I&#x27;ll take a wild uneducated guess and guess that they are trying to find the next frontier in &quot;idea incubation&quot; while their current product (YC) is on top of its game. So as to not be &quot;disrupted&quot; by whatever is going to replace YC&#x27;s idea factory, years from now. The iPhone to their current iPod. In that context, advanced research makes sense.