Why good ideas get trapped in the valley of death— and how to rescue them episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 28, 2026 · 7 MIN

Why good ideas get trapped in the valley of death— and how to rescue them

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Explore why zero-carbon technologies are vulnerable to the valley of death in product development and how we can change it.--All new products must pass through the "valley of death" before they reach the market. Many never make it out, and sometimes that’s ok— if they don’t work, don’t fill a need, or for any number of reasons. One of the fields where this problem is most pressing is zero-carbon technologies. Why is it vulnerable to this trap, and can we change it? Explore how to break the cycle of the funding gap.Directed by Lisa LaBracioAnimation and art direction by Luísa M H Copetti, Hype CGIn partnership with Bill Gates, inspired by his book "How To Avoid A Climate Disaster": http://bit.ly/PlanForZeroSupport Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-good-ideas-get-trapped-in-the-valley-of-death-and-how-to-rescue-themDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-good-ideas-get-trapped-in-the-valley-of-death-and-how-to-rescue-them#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.hype.cgMusic: https://soundcloud.com/aim-music----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Po Foon Kwong, NinjaBoffin, Jesse Jurman, Josue Perez Miranda, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, Lawrence Wu, Xavier Dupont, Aravind Battaje, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, John Hong, Annastasshia Ames, Sebastiaan Hols, Aries SW, Amy Lopez, Liz Candee, Kathryn Vacha, Anthony Arcis, Jeffrey Segrest, Karmi Nguyen, Yelena Baykova, Harshita Jagdish Sahijwani, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Mohamed Elsayed, Les Howard, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey, Abhishek Bansal, Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Karl Laius, JY Kang, Charles A Hershberger, Robert Seik, Heidi Stolt, Alexis Hevia, Brady Jones, Christina Salvatore, Karlee Finch, Michael Goldberg, Mario Mejia, Nicolas Silva, Kurt Almendras, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry and Kristiyan Bonev. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Why good ideas get trapped in the valley of death— and how to rescue them

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