# What changed from the high-quality corporate labs in the past? # What changed from the high-quality corporate labs in the past [[Early 1970’s were a discrete change in the world]] There are several arguments: * There was a paradigm shift towards startups and acquisitions being used instead of internal R+D. ([[Things about ARPA that can be improved]]) Which means that people can capture a lot more value by doing the work outside an R+D org and then selling it back in. So conceivably if someone has enough conviction that their idea will work, they’ll actually leave the org first. * One argument is that increasing focus on shareholder value increased incentives towards short-term projects. * Another argument is that there was increasing specialization in corporations that constrained the breadth necessary for truly good research. * Another argument is that breaking up monopolies reduced the margins and there wasn’t as much profit to pour back into R&D. This doesn’t hold up well because there are many near-monopoly companies with massive margins now. * Another argument is just a mindset shift around what should be done inside corporate R+D orgs. When Microsoft Research started, it was explicitly to be product-focused. ### Related * [[Venkatesh Narayanamurti Podcast 20 May 2020]] * [[Publishing version of notes on the changing structure of American Innovation]] * [[aroraChangingStructureAmerican2020]] [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/What+changed+from+the+high-quality+corporate+labs+in+the+past) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/What+changed+from+the+high-quality+corporate+labs+in+the+past)