Tech founder turned impact investor & aspiring EA.
Am doing 4 active EA projects:
EA Talkmasters—improve public speaking in a friendly supportive group
BetterBite.vc—Alt protein VC in Asia
GoalsWon.com—accountability coaching app
EAforKids.org—EA storybooks for kids
Simon Newstead
Karma: 199
Thanks for the write up and the cost effectiveness numbers look particularly promising! How much of the education / outreach efforts are targeted towards mothers vs fathers, are there cultural issues to address beyond benefits/educations etc?
That’s wonderful to hear, especially that you have a sense of the types of messages that can help break through for both men and women, and in the local cultural / religious context. Thanks!
This is really interesting, thanks for offering it. Are there some examples or case studies how others might or have used this service?
An EA storybook for kids
Thank you!
For the book, looking for feedback from any interested folks, both parents (and their kids) and those who may not be, but have an interest or expertise. And yes, sharing with non-EA parents would be helpful too. Longer term I hope the book could engage a wider community, though it’s initially targeting EA parents.
Type of feedback that’s most useful would be:
- help deciding on art style/s, characters and story elements (will distribute a few polls and works in progress as we go), through both parent and kid reactions (both are important audiences)
- Then the book as a whole, the complete reading experience
Channel—any!
I’ll be sending via email to the beta readers via eaforkids@gmail.com (14 as the time of writing this) but happy to chat more on any channel, whether email, Slack etc.
Appreciate the interest...
Thanks Sanjay, similarly this was sparked by wanting an a EA storybook for our kid as well.
There are some wonderful kindness and empathy books (eg- “We are all kind” by P. Crumble and Jonathan Bentley) but would be great to have some more aligned with EA principles and ideas.
As for evidence, agreed.
I aim to do a more deep dive during the book creation process, but the initial skim of the literature seems encouraging, with some research showing potential transfer effects of morals/cultural attitudes to kids through storybooks, particularly at younger ages.
A nice summary article is here: https://theconversation.com/why-stories-matter-for-childrens-learning-52135
That said, I’ll share a more structured post once I’ve gone into the primary sources, before the ebook launch.If such evidence is strong, agree that makes the project more impactful (and vice versa) - that is, beyond simply satisfying the desire for such a book from fellow EA parents
Appreciate you joining, and looking forward to the feedback...
As an early stage VC, checklists we and others use typically cover all the basics such as: who is on the board, what requires board consent, what is the past history of investor updates, what conflicts of interest exist and mechanisms to resolve them etc
All things that should have, if press reports are accurate, provided ample red flags prior to an investment, even before getting into forensic accounting etc.
Fear of missing out on a competitive round can drive normally savvy investors to skip or discount results of the normal dd process.
Thanks Devon, looking forward to the feedback.
The illustrated philosophy book for older kids sounds like a great idea, and could be helpful for parents as well who can learn new things while reading with the child. Nice you have a “deadline” for it :)
Still figuring it out, but most likely in 2-5 year old range where kids are just old enough to grasp concepts, but still enjoy getting lost with their parents in a tale that sparks their imagination.
Looking forward to your and your niece’s feedback later!
Agreed stories are powerful, and the sentimental value can also remain strong over years.
If someone is thinking what book to give to a niece, or friend’s kid, or their own kid in the future, they might think of those classics like The Giving Tree they resonated with years back…
(I’m imagining all those millions of young parents starting to read Harry Potter to their own kids now...)
Hey, great to hear that and sure, let’s swap notes and help each other out as we go!
Agreed, physical is the real end target, though it’s nice to be able to test/refine on ebook before committing to printing costs. Thanks!
Are orgs / movements like Doctors without Borders, Greenpeace, Peace Corps , Rotary etc considered relatively high trust too?
Congrats on the launch!
Curious about how it scales, does the training of facilitators take place always in person, I could imagine over 100 hours is quite a long time to spend to get new recruits up and going, and would they be able to attend it if they are from a remote area etc?
Thanks for the analysis.
Curious about the big difference in effective per-person costs between this intervention in Ecuador vs in sub-Saharan Africa, is there any main factor that leads to the much lower cost in Latin America.
Thanks for sharing the experience, can resonate with the emotional rollercoaster—always the challenge to figure out how to soften the lows and maintain separation when the failures and setbacks inevitably happen but still be able to enjoy and celebrate the wins and little steps forward.
Agreed about the increased need to to consciously plan for physical/mental health to help provide a strong foundation for taking on this type of role.
Practice public speaking in a friendly & supportive group
Thanks and likewise, got and continue to get a lot out of Toastmasters, and trying to extend that benefit to EA community, especially those who can’t get to a local club in person. Please use the same form, organizing the next event shortly and will reach out to all the emails via the form to call for roles etc. Thanks
Aim to finish up 2023 having donated:
16k to AI safety / long term future
9k to animal suffering
4k to global health / well-being
This year wanted to shift more toward existential risk, vs last year which was mostly global health and well being—given the increased concerns and seemingly accelerating timelines.
Also put money into EA community side-projects:10k for accountability coaching app (pro-bono for EAs)
3k for EA kids storybook project
Happy with the year—also took the GivingWhatWeCan pledge—better late than never!
ps—thanks for all the folks working hard in non-profits, fighting the good fight...
Great summary, thanks for taking the time to write it up.
Would have been nice if they could have spent more time on examples of longtermist causes, or devoting career to high impact projects (not simply what you love, made slightly better) but given time constraints it was a strong introduction and done in a way that was welcoming and encouraging to take the next step to learn/do more.