5 ms·

I really haven't thought about this much but it's a brilliant idea. Maybe I can use it to get into YC & raise 1 bajillion from a16z?

andrewstuart 4y ago
No doubt Sam Altman is open to hearing about how to purchase African labor without any of the publicity downside - hit him up for a few mill. ChatGPT is riding high, it does not need Nike style bad publicity to bring the story down. You would need to be actually ethical rather than marketing ethical - I don't know you so I don't know if you know the difference. Certainly there's no shortage of Silicon Valley "characters" who don't. It's a very powerful "good news story" to sell to potential clients: --> lower cost workforce --> positive life benefit for the African people, lifting people to better lives --> western style work protections at African costs --> "publicity positive" for buyers versus "publicity negative" You would not believe the power of "lower cost workforce" in gaining new clients. If you know a bunch of African programmers then it should not be hard to find work for them at $x/hour to western clients. Any employer that wishes to show it cares for African people and wants to help them to a better life really SHOULD be buying services from your new company. Remember in places like Australia, the banks - who are the biggest buyers of outsources international programmer resources - would consider $40/hour to be an absolute bargain.
- churchill 4y ago
  I understand what you mean & I 100% stand behind the idea of better-paying jobs for locals, in a way that makes affordable labor available to customers. It's not a zero-sum game - you don't have to treat people like trash to get any value out of their labor.
akiselev 4y ago
I think a16z et al only invest in crypto and other scams now.
riezebos 4y ago
I think about this every few months since 2016! It's been a bit of a "maybe some time in the future if the stars align" life goal to set up a data consulting company in a country with a lot of poverty. I did a project in Nairobi last year and it seems like there are enough people there that would be interested and have the skill potential. Internet was also quite good in most places. I'm also part of a small data science training company which could be used to teach data skills there. Maybe it's time to think about it more seriously?

andrewstuart 4y ago

No doubt Sam Altman is open to hearing about how to purchase African labor without any of the publicity downside - hit him up for a few mill. ChatGPT is riding high, it does not need Nike style bad publicity to bring the story down. You would need to be actually ethical rather than marketing ethical - I don't know you so I don't know if you know the difference. Certainly there's no shortage of Silicon Valley "characters" who don't. It's a very powerful "good news story" to sell to potential clients: --> lower cost workforce --> positive life benefit for the African people, lifting people to better lives --> western style work protections at African costs --> "publicity positive" for buyers versus "publicity negative" You would not believe the power of "lower cost workforce" in gaining new clients. If you know a bunch of African programmers then it should not be hard to find work for them at $x/hour to western clients. Any employer that wishes to show it cares for African people and wants to help them to a better life really SHOULD be buying services from your new company. Remember in places like Australia, the banks - who are the biggest buyers of outsources international programmer resources - would consider $40/hour to be an absolute bargain.

churchill 4y ago
I understand what you mean & I 100% stand behind the idea of better-paying jobs for locals, in a way that makes affordable labor available to customers. It's not a zero-sum game - you don't have to treat people like trash to get any value out of their labor.

akiselev 4y ago

I think a16z et al only invest in crypto and other scams now.

riezebos 4y ago

I think about this every few months since 2016! It's been a bit of a "maybe some time in the future if the stars align" life goal to set up a data consulting company in a country with a lot of poverty. I did a project in Nairobi last year and it seems like there are enough people there that would be interested and have the skill potential. Internet was also quite good in most places. I'm also part of a small data science training company which could be used to teach data skills there. Maybe it's time to think about it more seriously?