Fabrice Grinda

Month: November 2017

关于慈善事业的一些想法

正如我在最近的主题演讲《 让我们共创美好未来》中提到的，改善人类的最佳途径是利用技术的通货紧缩力量。 技术让人们更能负担得起，从而提高了人们的生活质量。 因此，在过去的两个世纪里，食品、水、通信、交通、电力和必需品的成本大幅下降。 它的影响甚至在我们的有生之年就已显现–在我小时候，只有富人才能乘坐飞机、拥有汽车或手机。 如今，几乎每个人都可以使用它们。

FJ Labs投资并建立市场平台。 市场平台会造成通货紧缩，因为它们为以前不透明和分散的市场带来了流动性、透明度和效率。 我们已经投资了 300 多家初创企业，每年还将投资 50-100 家新初创企业，几乎涵盖所有行业和地区。 同样，我们建立的公司（如 OLX）每月接触超过 3 亿人，其中数百万人在网站上谋生。

换句话说，我在 FJ 实验室所做的专业工作比我做的任何慈善工作影响的人都多。 即便如此，我们也能看到我们的工作和投资所产生的一阶效应，但并不总能看到对生活得到改善的大众所产生的变革性二手影响。 这种贡献也没有得到整个社会的传统认可。 因此，在接触传统的慈善捐赠时，我深入思考了如何与我的专业工作相辅相成，直接影响那些需要帮助的人，并提出了一个合理的非传统方法。

在几次大额退出后，我向我的好友们提供了大笔资金捐助，他们中的许多人选择转型到学术界和研究领域，而不是法律和医学等利润较低的领域。 还有一些人只是在生活中比较不幸。 我仔细考虑了很久，因为我不想让这件事损害我的友谊，但权衡再三，我决定所有人都需要一些帮助。

为了尽量减少对他们的行为和友谊可能造成的影响，我确保

  • 只给我最亲密的朋友，他们是我永远的朋友、
  • 明确这是一次性礼物，并且
  • 不附带任何条件地提供资金，也不要求说明资金的用途

最后一点非常重要。 我常常觉得，人们的礼物里有家长作风的成分。 我相信我的朋友们知道什么对他们最好。 我的职责不是评判或评估，因此我解释说，我甚至不想知道他们的资金计划是什么。 我只想知道，这对他们总体上是有帮助的。

我的第一次更传统的捐赠也是在这个过程中产生的。 我的一位好朋友尼罗沙纳-阿纳达萨巴帕蒂决定开始研究基底细胞癌疫苗。 她非常出色，我会资助她的任何研究，所以我承诺支持她的实验室 10 年。 巧合的是，我最后也患上了基底细胞癌，所以我对她的成功更加充满信心。

从那时起，这种个人联系就影响了我的捐赠–我希望对那些能引起我共鸣的组织做出长期承诺。 鉴于我对多米尼加共和国的眷恋和对卡巴雷特当地社区的热爱，我成为了 “梦想项目“当地最大的捐赠者，为 7500 名儿童支付教育费用。 我还资助了他们的技术中心，以确保孩子们能上网并掌握技术。

我开始支持人民大学，这是一所非营利、免学费的在线美国大学。 他们的目标是开放高等教育–这与我对教育的兴趣以及技术和教育的价值不谋而合。 我还投资了 “Laboratoria“公司，该公司帮助妇女通过学习编程改善生活，并在技术领域从事高薪工作。

为了在全世界推广创业精神，我支持 “美国创业 “和“努力“计划。 Venture for America 是一项为期两年的奖学金计划，面向那些希望在初创企业工作，为美国城市增加就业机会的大学毕业生。 FJ Labs 通过审查或投资于 Endeavor 公司，为其提供帮助。Endeavor 是一家为全球优秀企业家提供指导和合作的组织。

看完约翰-奥利弗关于医疗债务的精彩报道后，我通过RIP Medical Debt 免除了贫困儿童一百万美元的医疗债务。 每年有超过 6400 万美国人在为支付医疗账单而挣扎，而仅 100 美元的捐款就可以免除 1 万美元的医疗债务。

