Regarding “bad” EA projects, only one comes to mind, and it doesn’t seem to have caused much lasting damage. In the OP, I say that the “dynamics of status and prestige in the non-profit world seem to be geared toward being averse to risk-of-failure to a much greater extent than in the for-profit world (see e.g. the high rate of failure for VC funded start-ups). Perhaps we need to close this gap, considering that the bottom line results of EA activity are often considered in terms expected utility.” Are PR concerns a solid justification for this discrepancy between EA and VC? Or do Spencer Greenberg’s concerns about start-ups mean that EA is right in this regard and it’s VC that is wrong (even in terms of their approach to maximising monetary value)?
Just wanted to flag that I disagree with this for a number of reasons. E.g. I think some of EAF’s sub-projects probably had negative impact, and I’m skeptical that these plus InIn were the only ones. I might write an EA forum post about how EA projects can have negative impacts at some point but it’s not my current priority. See also this facebook comment for some of the ideas.
Regarding your last point, VCs are maximizing their own profit, but Spencer talks about externalities.
Just wanted to flag that I disagree with this for a number of reasons. E.g. I think some of EAF’s sub-projects probably had negative impact, and I’m skeptical that these plus InIn were the only ones. I might write an EA forum post about how EA projects can have negative impacts at some point but it’s not my current priority. See also this facebook comment for some of the ideas.
Regarding your last point, VCs are maximizing their own profit, but Spencer talks about externalities.