The Architecture of Aid and Ideas

Professionally, I focus on creating social benefit startups. In my Saturday morning emails I share what I’m learning and thinking. Topics range from better living and parenting to business and philosophy.

1. Construct Productively. “Measured productivity performance in the construction sector has been unusually awful for 50 years.” In the U.S., the challenge is compounded by a shrinking labor pool and rising input costs, a triple whammy. Yet demand is high. We want to build more to improve quality of life and tackle climate change. How can we boost construction productivity? I’ve written before about construction robots. Another path is to manufacture more buildings in factories. Which could allow us to use better materials. In most other industries, factories have been the route to higher productivity. So what’s holding us back? First, we’re accustomed to bespoke buildings (does modular construction meet this demand?). Second, construction regulations are highly localized and assume projects are one-offs, requiring multiple government inspections. Third, manufactured homes still carry a low-status stigma. Despite these hurdles, companies like Clayton, FullStack Modular, Assembly OSM, and Plant Prefab are pushing the model forward. What am I missing?

2. Philanthropic Improvement. There are many views on philanthropy:

   1. Who should give? Government; religious institutions, the rich, everyone, or everyone in developed countries.

   2. How much do we give? Minimum possible, tax-driven, enough to get recognition, percentage of income, or percentage of assets. I lean towards the last two.

   3. How should we choose what to give to? Tradition, giving closer to home first, delegation to experts, delegation to religion, delegation to committees, being asked, emotion or running a spreadsheet. I lean towards a combination of personal connection and experts running spreadsheets.

   4. Who should choose where the money goes? Donors, governments or recipients.

   5. What should we give? Cash, in-kind or bundles. Ideally, I see a mix with in-kind donations focused on items that cannot be purchased in the market for reasonable prices. For many donors cash is becoming the base line.

   6. Should we pay higher salaries to staff to be more effective? Dan Pallotta argues for focusing on output not inputs and Charity Entrepreneurship argues that higher salaries take money from the mission. My view is that we generally should be willing to pay higher salaries although size of organization matters.

   7. That’s not to mention discussions of systemic change vs. direct aid, impact measurement, transparency, feedback loops from beneficiaries and righting historic injustice.

   8. These are not new debates. I want to draw your attention to models that don’t get enough attention: prizes, market shaping, thesis-driven funds, and coordinated research. Which models are working well? What else would you change?

3. Two Thousand for Your Thoughts. Scientists can now recreate images from brain activity using EEG. And at least one company claims to get similar accuracy using ~$2000 in hardware. How far are we from a true lie detector? Or reading minds outright? Please think about the right to privacy inside your mind.

Until next time,

Miles