Academic scholarship is a business, and just like any other business, it is driven largely by the incentive for profit. Those profits may or may not be financial in nature, but the potential for reward, whether it is measured in terms of a promotion or of intellectual property, underlies whatever people do in higher education. Academics don't generally like to think about their work that way, but the benefits can be profound and in no way diminish an institution's scholarly mission. In this article, the author discusses how the new financial constraints suggest that professors, universities, and granting agencies will have to take a harder look at risk/reward ratios in academic research. He opines that traditional thinkers and innovators are important to academic research, but as resources shrink, a way must be found to decide who gets the support.