最近，我一直在反思如何更系统、更周到地开展工作，尤其是如何帮助那些最缺乏帮助的人。 这就是我的好朋友亚历山大-马尔斯（Alexandre Mars）的作用所在。 在经历了漫长而成功的创业生涯后，他决定将大部分精力放在EPIC 的建设上。 他们系统地确定了最值得支持的 36 个组织，并试图说服人们将向这些组织捐款作为常态。

为了帮助他，我成为了 EPIC 的纽约大使，我们正在考虑如何向 FJ 实验室的公司介绍捐赠方案。 作为我们即将为 FJ Labs 公司推出的欢迎计划的一部分，我们希望为创始人提供机会，让他们在未来退出时捐出一定比例的资金，并让员工通过扣除工资的方式自动捐赠。 我还将签署 EPIC 承诺书–承诺将我未来退出的部分收益捐给 EPIC 投资组合。

这是一段有趣的旅程。 在我的朋友尼罗夏娜（Niroshana）在哈佛大学授课时，曾就我的慈善理念采访过我，在此之前我并没有花太多时间思考自己的做法，甚至没有统计过自己捐了多少钱。 我的想法和方法会随着时间的推移而不断变化，我一定会及时向你们通报最新情况。

Some thoughts on philanthropy

As I mentioned in my latest keynote, Let’s Build a Better Future, the best way to improve humanity is by harnessing the deflationary power of technology. Technology makes things more affordable, thereby increasing people’s quality of life. As a result, the cost of food, water, communications, transportation, electricity and essentials, has collapsed over the last two centuries. And its effects have even visible during our lifetime – when I was a kid only the rich took planes, owned cars, or had cell phones. Today they are accessible to almost everyone.

FJ Labs invests in and builds marketplaces. Marketplaces are deflationary because they bring liquidity, transparency and efficiency to previously opaque and fragmented markets. We have already invested in over 300 startups and will invest in 50-100 new startups every year covering almost every industry and geography. Likewise, the companies we build, like OLX, touch over 300 million people every month, millions of whom make a living on the site.

In other words, what I do professionally with FJ Labs impact many more people than anything I do philanthropically. Even then, we see the first order effects of our work and investment but do not always see the transformative second-hand impacts on the masses whose lives are improved. Nor is this contribution given traditional recognition by society at large. So, when approaching traditional philanthropic giving, I think deeply about how to complement my professional work to directly impact those in need and have come up with a reasonably non-traditional approach.

After a few large exits, I made large financial donations to my close friends, many of whom have chosen to transition to the less lucrative fields of academia and research instead of law and medicine. Others have just been generally less fortunate in life. I thought long and hard about the implications as I did not want it to damage my friendships but on balance I decided all could use some help.

To minimize the potential impact on their behavior and their friendships, I made sure to:

  • Only give to my closest friends whom I had known forever,
  • Make it clear it was a onetime gift, and
  • Give it with no strings attached and no expectation of accounting for what was done with the funds

The last point was very important. I often feel that there is an element of paternalism in people’s gifts. I trust my friends to know what is best for them. It is not my role to judge or assess therefore I gave explaining that I did not even want to know what their plans for the funds were. I just wanted to know that it was helpful to them in general.

My first more traditional donation came out of that process as well. One of my best friends, Niroshana Anadasabapathy, decided to start working on a basil cell carcinoma vaccine. She is brilliant and I would fund anything she worked on, so I made a 10-year commitment to support her lab. By sheer coincidence, I also ended up getting basil cell carcinoma, so I am even more committed to her success.

This personal connection has influenced my giving since then – I want to make long term commitments to organizations that resonate with me. Given my attachment to the Dominican Republic and my love for the local community in Cabarete, I became the largest local giver to the Dream Project to pay for the education of 7,500 children. I also funded their tech center to make sure the kids had Internet access and became tech savvy.

