of experiments to verify riskiest assumptions It's possible -> Demonstrated evidence that it's possible and a roadmap to get there ##### Measuring progress Generally via the pace of iterations and whether the project is converging or diverging to its goals. ##### Abandoning projects If a project requires several miracles in a row, it should be abandoned. ### Sources - https://hbr.org/2013/10/special-forces-innovation-how-darpa-attacks-problems - https://benjaminreinhardt.com/wddw - https://benjaminreinhardt.com/parpa <iframe class="signup-iframe" src="https://invertedpassion.com/signup-collector" title="Signup collector"></iframe>