valley of death
n.— «Several speakers referred to the difficulty in getting an innovation from the idea stage to the commercial stage, a gap referred to as the “valley of death.” Andrew Dearing, secretary general of the European Industrial Research Management Association, said the valley of death for a typical breakthrough is “at least 10 years wide and 20 million euros deep.”» —“UN Body Offers Guidance To Governments On Boosting IP Systems” by William New Intellectual Property Watch (Geneva, Switzerland) July 30, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the great tradition of Johnny Carson’s “How cold was it?” shtick: Just how preposterous was that folk etymology? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “How Preposterous Was It?” Grant, I have one more how cold was it. Okay. Yeah. Okay...
The expression to run the traps means “to perform due diligence” or “solicit a wide variety of opinions” or “investigate every angle thoroughly.” This metaphor derives from the literal sense of running the traps, which refers to hunting and fishing...