Sofia, love this frameworkâand love what youâre doing with Hive!
Your post sparked a thought: Many constraints you mention (funding, visa support, networks) are actually transferable within EA. Yet we optimize mostly at the âcause area â orgâ level, not âwhose potential is trapped by a solvable constraint?â
What if your calibration tools included asking: âWhat resources could the community provide to make this realistic for me?â Things like:
Micro-grants for career pivots
âLendableâ operations talent
Treating introductions as community infrastructure, not private assets
I suspect many high-impact projects never happen because founders correctly identify they lack resource X, without realizing itâs sitting idle elsewhere in the community. Your framework helps people see constraints clearlyâthe next step might be making those constraints more permeable.
Hi Brad, thanks a lot for reading and your comment. This is such a thoughtful reflection, and Iâm really glad you brought it up.
I love the idea of making constraints more permeable within the community. Your examplesâlike micro-grants (@Cameron King had this idea!), shared ops talent, and treating introductions as infrastructureâreally sharpen it. This is exactly why I appreciate meta-orgs like CEA and Magnify Mentoring: they donât just help with skill-building, they help you see which obstacles can be solved with community support. Humbly bringing up Hive, as this is exactly what we are trying to do: to democratise access to the same ways of creating impactful connections and outcomes.
I remember a pivotal moment with my Magnify mentor who asked, âSofia, why wonât you start a charity? Our community can help you.â Before that, I hadnât even considered myself a strong candidate to do so, partly because I didnât feel like I had the skills to make it happen, and never thought that our community can provide at least some of the help Iâd need.
That said, I also think some constraintsâespecially structural or geopolitical onesâare harder to overcome. For example, I wanted to attend AVA Summit in the US in 2023 (where I knew it could really boost my chances of funding and connection-building). I had nearly 7 monthsâ notice, but I still couldnât get a visa with my Belarusian passport.
Thatâs one reason Iâm especially excited about more online opportunities and community-building. Theyâre not only more affordableâtheyâre also much more accessible for people in LMICs and others facing visa or financial barriers. We often have calls with new founders or impactful folks from LMICs and try to give advice on resources based on their challenges.
I love the idea of adding a prompt like: âWhat constraint are you treating as fixedâbut might actually be movable with the right support?â That ties the calibration mindset with collective action. I might add this to the postâthank you again for this insight!
Sofia, love this frameworkâand love what youâre doing with Hive!
Your post sparked a thought: Many constraints you mention (funding, visa support, networks) are actually transferable within EA. Yet we optimize mostly at the âcause area â orgâ level, not âwhose potential is trapped by a solvable constraint?â
What if your calibration tools included asking: âWhat resources could the community provide to make this realistic for me?â Things like:
Micro-grants for career pivots
âLendableâ operations talent
Treating introductions as community infrastructure, not private assets
I suspect many high-impact projects never happen because founders correctly identify they lack resource X, without realizing itâs sitting idle elsewhere in the community. Your framework helps people see constraints clearlyâthe next step might be making those constraints more permeable.
Hi Brad, thanks a lot for reading and your comment. This is such a thoughtful reflection, and Iâm really glad you brought it up.
I love the idea of making constraints more permeable within the community. Your examplesâlike micro-grants (@Cameron King had this idea!), shared ops talent, and treating introductions as infrastructureâreally sharpen it. This is exactly why I appreciate meta-orgs like CEA and Magnify Mentoring: they donât just help with skill-building, they help you see which obstacles can be solved with community support. Humbly bringing up Hive, as this is exactly what we are trying to do: to democratise access to the same ways of creating impactful connections and outcomes.
I remember a pivotal moment with my Magnify mentor who asked, âSofia, why wonât you start a charity? Our community can help you.â Before that, I hadnât even considered myself a strong candidate to do so, partly because I didnât feel like I had the skills to make it happen, and never thought that our community can provide at least some of the help Iâd need.
That said, I also think some constraintsâespecially structural or geopolitical onesâare harder to overcome. For example, I wanted to attend AVA Summit in the US in 2023 (where I knew it could really boost my chances of funding and connection-building). I had nearly 7 monthsâ notice, but I still couldnât get a visa with my Belarusian passport.
Thatâs one reason Iâm especially excited about more online opportunities and community-building. Theyâre not only more affordableâtheyâre also much more accessible for people in LMICs and others facing visa or financial barriers. We often have calls with new founders or impactful folks from LMICs and try to give advice on resources based on their challenges.
I love the idea of adding a prompt like: âWhat constraint are you treating as fixedâbut might actually be movable with the right support?â That ties the calibration mindset with collective action. I might add this to the postâthank you again for this insight!