My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Back to Takes
Nonprofit corporate structures for high-value tech companies are fundamentally unstable and will be abandoned
Spiciness
Structural predictionThe Reasoning
Boards without equity incentives make decisions disconnected from value creation, leading to talent exodus to for-profit alternatives
What Needs to Be True
- Board members prioritize mission over economics
- Talent accepts below-market compensation
- No for-profit competitors emerge
Counterargument
Nonprofit structure provides necessary safety constraints for dangerous technologies like AGI
What Would Change This View
Successful nonprofit tech companies that maintain talent long-term without converting to for-profit
Implications for Builders
Use standard for-profit structures
Be careful with board composition
Align incentives between board and value creation
Example Application
“AI safety company starts as for-profit with mission-aligned investors rather than nonprofit with unaligned board”