Gary Ong | August 29th, 2021

So often, we refer to events in our lives as events that happen “once in a lifetime. “ It is a metaphorical expression, a way to represent the rarity of circumstances, the uncommon confluence of ideas and the singular needs of a time.

However, as a founder in a deep-tech hard science startup, the phrase “once in a lifetime” bears literal meaning. Scientific discoveries are rare. In the material sciences, they happen only once every couple decades. It means that for the average scientist, we may get only one groundbreaking idea in a lifetime. The luckier ones may get two. Once in a lifetime really is, once in a lifetime.

So when the idea arrives, the sensation to follow through holds weight of both moral imperative and of impact. We feel a deep sense of responsibility to predecessors in the field to carry on, to run the baton forward as far as we can. I might drop the baton on the run, but right now, it’s in my hand. Right now, I must run it as far forward as I can. And when the time comes to pass the baton along, I will look back knowing I did my part and the world is a little better from it. After all, if I don’t do it, then who will?