I broadly agree that starting an EA Chapter isn’t very hard. Though your point on the amount of time one may sink into being an organiser might be missing some nuance. In speaking to other uni groups and from personally helping run the Bristol group, if you really want your group to do well it’s going to come at some cost to your time. For example, you are going to have to put in effort to get the most out of really promising folks in your university groups with 1-1s; it can often take you some time to figure out how to set up an introductory fellowship the first time around.
There is a bunch of help available with GCP and funding for stuff like productivity tools to save you time, but if you really want to get a lot out of your group you should be okay with the fact that it’s going to take up time and effort.
Yeah it definitely takes time to do it right. But even if you personally do not have the time, starting the group first and focusing on finding people who do have the time could accelerate growth.
Agreed. In my experience, running a group successfully takes a lot of time. You can get funding, improve productivity tools, and meet with many helpful folks, but at the end of the day, a group really scales in proportion to how much time you put into it.
I agree with the overall thesis though. Starting a group is not as daunting as it may seem at first glance, and I personally find it quite rewarding!
Thanks for writing this!
I broadly agree that starting an EA Chapter isn’t very hard. Though your point on the amount of time one may sink into being an organiser might be missing some nuance. In speaking to other uni groups and from personally helping run the Bristol group, if you really want your group to do well it’s going to come at some cost to your time. For example, you are going to have to put in effort to get the most out of really promising folks in your university groups with 1-1s; it can often take you some time to figure out how to set up an introductory fellowship the first time around.
There is a bunch of help available with GCP and funding for stuff like productivity tools to save you time, but if you really want to get a lot out of your group you should be okay with the fact that it’s going to take up time and effort.
Yeah it definitely takes time to do it right. But even if you personally do not have the time, starting the group first and focusing on finding people who do have the time could accelerate growth.
Agreed. In my experience, running a group successfully takes a lot of time. You can get funding, improve productivity tools, and meet with many helpful folks, but at the end of the day, a group really scales in proportion to how much time you put into it.
I agree with the overall thesis though. Starting a group is not as daunting as it may seem at first glance, and I personally find it quite rewarding!