ARD was the first venture capital firm, which for some time was led by Georges Doriot. How did Georges run ARD? The Rise and Fall of Venture Capital provides a hint with the following paragraph:
During the course of his tenure at ARD, Doriot's vision was not one of "making money" but rather financing "noble" ideas. The first investment made by ARD in 1947 was in High Voltage Engineering Company. The firm, founded by several MIT professors, was established to develop X-ray technology for the treatment of cancer. ARD invested in the company for reasons noted by Compton's comment to Doriot: They [High Voltage Engineering Company] probably won't ever make any money, but the ethics of the thing and the human qualities of treating cancer with X-rays are so outstanding that I'm sure it should be in your [Doriot's] portfolio. When High Voltage went public in 1955, the original 200,000 dollar investment was worth $1.8 million.
Doriot was not worried about his portfolio making a return; instead, he focused on funding ideas that inspired him, and he ended up making a return on this investment anyway. He may have lost money on other noble ideas, but even return-focused VCs rely on rare home runs.
This worldview offers a lesson for quantum computing. Quantum computing is still in its infancy, with uncertain timelines and unclear commercial applications. This makes it hard for return-driven investors to justify funding. Private quantum financing can be viewed in two ways: the “increase return” interpretation and the “noble ideas” interpretation. The “increase return” view is dominant, but Doriot is a paradigm example that “noble ideas” is plausible. Quantum breakthroughs will depend on investors who, like Doriot, see value beyond the balance sheet.
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