[Career review] “Founding new organisations” by Benjamin Todd

Become a founder of an organisation tackling one of the world’s most pressing problems.

Narrated by AI.

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Outline:

(01:32) Recommended

(01:41) Review status

(01:47) Why might founding a new project be high impact?

(04:34) What does it take to succeed?

(05:05) A good enough idea

(06:10) You need to be able to convince donors

(09:20) An idea that really motivates you

(10:45) Leadership potential

(11:20) Generalist skills

(12:06) Enough knowledge of the area

(12:41) Good judgement

(13:02) The ability, willingness, and resilience to work on something that might not work out

(13:48) Examples of people pursuing this path

(13:53) Helen Toner

(14:31) Holden Karnofsky

(15:04) Next steps if you already have an idea

(19:14) Next steps if you don't have an idea yet

(22:49) Lists of ideas

(24:16) Podcast episodes with founders

(24:53) Want one-on-one advice on pursuing this path?

The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:
November 10th, 2021

Last updated:
August 11th, 2025

Source:
https://80000hours.org/career-reviews/founding-new-organisations

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.