Market shaping is when an idea can only be jump-started by committed demand or other forces. Operation Warp Speed is the most recent example of market-shaping through advanced market commitments, but it has been used several times for other vaccine development. We are interested in funding work to understand when market-shaping makes sense, ideas for creating and funding market-shaping methods, and specific market-shaping or advanced market commitments in our areas of interest.
(I drafted this then realized that it is largely the same as Zac’s comment above—so I’ve strong upvoted that comment and I’m posting here in case my take on it is useful.)
Crowding in other funding
We’re excited to see ideas for structuring projects in our areas of interest that leverage our funds by aligning with the tastes of other funders and investors. While we are excited about spending billions of dollars on the best projects we can find, we’re also excited to include other funders and investors in the journey of helping these projects scale in the best way possible. We would like to maximize the chance that other sources of funding come in. Some projects are inherently widely attractive and some others are only ever likely to attract (or want) longtermist funding. But, we expect that there are many projects where one or more general mechanisms can be applied to crowd in other funding. This may include:
I’ll add that advanced market commitments are also useful in situations where a jump-start isn’t explicitly required. In that case, they can act similarly to prize based funding
(Per Nick’s note, reposting)
Market shaping and advanced market commitments
Epistemic institutions; Economic Growth
Market shaping is when an idea can only be jump-started by committed demand or other forces. Operation Warp Speed is the most recent example of market-shaping through advanced market commitments, but it has been used several times for other vaccine development. We are interested in funding work to understand when market-shaping makes sense, ideas for creating and funding market-shaping methods, and specific market-shaping or advanced market commitments in our areas of interest.
(I drafted this then realized that it is largely the same as Zac’s comment above—so I’ve strong upvoted that comment and I’m posting here in case my take on it is useful.)
Crowding in other funding
We’re excited to see ideas for structuring projects in our areas of interest that leverage our funds by aligning with the tastes of other funders and investors. While we are excited about spending billions of dollars on the best projects we can find, we’re also excited to include other funders and investors in the journey of helping these projects scale in the best way possible. We would like to maximize the chance that other sources of funding come in. Some projects are inherently widely attractive and some others are only ever likely to attract (or want) longtermist funding. But, we expect that there are many projects where one or more general mechanisms can be applied to crowd in other funding. This may include:
Offering financial incentives (e.g. advanced market commitments)
Highlighting financial potential in major projects we would like to see (e.g. especially projects of the scale of the Grok / Brookfield bid for AGL)
Portfolio structures / financial engineering (e.g. Bridge Bio)
Appealing to social preferences (e.g. highlight points of ‘common sense’ overlap between longtermist views and ESG)
I’ll add that advanced market commitments are also useful in situations where a jump-start isn’t explicitly required. In that case, they can act similarly to prize based funding