I started backing University of the People, a non-profit, tuition-free, online American University. Their goal is to open access to higher education – which speaks to my interest in education and the value of technology and access. I also invest in Laboratoria, which helps women improve their lives by learning to code and start higher-paying jobs in the technology sector.

In order to promote entrepreneurship around the world I back Venture for America and Endeavor. Venture for America is a two-year fellowship program for university graduates who want to work at startups that will grow jobs in American cities. FJ Labs helps out Endeavor, an organization that mentors and works with amazing entrepreneurs worldwide, by vetting or investing in their companies.

After watching John Oliver’s brilliant piece on medical debt, I forgave $1 million in underprivileged children’s medical debt through RIP Medical Debt. Over 64M Americans struggle to pay medical bills every year and a donation of just $100 may forgive $10,000 in medical debt.

Of late I have been reflecting how to be more systematic and thoughtful in my approach, especially how to help those who lack the most. That is where my good friend Alexandre Mars comes in. After a long and successful entrepreneurial career, he decided to focus most of his efforts on building EPIC. They systematically identify the top 36 organizations that warrant supporting and try to convince people to make donating to them the norm.

To help him, I became the NY ambassador of EPIC and we are thinking through how to present donating options to FJ Labs companies. As part of our upcoming welcome package for FJ Labs companies, we want to offer founders the opportunity to give a percentage of their future exits and automatic gifting by their employees through payroll deductions. I will also sign the EPIC pledge – promising a portion of my future exit proceeds to the EPIC portfolio.

It has been a fun and interesting journey. I had not spent much time pondering my approach or even tallying how much I was donating until my friend Niroshana interviewed me about my philanthropic philosophy as part of a class she’s teaching at Harvard. My thinking and approach will keep evolving over the years and I will be sure to update you.

2017 Holiday Gadget Gift Guide

It’s that time of the year again, so I am sharing my recommendations for all gadget lovers of the world to be happy this holiday season.

Notebook: MSI GS63VR Stealth Pro-002 & MSI GS73VR Stealth Pro-033

Both are amazing. They have 120Mhz 3ms screens, i7-7700HQ processors, an Nvidia GTX 1070 with 8Gb of GDDR5, a 512Gb SSD and a 1 TB regular hard drive. They are both incredibly light at 4 and 5.3 pounds respectively for the 15.6” and 17” models.

In the past I opted for the 15” version, but this year I switched to the 17” version. I prefer the larger screen to work and play on when I am traveling, and it has a much longer battery life, though obviously on the short side (3 hours) for a notebook given how powerful it is.

Computer Monitor: Philips BDM4350UC

When it comes to computer monitors I have always been of the thought that bigger is better. Given that it’s not uncommon for high end 32” 4K monitors to cost upwards of $1,000, the Philips BDM4350UC is an absolute bargain at $599.

The Philips BDM4350UC has a 50,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time and supports 3840×2160 at 60Hz. This monitor fixes one the big flaws of the Philips BMD4065UC given that it supports HDMI 2.0. Note that by default the monitor is set for DisplayPort 1.1 and HDMI 1.4. You must manually go in monitor settings and switch them to 1.2 and 2.0 respectively. Once it’s done, it works gloriously!

Working and gaming are amazing on it. Without hesitation, it’s the monitor to get!

Game Console: PS4 Pro

I own both a PS4 Pro and an Xbox One X. The Xbox One X is the most powerful console on the market yet and is now my default console for games that are available on both platforms such as Call of Duty: WW2. Games which take advantage of the Xbox One X’s power such as Gears of War 4 look stunning.

The reason I am recommending the PS4 Pro is that it has the better exclusives, especially Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Horizon Zero Dawn and Drake Uncharted 4. I am also looking forward to The Last of Us 2.

Video Games


I stopped playing FPS many years ago. I was tired of the new iterations of Call of Duty which became increasingly unrealistic as your characters walked on walls, made impossible jumps etc. I am happy to report that Call of Duty: WW2 is a welcome return to the genre’s roots. It still follows the tried and true Call of Duty game mechanics, so I may tire of it faster than I did in the early incantations, but in the meantime, it’s tons of fun.

