A more optimistic takeaway is that if you set out to solve a hard problem then you might be surprised about your tech's applications elsewhere. Between 1983 and 1989 they built a company that they went on to sell for ~25 million, or ~64 million in 2024 dollars. I don't know how much went into it but it doesn't sound like an obvious failure.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/60130710.html?did...