BenjaminTodd

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151.
An evidence-based guide to choosing a career(qz.com)
2 points by BenjaminTodd 11y ago|0 comments
152.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
All those options are a little different. OpenPhil is planning to give to substantially different charities from GiveWell recommended charities: http://www.open-philanthropy.org/ Giving to GiveWell or Giving What We Can mea
153.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
http://www.givewell.org/international/charities/charity-wate...
154.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
I was focusing on what to do with money in the article. I agree that sometimes time is needed instead. It's definitely hard to compare the effects of different humanitarian efforts. The problem is that you have to choose something. W
155.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
That's true it's another effect, but I doubt it means hybrid cars win e.g. it seems you could have a greater impact by speeding up the development of hybrid cars just by giving the $20,000 in cash directly to Toyota.
156.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
If you're a young personal at the start of your career, then I agree it could easily make more sense to invest it in yourself (e.g. education, trying out a startup, graduate school).
157.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
GiveWell is great, and I seriously considered making "give to GiveWell recommended charities" the recommendation of the article. However, I think it's even better to give to the Open Philanthropy Project (a collaboration betw
158.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
The Open Philanthropy Project is aiming to fund research. I'd prefer to let them do the research working out where to donate, rather than picking scientists myself.
159.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
That's a tricky philosophical question, but quick answer would be the long-term flourishing of sentient beings, treating everyone as equal. https://80000hours.org/career-guide/framework/the-meaning-of...
160.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
The question was framed in terms of helping the "common good". If you want to support your local community that's a different question.
161.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
My reasoning is that if you accept something like the efficient market hypothesis, investing in startups is higher risk than investing in the S&P500, so the return should be higher. You could also just buy the S&P500 with leverage.
162.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
I agree micronutrients are a very promising intervention, along with some other cheap, proven health interventions like malaria nets (I mention Against Malaria Foundation in the post). Here's a list: http://www.givewell.org&
163.
by BenjaminTodd 11y ago
I don't agree with (b) low overhead ratio, mainly for these reasons: http://overheadmyth.com/
164.
What’s the best way to spend $20K to help the common good?(80000hours.org)
159 points by BenjaminTodd 11y ago|181 comments
165.
by BenjaminTodd 12y ago
What are the other problems with the data? We're keen to hear.
166.
by BenjaminTodd 12y ago
That's a great point. If you read this article and think "Now I'm going to apply to YC and do good!", you've probably got lower chances of success than the average YC founder. That's one reason we point out tha
167.
by BenjaminTodd 12y ago
It's not just the donations. It seems likely startups produce lots of economic value by developing new products, and the extent to which you do that is somewhat correlated with how much money you earn. That's another reason to con
168.
by BenjaminTodd 12y ago
Not saying it's not impressive either way! Good point that the question is much less valuable from the perspective of YC partners. From that perspective, all that matters is that the companies perform well in the end. It matters more f
169.
by BenjaminTodd 12y ago
That's a good point - most of the compensation is in equity, which is non-liquid, which makes it significantly less valuable than salary.
170.
by BenjaminTodd 12y ago
You can get a good idea of that here, plus the stats in the summary: http://80000hours.org/blog/341-how-much-do-y-combinator-foun...
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by BenjaminTodd 12y ago
I think you should seriously consider doing this. It's the best way to measure the true impact of YC on the companies it selects. Otherwise, it's hard to know to what extent you're just picking the most successful teams vs. g
172.
by BenjaminTodd 12y ago
Definitely true that the median can't expect to earn much. In fact, looking at the data, we can see that about 70% exit with only their salaries (typically under $100k). Like we say in the summary, since all the value is in the tail, a
173.
by BenjaminTodd 12y ago
There's quite a bit of data on the distribution in the post as well. Quoting from the summary: Most of the returns have gone to a tiny minority of super-successes. The founders of AirBnB, Dropbox and Stripe are worth about US$7 billio