I love third person action adventure games and this year had two amazing entries in the genre: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Horizon Zero Dawn. Unchartered: The Lost Legacy is a spin off worthy of Drake Unchartered 4. The two heroines have amazing chemistry. There is a very even mix of puzzles, combat and exploration. The set pieces are amazing and recall some of the earlier Unchartered games and combat is engrossing. Horizon Zero Dawn takes place in a unique universe where giant mechanical animals roam the land and it’s up to you to figure out how this happened. The story is engrossing and the combat complex and thrilling.

If you have not played them yet, GTA V, Rise of the Tomb Raider, The Last of Us, Max Payne 3, L.A. Noire and Gears of War 4 and Drake Unchartered 4 are all worth playing.

On the PC, I am still playing Company of Heroes 2 while waiting impatiently waiting for Age of Empires IV.

Gaming Headset: HyperX Cloud II

The HyperX Cloud II headset is the perfect companion for the computer and PS4 recommendations above. It’s super comfortable. The microphone noise cancellation is the best I have ever used. People I talk to can’t hear the background noise even when I am in a noisy environment. Likewise, by being closed cup, the headset has amazing noise cancellation and I can work and play effectively from anywhere.

One of my top pet peeves is people not using headsets with built in microphones when doing Skype calls. Especially if you are fund raising it does not reflect positively on you if I can hear you are in a noisy coffee shop and can barely hear what you tell me. If you do a lot of Skype calls get a great headset!

Webcam: Logitech HD Pro C922 and Logitech 4K Pro

Given that most of my work entails doing Zoom and Skype calls, webcam video quality is key and the Logitech 4K Pro has the best, but is very expensive at $199. If 1080p is good enough the C922 is amazing as well for $79.

TV: Vizio M75-E1 & LG 65B7A OLED

When it comes to TVs I think bigger is better. The Vizio M75-E1 is a 75” 4K HDR TV with the best picture quality and features of any TV in its price range costing just $1,799.

If you are less price sensitive and don’t mind getting a smaller TV, the LG 65B7A has the best picture quality of any TV ever made and costs $2,299 for 65” options at Amazon.

Living Room Speaker: Devialet Phantom Silver

The Devialet has by far the best sound of any speaker I have ever listened to. It has no distortion, even at high volume, no saturation and no background noise. It’s so powerful, even in its 3,000 Watt silver option, that I only installed one in my living room as a replacement for the various Sonos Play:5 speakers I had. I setup the Sonos speakers in the media room instead with the Sonos sound bar and subwoofer.

BTW Don’t put the Sonos and Devialet on the same system as they have different lag so the sound is not synchronized. The Devialet has a built-in lag of 160ms, while the Sonos has a lag of 70ms.

Home Automation: Mix and Match and control with Amazon Echo Dot

I tested the Google Home Mini and the Amazon Echo Dot both of which cost $49. The Google Home Mini actually has better voice recognition, but I opted for the Amazon Echo Dot because it had integrations with all of the devices in my home: Sonos (which Google does not yet support), Logitech Harmony, Lutron, Smarthings and Ecobee.

To control all the AV in the media room, I setup a Logitech Harmony Elite. With one remote, I control the PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Verizon Fios and external HDMI input. There is still a little bit of lag, but I find it bearable and the remote control works well with all the aforementioned devices.

The blind motors are Somfy. I am using some custom code to control them via SmartThings which I then control though Alexa, my iPhone or iPad.

The fireplace is connected to a Remotec ZFM-80 z-wave relay. This relay is connected to SmartThings. Lights are Lutron Caseta wireless. I am using Ecobee 4 thermostats to control both the HVAC and the floor heating.

Here is a video of all of it in action in my master bedroom:

I must admit that it’s far from trivial to setup and it took me hours both to do the original installation and to connect everything in an intelligible way to Alexa. I am still working on my naming nomenclature to make everything as user friendly as possible. Non-tech savvy individuals should probably abstain or get a professional installer.

Happy holidays!

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