Emergent Ventures Grantee, currently writing about social science at Samstack.io, and looking at new EA opportunities. Previously worked as Research Manager at Social Change Lab.
I wrote up a quick FAQ on what the application process is like for Tyler Cowen's Emergent Ventures program. Generally I think more EAs should apply to EV, it's low-cost and a good way to get some money to get a project off the ground, and also a good signal of ability for young EAs.
https://www.samstack.io/p/emergent-ventures-faq
Thanks for giving the details, I couldn't quite remember the full story and should've looked it up and quoted directly. I don't quite know what to make of him doing this - on the one hand, a small lie about being vegetarian doesn't seem particularly pernicious or noteworthy, especially given he went vegetarian after lying about it. On the other hand, it does at least strike me as somewhat odd to do this if he had just eaten a cheeseburger a few hours earlier. It does update me ever-so-slightly towards thinking that he's liable to lie if it makes him look good - it might not just be a 'lie without intending to' situation.
This feels like a weird interpretation of Will's comment, which doesn't (in my view) imply that for-profit companies can't do a lot of harm, but rather that if you start a company with the sole goal of making a profit, usually the worst outcome (with regards to your goal of making a profit) is that you go bankrupt.
Thanks for writing this, I found it really interesting.