Startups and Non-Profits Have Different Kinds of Misaligned Incentives

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With a startup, the messed up incentive is that sometimes you can make money by harming people. With a nonprofit, they're often going to donors and saying, hey, give us some money so we can go help these other people. But that actually breaks the feedback loop between adding value to people and getting money because they're different people. And it's very important to think about what they're each good at.

How can we better make decisions under uncertainty? What are some of the different ways of being uncertain? What are some powerful venture patterns? How can founders and venture capitalists reduce risk in their startups and portfolios? What is the nature of innovation? How can investing be used to do good in the world?

Miles Lasater has started 3 companies, 2 nonprofits, and 1 family with 4 kids. He has been a founder, VC, angel investor, business school professor, board member, donor, improv comedian, and dancer. He currently is Founding Partner of Purpose Built Ventures and serves on the board of tech nonprofit Curious Learning. Miles also hosts a podcast called Startups for Good (which you can also follow on Twitter at @startups4good). Find out more at mileslasater.com.

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