Craig Newmark: belief

Transcript context

…I have a question. This is from GPT, and I quote, “Your biggest decisions all look subtractive. You monetized as little as possible, stepped aside as CEO, kept doing customer service, and now, in philanthropy, you prefer to fund people and get out of the way. What are you subtracting from yourself that other founders are addicted to?” Pretty good of GPT, isn’t it? Yes, that’s a valid perspective. I think of it differently, mostly because, as I age, and have grown a decrepit, I’ve realized my limitations and that I’m not good at things. I realize that accidentally I’ve built networks of networks, and it’s the networks of networks that get stuff done. Sometimes I can find network builders who can do the stuff I want to on my behalf, and they get it done. The best examples, Blue Star Families for military families, Bob Woodruff Foundation for vets. I’m not subtracting things. I’m just becoming much more effective overall by sharing power and money. That seems to be working. Also, by building networks of networks, just in the past week or two, I’ve realized that’s the most effective form of estate planning I’m doing because as I become elderly, I have to wonder how my work is going to survive me. I could create Craig GPT, or I could just come back and haunt people for due diligence purposes, but the networks of networks have a life of their own. What is scarce in your life then? You’re giving away money. You don’t have to run the company on a day-to-day basis. We’d all like more years to live, but what is it that if you had more of it, you could be more effective with?…

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