Executive summary: Drawing on coaching experience with AI safety founders, the author outlines common mistakes when starting EA organizations—such as rushing into one idea, doing everything alone, neglecting business skills, or ignoring personal fit—and offers practical advice on idea generation, delegation, continual learning, and sustainability.
Key points:
Premature exploitation of ideas: Founders often commit too early to a single project without generating and systematically comparing a wide set of alternatives; the author recommends generating ~30 ideas, narrowing to a top ten, and seeking feedback.
Doing everything yourself: A founder’s role is to spark and build systems, not handle every task; delegating, hiring, or using tools/services is essential.
Neglecting business skills: Many EAs excel academically but lack execution and management knowledge; reading business books and adopting a learning practice can fill these gaps.
Ignoring personal fit: Purely impact-driven choices can lead to burnout; sustainability requires enjoying enough of the process, not just the outcomes.
Practical strategies for fit: Choose among high-impact ideas based on enjoyment, ensure predicted happiness (e.g. 8⁄10 or higher), or delegate tasks you dislike to maintain energy over years.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: Drawing on coaching experience with AI safety founders, the author outlines common mistakes when starting EA organizations—such as rushing into one idea, doing everything alone, neglecting business skills, or ignoring personal fit—and offers practical advice on idea generation, delegation, continual learning, and sustainability.
Key points:
Premature exploitation of ideas: Founders often commit too early to a single project without generating and systematically comparing a wide set of alternatives; the author recommends generating ~30 ideas, narrowing to a top ten, and seeking feedback.
Doing everything yourself: A founder’s role is to spark and build systems, not handle every task; delegating, hiring, or using tools/services is essential.
Neglecting business skills: Many EAs excel academically but lack execution and management knowledge; reading business books and adopting a learning practice can fill these gaps.
Ignoring personal fit: Purely impact-driven choices can lead to burnout; sustainability requires enjoying enough of the process, not just the outcomes.
Practical strategies for fit: Choose among high-impact ideas based on enjoyment, ensure predicted happiness (e.g. 8⁄10 or higher), or delegate tasks you dislike to maintain energy over years.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.