> Eisenhower didn't pay 100 labs $5M each to come with possible ballistic missile designs.
On the other hand this is the venture capital model. I wonder if we'd have worse, equal or better results if Eisenhower somehow applied the venture capital and entrepreneurial model of today to missile R&D back then. It's an interesting thought experiment.
I don't think that approach would be as fast. The ICBM program created the whole airospace industry within a few years through massive investment directed by a military industrial complex scared by the soviet union.
If you give so much money to a single company they squander it like during the dot com bubble. If you disperse it over many companies a chaos ensures as everybody struggles to find product market fit.
On the other hand this is the venture capital model. I wonder if we'd have worse, equal or better results if Eisenhower somehow applied the venture capital and entrepreneurial model of today to missile R&D back then. It's an interesting thought experiment.