Sarah Wong

Three major explanations have emerged for the decline in local civic engagement in the US in recent decades: eroding social capital, the nationalization of American life, and the decline of local newspapers. Social capital—the relationships and trust that promote civic engagement—has decayed as modern life has become more individualized and less... See more

Neighbor Teams are groups of five that meet regularly to support each other. They will watch each other's kids. They will bring each other food. They will visit each other in the hospital. We give those teams $300 a month to convene and gather. They often start financial pooling plans that we match. They put together a $500 pot, which we match to... See more

Ingredient 1: The problem is important to people

There need to be a lot of people willing to spend a lot of money to solve the problem. Most startups fail not because the idea isn’t good but because the market for the solution is just too small. If you want to build a venture-scale business, a rule of thumb is that there needs to be a clear path to... See more

The intensity of the pull is a factor of the fit (how good your product is at solving the user’s problem) AND initial market size (is it niche or broad) .

A much more humane, and ultimately more appropriate, approach would be to treat our relationships and communities, as well as the benefits we receive from them, not as a form of wealth, but as gifts. They are received, not chosen; valued but not earned; given but not traded; appreciated but not capitalized. They have an inherent, unquantifiable... See more

systems interventions are likely to be more effective when material solutions are scaffolded by non-materials ones.