One problem is finding VC capital: majority of VCs in SV don't know that hard-tech so they don't want to invest into something they are not familiar with.
On the other hand, the problem might be also that founders which base their startup on technology gave up too easily when looking for funding. So they gave up and get cozy and well paid job at Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, etc.
And YC application process does not help here: if something is "hard tech", then YC is probably not going to fund it. Why? There are so many application and people who are very very good at hard tech are not type of founders YC would like to invest in since they do not have great communication skills. So their YC application is probably confusing, there is no clear pitch, etc. They cannot explain their start up as "Uber for X" - since it is.... complicated.
In other words, if we get few founders who got rich and get into VC business because they did some hard-tech then we will have more hard tech companies. As of now, majority VCs did some social network / uber-for-X and that is how they got into VC business.
This is generally true, most VCs are afraid of things that have strong technical risk. But the point of the post is that starting a few years ago some VCs are finally catching up to founders on this. YC, Lux Capital, AH, Khosla, and of course our firm are trying to increase funding in the space and will continue to.
On the other hand, the problem might be also that founders which base their startup on technology gave up too easily when looking for funding. So they gave up and get cozy and well paid job at Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, etc.
And YC application process does not help here: if something is "hard tech", then YC is probably not going to fund it. Why? There are so many application and people who are very very good at hard tech are not type of founders YC would like to invest in since they do not have great communication skills. So their YC application is probably confusing, there is no clear pitch, etc. They cannot explain their start up as "Uber for X" - since it is.... complicated.
In other words, if we get few founders who got rich and get into VC business because they did some hard-tech then we will have more hard tech companies. As of now, majority VCs did some social network / uber-for-X and that is how they got into VC business.