Emergent Ventures

Tyler Cowen venture

The philosophy and practicality of Emergent Ventures

Let’s start with some possible institutional failures in mainstream philanthropy.

To restate those biases:

• Too much conservatism
• Too few very small grants
• Too much influence for staff

So how might those biases be remedied?

Have a single individual say yes or no on each proposal

it is not practical for this solo evaluator to handle a larger and larger portfolio of grant requests. Even if he or she were so inclined, that would bring us back to the problems of institutionalized foundations. The ideal scaling is that other, competing “chefs” set up their own pop-up foundations.

In a subsequent post, I will discuss how this model relates to the classical age of patronage running through the Renaissance, into the 18th century, and often into the 20th century as well, often through the medium of individual giving. I also will consider how this relates to classic venture capital and the relevant economics behind “deal flow.”

Grant/Fellowship Application

We want to jumpstart high-reward ideas—moonshots in many cases—that advance prosperity, opportunity, liberty, and well-being. We welcome the unusual and the unorthodox.

Our goal is positive social change, but we do not mind if you make a profit from your project. (Indeed, a quick path to revenue self-sufficiency is a feature not a bug!)

The proposal should consist of a proposal no longer than 1500 words.

How do you describe your idea in a tweet?

Emergent Ventures grant recipients, the first cohort - Marginal REVOLUTION

Here is the first round of winners of the new Emergent Ventures initiative at Mercatus, led by me

David Perell, to encourage and support his work in podcasting and social media

The second cohort of Emergent Ventures winners - Marginal REVOLUTION

Kelly Smith has a for-profit project to further extend a parent-run charter school system in Arizona, using Uber-like coordinating apps and “minimalist” OER methods.

Brian Burns is working (with Samo Burja) on the history of mathematics and career networks, with special attention to the blossoming of innovation in 18th century Göttingen: “The secret to producing flourishing mathematical and scientific traditions may lie in a careful study of institutions. I will undertake this investigation and in the process uncover lost mathematical knowledge.” Gauss, Riemann, and Hilbert!

The third cohort of Emergent Ventures recipients - Marginal REVOLUTION

Kyle Eschen, comedian and magician and entertainer, to work on an initiative for the concept of “steelmanning” arguments

Emergent Ventures, fourth cohort of award recipients - Marginal REVOLUTION

Kadeem and Savannah Noray, graduate students at Harvard, economics and HKS, general support and also to study how to identify undervalued, high potential K-12 students

Alexey Guzey, travel grant to the Bay Area, for blogging and internet writing, plus for working on systems for improving scientific patronage

Emergent Ventures winners, fifth cohort - Marginal REVOLUTION

Andy Matuschak, San Francisco, to support his project to reexamine and fundamentally improve the book as a method for learning and absorbing ideas, Twitter here. Here is his essay on why books do not work.

Emergent Ventures winners, seventh cohort - Marginal REVOLUTION

Nicholas Whitaker of Brown, general career development grant in the area of Progress Studies

John Strider, a Progress Studies grant on how to reinvent the integrated corporate research lab (RAndD)

Vasco Queirós, for his work on a Twitter browser app for superior threading and on-line communication