Thanks for the comment. You are right that large for-profit Non-EA companies can be better than the direct-impact for-profit companies I wrote about. Whatever the best decision for impact is, one should look at all of their options and decide which is best. Arguably Tesla was started with the intention of doing good (like most of the EA startups mentioned) and Apple wasn’t focused as much on the “social good” rather the good to consumers and business (which is still good but not a focused social thesis). EA doesn’t talk much about working for already large EA-esqe companies, such as Tesla, Neuralink, Spacex, etc. There could be alot of good to be done as an engineer or manager at one of those companies.
Absolutely, I think I misunderstood your differenciation between ‘direct for imact’ and ‘high impact in general’ for-profit companies. Althouth there is certainly a line, part of my thinking comes from the idea that most new companies were created to to solve problems of various sorts. So the bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity for profit while also making an impact.
I think there could be a good case for having more EAs trying to get into decision-making levels of management at non-ea for-profit companies. Such priorities could be especially important at social media companies or companies like Neuralink. Imagine the movement-building benefits of EA’s at the top of major social media companies (I guess Elon Musk might sort-of be considered EA adjacent with Twitter)?
I would worry about moral issues and EA image issues by implementing EA ideas in these companies. I was talking about being a great engineer/manager that increases the level of innovation that aligns with the company’s mission. The employees could convince their manager or upper management of certain issues relating to EA, but it is important for them not to try to hijack their company for EA goals against their company’s wishes.
Edit: also see here from the other resources section about what makes a startup high impact. Counterfactual impact is important to consider and the consumer surplus of the product.
Thanks for the comment. You are right that large for-profit Non-EA companies can be better than the direct-impact for-profit companies I wrote about. Whatever the best decision for impact is, one should look at all of their options and decide which is best. Arguably Tesla was started with the intention of doing good (like most of the EA startups mentioned) and Apple wasn’t focused as much on the “social good” rather the good to consumers and business (which is still good but not a focused social thesis). EA doesn’t talk much about working for already large EA-esqe companies, such as Tesla, Neuralink, Spacex, etc. There could be alot of good to be done as an engineer or manager at one of those companies.
Absolutely, I think I misunderstood your differenciation between ‘direct for imact’ and ‘high impact in general’ for-profit companies. Althouth there is certainly a line, part of my thinking comes from the idea that most new companies were created to to solve problems of various sorts. So the bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity for profit while also making an impact.
I think there could be a good case for having more EAs trying to get into decision-making levels of management at non-ea for-profit companies. Such priorities could be especially important at social media companies or companies like Neuralink. Imagine the movement-building benefits of EA’s at the top of major social media companies (I guess Elon Musk might sort-of be considered EA adjacent with Twitter)?
I would worry about moral issues and EA image issues by implementing EA ideas in these companies. I was talking about being a great engineer/manager that increases the level of innovation that aligns with the company’s mission. The employees could convince their manager or upper management of certain issues relating to EA, but it is important for them not to try to hijack their company for EA goals against their company’s wishes.
Edit: also see here from the other resources section about what makes a startup high impact. Counterfactual impact is important to consider and the consumer surplus of the product.