This is the era for bright minds to flourish. Brilliant minds now have the supportive environments for exponential growth, the resources readily available for usage and technology on hand to bring "Eureka" moments into reality.
Many still face and will face the oncoming obstacle of funding for their ideas and create a meaningful sustainable business. Nowadays, crowdfunding is amongst the most popular ways people are using to fund their ideas. This allows individuals to maintain their control over their own projects and ideas without having to answer to the big guys with money but actually have the chance to appeal to the masses in hoping that their idea will catch the eye of the public.
One of the most highly successful projects funded using the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter was, the Pebble Time (smart-watch), reaching their goal of $500k in a mere 17 minutes and $20.4M by their deadline. Followed up by many successful projects, such as Ouya, the Android micro-console, the 8th Kickstarter project - and fastest - to hit more than $1M raised. They managed to raise almost $8.6M by their deadline making them the 5th highest earning in Kickstarter history. Unlike Pebble, Ouya was unable to maintain their success due to the inability to restructure it's debts and was later on acquired by Razor Inc., whom has now discontinued the console.
This is a great lesson that having the funding does not necessarily ensure the creation of a successful company which is based on a good idea. Majority of the times, early stage startups will find that they are lacking not just in funds but in any combination of if not all of the following: the essential guidance of much more experienced individuals or companies, the resources and connections, and the technology and power needed to drive one's business forward that would be practically impossible for one to pull off on their own.
This leads us to the venture capitalists that would provide such guidance and open up many possibilities for the startups. However, many early stage startups are finding it hard to apply or approach venture capital firms as they may not be at the right stage in business to even remotely qualify for these programs.
On the other hand the incubators and the accelerators, give promising startups a chance to be considered and accepted in they cohorts. The drawback of these in-and-out type of programs that take the startups in for a set time period (usually few months to a year depending on program) then once the program is completed, the startups are on their own again. The reality is that most funding players in the startup ecosystem are out with the simple intention of "How much can I make off of this opportunity?". Nothing personal, business is to make money.
So the question is, "Is there a better way to encourage creating iconic impactful companies that are based on good ideas?"