Skip to Content

This Incubator Wants to Help Startups Cope with Tough Regulations

Rachel Haot of 1776 says that by spending time with government officials, entrepreneurs can learn to navigate red tape.
October 19, 2016

If you’re building a new social network, creating a tech-enabled food delivery business, or developing an artificial-intelligence translation tool, there aren’t many demanding rules to adhere to. But if your startup deals with issues such as health care, finance, or education, things can be rather more difficult.

“Because [these industries are] so essential to human needs, government is involved,” explained Rachel Haot, managing director of the startup incubator 1776, speaking at EmTech MIT 2016 on Wednesday. By necessity, that leads to regulation. “Government has to protect the rights and safety of people,” Haot said.

Rachel Haot, right, speaks with MIT Technology Review's editor in chief, Jason Pontin.

Problem is, startups are often naive about this: they may have a good idea, but they can be unaware of onerous rules that sometimes make implementation difficult. Haot says 1776 can help by offering guidance to startups navigating heavily regulated areas.

She points to procurement—the formal process through which large organizations and governments purchase products and services—as a good example of an area where her organization can help. Meant to prevent corruption and reduce risk, the rules around procurement are intended to give the buyer assurance that a given company won’t go out of business before delivering the promised product or service.

“These requirements can be so onerous that startups that could provide a better, cheaper service may not be able to enter the procurement process,” Haot said.

To overcome such problems, 1776 has eschewed the traditional incubator model, Haot said, and instead views itself as sort of a “college campus.” It offers entrepreneurs and innovators from large institutions the chance to network with government officials and learn about the regulations that are most relevant to them.

That way, the company hopes, red tape may no longer seem quite so burdensome.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Scientists are finding signals of long covid in blood. They could lead to new treatments.

Faults in a certain part of the immune system might be at the root of some long covid cases, new research suggests.

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

OpenAI teases an amazing new generative video model called Sora

The firm is sharing Sora with a small group of safety testers but the rest of us will have to wait to learn more.

Google’s Gemini is now in everything. Here’s how you can try it out.

Gmail, Docs, and more will now come with Gemini baked in. But Europeans will have to wait before they can download the app.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.