Thanks for doing this, Eric. I'm about halfway through Incorruptible and loving it so far.

Do you have any recommendations for entity formation infra that caters to mission driven companies? Something like Stripe Atlas that can form the more complex structures? Forming a PBC is becoming more standard but tthe other structures seem more esoteric (and expensive).

I got so frustrated that this is so difficult for people at the early stages to do with most law firms that I actually helped start a new law firm (called Virgil) to do it properly.

Virgil is an AI-powered law firm, but it doesn't let the AI do the legal work for you. It actually hires and trains human lawyers to become AI-powered superhumans. It handles lots of the really unpleasant back-office crap that early-stage companies absolutely hate dealing with, from payroll to compliance and a lot of finance stuff.

Of course it also does full-service legal work. Because I'm involved, it is specialized in setting up mission protective structures for startups. We have worked really hard to drive the cost of such structures down.

In fact, many of the implementation guides that you can access from the book if you scan the various QR codes were developed in partnership with Virgil. If you want to DIY it, I think we've given you enough information to do so, including sample templates, term sheets, documents, etc. If you prefer a low-cost, flat-fee subscription, Virgil is also there to help you at any time. The URL is tryvirgil.com.

(And you are welcome to use Virgil alongside your established high-prestige high-cost firm, too, if you prefer to do that. It will still save you considerable amounts of money)

Thanks a ton! I have called several local firms about these structures and it hasn't been very successful (note; i have complex requirements in addition to wanting the protections in your book).

One other thing i've grappled with while reading the book is this:

Some of the internal issues you describe seem to come from companies growing too big. The Founders who lose control, weakening culture etc. The size of a company seems to correlate with so many issues (not all related to financial gravity).

I wonder how much pain can be avoided by just staying small (employee count).

Thanks again for the book(s). It feels very mission driven which perfect.

Staying small is definitely one way to increase your "span of control" over what happens. But honestly, size is not as much up to you as you think. If you hit product/market fit, you often will be forced to scale up whether you really want to or not. Better to have a structure that can handle it.

Good point. I haven't thought much about being forced to grow headcount. One can only hope for such PMF. And if you get it, i guess you become more of the target for the kinds of behaviors mentioned in the book.

I hope we get PMF with what we're building. But also hope to stay as small as possible however unrealistic that is.,

Thanks!

I might be missing something here but the Virgil website doesn't appear to have a CTA / Get Started / Sign Up / Contact Form or any other way to get in touch?

I see a "book a call" button in the lower-right, at least on chrome/macos. Apologies if it's not working on other platforms. TBH, the team has been so overwhelmed with word-of-mouth leads, they probably have neglected the website-entry pathway. We are working hard to scale up so that they can accommodate more demand and then will probably also have time to get a working website :)

Ahh I see it now (sorry for the false alarm).

I do think the site could use some more prominent CTAs. I think i vaaguely noticed that button but thought it was one of those AI chat bubble.

Totally fair. I'll pass it along to the team.

I have a somewhat different take on this (somewhat captured in the post linked below).

IMO, the best way to raise the floor of LLM performance in codebases is by building meaning into the code base itself ala DDD. If your codebase is hard to understand and grok for a human, it will be the same for an LLM. If your codebase is unstructured and has no definable patterns, it will be harder for an LLM to use.

You can try to overcome this with even more tooling and more workflows but IMO, it is throwing good money after bad. it is ironic and maybe unpopular, but it turns out LLMs prove that all the folks yapping about language and meaning (re: DDD) were right.

DDD & the Simplicity Gospel:

https://oluatte.com/posts/domain-driven-design-simplicity-go...

Great post. I work on two large codebases. One is structured much like the example from the post, and the other is a mess. LLMs care much better at understanding the organized code.

I love this question. There are a ton of AR and AI startups looking for a market / problem to apply their technology to. Meanwhile the market for visual aids & accessibility tools is large, starved of innovation and is willing to pay!

AR + AI for visual aid / accessibility. Do it somebody.

FICO makes one. It's called Blaze Advisor and it's used heavily in multiple sectors.

The Rete algorithm is at the core of FICO's commercial rule engine (Blaze Advisor) and Blaze Advisor is used heavily in Insurance, Finance, Tax / Revenue Management etc.

More than a decade after i used it last, recruiters still randomly call out of the blue for short to medium term contracts using Blaze Advisor.

I'm not talking about motivation here, I mean the mechanics of "doing good."

Whom to give to, how much to give, how to follow-up after giving etc. It feels like there's way more friction in the process than for anything "commercial". Compare the experience to the ease of Instagram or FB or any large ecommerce site.

This has bugged me for a while now, but i'm not sure if i'm the only one. I've been trying to understand how and why people give. If you can, please check out this survey that asks about this "friction" in doing good.

Thanks

I really liked this. I struggle with the same question as OP so very interested.

What do you think stops people from doing something? Is it lack of information? Learned helplessness? What would help most in that moment when we think "I need to do something"?

All of what you wrote, unfortunately. But this problem can be solved.

If you believe in helping people, I believe you should model voluntarism for your kids, nieces, nephews, older relatives, neighbors, etc. You don't have to do in a way that says aren't I great I volunteer. It can be something like sharing starting with holidays and then expanding to non-holidays. Perhaps encourage a smaller holiday fete at work and direct the resources to something like gifts for a shelter, Toys for Tots, shoe box gifts for homeless shelters, etc. My grandkids, for example, learn about helping others at Christmas buy picking out a toy and donating it to Toys for Tots. This is a super important life lesson and it's reinstilled frequently.

Or, there's the volleyball team. I was new in a job and pulled together a volleyball team to play in a tournament sponsored by an org I volunteered for. We had t-shirts and folks raised money. And it was fun! The team members and board members bonded in an important way on something that was bigger than us and our "issue." While the tournament sponsor did not get more volunteers out of our team, they appreciated that I was more committed and that they got new donors.

There are so many things that prevent people from volunteering/giving/helping. Very often, people will help, they just need to be asked or encouraged. People don't know where to look for ways to participate in some civic something. https://longevity.stanford.edu/three-reasons-why-people-dont... provides details I can't.

Interested individuals should still volunteer/help/do something even if others don't.

Starting with holidays is a fantastic idea. One of the obstacles for me personally is finding time. I'm usually so overwhelmed with work/kids/family stuff, every spare moment seems both inadequate and too precious (e.g. catch up on sleep).

On holidays, though...i'm usually more free.

Keep in mind the holidays are highly sought after days to volunteer. Get in early if you want to put in time at a soup kitchen, etc., particularly on Thanksgiving or Christmas.

If you are holiday shopping with the kids, you might be able to add on a little shoe box shopping. The items can be picked up at a drug store, Target, Walmart, etc. The kids can help you pick out and pack up. Then drop it off at a local shelter, church, whichever kind of group is collecting.

Have a great time! And don't stress. Find something that works for you. You're much more likely to do it again :-)

Good to know. Thanks a ton for the ideas. I really hate how helpless i feel about the world sometimes, any push in the direction of action is a good one.