RE: LeoThread 2025-11-19 00-19

Announcing Episteme, a new type of R&D company that recruits exceptional scientists to pursue high‑impact ideas
Science isn’t bottlenecked by talent, but by places where that talent can do its best work

Scientific progress has driven human flourishing: extending lifespans, lifting billions from poverty, and expanding understanding of the universe

History is full of transformational ideas that were overlooked in their time; that problem remains: promising talent often goes uncultivated and remarkable ideas die in the lab or are filtered out by misaligned incentives

Today’s paths for translating research into impact are suboptimal: academia tends to be risk‑averse and rewards publications and grants over translational work; industry often focuses on short‑term incentives; and startups usually lack the capital, expertise, and complex infrastructure needed for long‑term scientific progress

Recent funding cuts in the US have reduced the overall supply of ideas, so the global scientific production system is operating well below capacity

Episteme’s approach is different: identify outstanding scientists who aren’t efficiently supported within traditional institutions, work researcher by researcher to define the bespoke resources, operational support, and environments needed, bring them together in‑house, and provide those resources to ensure breakthroughs are deployed for real‑world impact

The team already includes experienced operators from foundations, major AI labs, ARPAs, and government research agencies, alongside researchers tackling physics, biology, computing, and energy, informed by conversations with hundreds of researchers worldwide

Backing comes from prominent long‑term supporters and investors who share the mission of enabling ambitious science for tangible human benefit

About the founders: one brings nine years of research experience across AI‑driven drug discovery and brain–machine interfaces, which highlighted how many scientists with world‑changing potential lack access to opportunities matching their capacities; cofounded to build an engine that supports the right people with aligned incentives and the right resources to generate breakthrough discoveries for humanity