FWIW here are a few pieces of uninformed evidence about Atlas Fellowship. This is scattered, biased and unfair; do not take it seriously.
I have a lot of faith in Jonas Vollmer as a leader of the project, and stories like Habryka’s tea table make me think that he is doing a good job of overseeing the project expenses
I have heard other rumours in SF about outrageous expenses like a $100k statue (this sounds ridiculous so I probably misheard?) or spending a lot of money on buying and reforming a venue
I have also heard rumours about a carefree attitude towards money in general, and the staff transmitting that to the alumni
I’ve also heard someone involved in the project complain about mismanagement and being overworked
I’m surprised that the fellowships seem to be offered unconditionally—having been involved in many talent camps I’d be surprised if it raises the application quality much, and it seems that you can have my h better discretion after the summer program. But Jonas has experience grant making and finding talent, so maybe all the relevant screening happened before the project (?).
My impression of the project remains positive, and this is mostly driven by the involvement of Jonas.
On the other hand, from the description on paper I think it’s probably less cost effective and more risky than other efforts like Carreras con Impacto or SPARC.
I’d be curious to hear more from the Atlas alumni and staff about how they think the project went/is going however.
FWIW here are a few pieces of uninformed evidence about Atlas Fellowship. This is scattered, biased and unfair; do not take it seriously.
I have a lot of faith in Jonas Vollmer as a leader of the project, and stories like Habryka’s tea table make me think that he is doing a good job of overseeing the project expenses
I have heard other rumours in SF about outrageous expenses like a $100k statue (this sounds ridiculous so I probably misheard?) or spending a lot of money on buying and reforming a venue
I have also heard rumours about a carefree attitude towards money in general, and the staff transmitting that to the alumni
I’ve also heard someone involved in the project complain about mismanagement and being overworked
I’m surprised that the fellowships seem to be offered unconditionally—having been involved in many talent camps I’d be surprised if it raises the application quality much, and it seems that you can have my h better discretion after the summer program. But Jonas has experience grant making and finding talent, so maybe all the relevant screening happened before the project (?).
My impression of the project remains positive, and this is mostly driven by the involvement of Jonas.
On the other hand, from the description on paper I think it’s probably less cost effective and more risky than other efforts like Carreras con Impacto or SPARC.
I’d be curious to hear more from the Atlas alumni and staff about how they think the project went/is going however.