Seed Stage Philanthropy
The idea that groundbreaking work is driven by individuals probably makes sense to a lot of people, yet in practice, there’s no readily available funding for individuals Sometimes, an individual just needs a check, and a vote of confidence from someone they respect, to keep going. I found that formalizing the program actually helped to decouple it from my identity. It’s either that, or just go off the radar entirely and fund opportunities privately. I hadn’t planned on giving these grants a name at all, but a friend suggested I should, because it would make it something that the recipients could be proud of and take ownership in. After seeing a few more grant cycles, I think he was right. I was surprised to learn how many applicants said that the validation mattered more than the money. If I can help validate someone’s idea, amplify their work, or connect them to others, that’s often more meaningful than capital. I think these are potentially good ideas. I think someone ought to pursue them. But when I consider what gives me energy, I realize I have no desire to scale anything up here. I like having enough skin in the game to help me think about interesting questions in philanthropy, but this isn’t my full-time focus. The process of making new ideas legible to others is emotionally taxing.