Description
This path involves aiming to found new organisations that aim to tackle bottlenecks in the problems we think are most pressing. In particular, it involves identifying an idea, testing it, and then helping to build an organisation by investing in strategy, hiring, management, culture and so on, with the aim that the organisation can continue to function well without you in the long term. Our focus is on non-profit models since they have the greatest need right now, but for-profits can also be a route to impact. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (01:33) Recommended (01:42) Review status (01:48) Why might founding a new project be high impact? (04:35) What does it take to succeed? (05:05) A good enough idea (06:11) You need to be able to convince donors (09:21) An idea that really motivates you (10:45) Leadership potential (11:20) Generalist skills (12:07) 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 (13:54) Helen Toner (14:31) Holden Karnofsky (15:05) 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 (24:52) Want one-on-one advice on pursuing this path? (25:11) Learn about other high-impact careers The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: November 10th, 2021 Last updated: August 11th, 2025 Source: https://80000hours.org/career-reviews/founder-impactful-organisations --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO .