Rountree: Great science is only valuable if it produces excess profit
Ian Rountree · The VC case for 'full stack deeptech' · Jan 8, 2026 · at 13:08
Ian Rountree, founder of Cantos, explains why Cantos avoids investing in startups that merely attempt to commercialize academic lab science without a clear economic path.
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“The only point of a startup or a business in general is to create profit margins above and beyond its cost of capital. And technology can be a very interesting means to that end, But it is only a means to that end. And just because your technology is mind-blowing and, you know, is cited in a bunch of papers or whatever, does not necessarily mean it is valuable in an economic sense.”
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