Venture Investing in Science

Over the past decade, software companies have increasingly monopolized the flow of venture capital, starving support for scientific research and its transformative discoveries. New medicines, cheaper and faster personal computers, and other life-changing developments all stem from deep investment in science. In the past, these funds have led to steam engines, light bulbs, microprocessors, 3D printers, and even the Internet. In Venture Investing in Science, the venture capitalist Douglas W. Jamison and the investment author Stephen R. Waite directly link financial support to revolutionary advancements in physics, computers, chemistry, and biology and make a passionate case for continued investing to meet the global challenges of our time.

Clean air and water, cures for intractable diseases, greener public transportation, cheaper and faster communication technologies—these are the rich opportunities awaiting venture capital investment today. Jamison and Waite focus on how early-stage companies specializing in quantum computing, graphene chips, and precision medicine struggle for funding, proposing a plan to bring the small IPO back to market to energize deep scientific investment. Commercializing science-based innovation also reactivates the economic dynamism that once defined American dominance in science and technology research. These partnerships have the potential to create legacies, not to mention lift millions out of poverty and secure the public good.

Douglas W. Jamison is the chairman and CEO of HALE.life, a privately held precision health and medicine operating company in which Harris & Harris Group is an investor. Previously he was chairman and CEO of Harris & Harris Group, a publicly traded company that makes early-stage venture capital investments in science-based companies.


Stephen R. Waite works as a strategic advisor and investment manager. He is the author of Quantum Investing (2003) and coauthor of Boomernomics (1998).