First time founders are obsessed with product. Second time founders are obsessed with distribution.
I see people in and around EA building tooling for forecasting, epistemics, starting projects, etc. They often neglect distribution. This means that they will probably fail, because they will not get enough users to justify the effort that went into their existence.
Some solutions for EAs:
Build a distribution pipeline for your work. Have a mailing list on substack. Have a twitter account. This means that attention for your work compounds. Twitter is also good for fast feedback loops.
Tap into existing distribution networks. You can try to figure out who has a large mailing list and ask them to mention you. At a lower scale, you can write something like my forecasting newsletter but for your field.
You can go on podcasts (I’ve been avoiding this).
The EA forum doesn’t suffice for distribution. This post had 169 views on the EA forum, 3K on substack, 17K on reddit, 31K on twitter.
There are probably many other moves, and people who are really good at it. But the point is that some projects, including my own in the past, just catastrophically fail.
Noted, though! I find it quite difficult to make good technical progress, manage the nonprofit basics, and do marketing/outreach, with a tiny team. (Mainly just me right now). But would like to improve.
I see people in and around EA building tooling for forecasting, epistemics, starting projects, etc. They often neglect distribution. This means that they will probably fail, because they will not get enough users to justify the effort that went into their existence.
Some solutions for EAs:
Build a distribution pipeline for your work. Have a mailing list on substack. Have a twitter account. This means that attention for your work compounds. Twitter is also good for fast feedback loops.
Tap into existing distribution networks. You can try to figure out who has a large mailing list and ask them to mention you. At a lower scale, you can write something like my forecasting newsletter but for your field.
You can go on podcasts (I’ve been avoiding this).
The EA forum doesn’t suffice for distribution. This post had 169 views on the EA forum, 3K on substack, 17K on reddit, 31K on twitter.
There are probably many other moves, and people who are really good at it. But the point is that some projects, including my own in the past, just catastrophically fail.
Link appears to be broken.
<https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/4DeWPdPeBmJsEGJJn/interview-with-a-drone-expert-on-the-future-of-ai-warfare>
Can you share any of those tools?
roastmypost.org, www.squiggle-language.com come to mind
This feels highly targeted :)
Noted, though! I find it quite difficult to make good technical progress, manage the nonprofit basics, and do marketing/outreach, with a tiny team. (Mainly just me right now). But would like to improve.
What can I say, I really like your work and I wish it was more widely know, which would mean that you’d get more ressources to continue doing it.