davidslifka

@davidslifka@mastodon.social

Helping to make the fediverse happen: http://SpreadMastodon.org

Separately, protecting democracy by building at http://bluem.ventures.

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davidslifka, to random

This gives me shivers: researchers have discovered a sperm whale alphabet.

davidslifka,

Rather than an alphabet, it might be a dictionary; we're not sure yet. But it seems like a huge leap towards inter-species communication. Free download of the paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47221-8

davidslifka, to random

THE TROUBLE WITH FUNDRAISING

I spoke with someone in an important state raising $6 million/year to build political infrastructure (e.g. staff training, candidate recruitment, message testing).

Fundraising is almost always 90/10 (90% of money from 10% of donors). Anytime your KPI is money raised, you need to focus on "elephant hunting," i.e. pursuing a few dozen prospective donors.

But elephant hunting has some problems... 1/3

davidslifka,

"Elephant hunting" or pursuing a few major gifts has two big issues:

  1. Along the way, it doesn't create any value or observable traction
  2. With few data points of feedback, it's hard to improve and iterate

My advice to this person: Find at least one KPI other than money raised. For example, perhaps build a network of smaller donors who believe in the mission, and form them into a community.

Adding another KPI has several benefits... 2/3

davidslifka,

Adding a KPI in addition to total funds raised has several benefits:

  1. You get a lot more market feedback, letting you iterate much faster
  2. Moving that KPI creates value and evidence of traction
  3. That traction is likely to be helpful with the "elephant hunting" (high-dollar fundraising)

What other advice would you give this person?

3/3

davidslifka, to random

This week I went to a conference on AI in politics hosted by Higher Ground Labs and others.

Similar to AI in the wider world, the applications today are mostly making existing processes better/faster/cheaper, for example: Analyzing voter feedback, Monitoring news and social media, Designing attractive materials.

This alone could have big impacts. Nearly everything in politics is tightly cost-constrained, so moving the cost curve way down could materially shift who can win elections.

davidslifka, to random

What are things that everyone in politics already knows, but others are surprised to learn?

davidslifka, to random

Reminded today that many political vendors face a huge challenge:

Five months out of every four years that generates the vast bulk of their revenue.

Even worse, they need to build capacity for this period in advance of knowing whether it will actually be needed.

davidslifka, to random

Peter Thiel’s company Palantir:

When you see a minority being unfairly disadvantaged, your institution should do what it can to provide offsetting advantages.

Sounds fair!

MattHodges, to random

A fun thing about being married to a doctor is the ad algorithms think we're afflicted with all of everything.

davidslifka,

@MattHodges that’s very funny!

davidslifka, to random

This is a great story of @SparkToro (a social analytics tool) growing away from X:
https://www.threads.net/@randderuiter/post/C0fCGhiBq0e

Video by @randfish

davidslifka, to random

To my followers who don’t work in politics:
Do you feel you understand why credible challengers have chosen not to primary Biden?
How would you describe why this hasn’t happened?

davidslifka, to random

My smart friends who work outside of politics have some mental habits that can make politics incomprehensible.

Most recently, their question is "Why does nobody legit primary Biden?"

Matt Yglesias just wrote the best explainer on this that I've seen.

https://www.slowboring.com/p/the-parties-cant-decide

davidslifka, to random

Welcome @indivisibleteam - and co-leaders @leahgreenberg and @ezralevin - to @Mastodon! Let's get them the following here that they deserve.

https://indivisibleteam.medium.com/were-stepping-back-from-the-increasingly-dangerous-and-dysfunctional-x-and-we-re-sorry-it-s-a15524fab070

davidslifka, to random

Fun behavioral nudge I saw on Amazon:

davidslifka, to random

How to Leave X

Some of the best tips I've seen for transitioning to Mastodon.

Don't delete your X account; instead go Mastodon-first, meaning:

  1. Open Mastodon before X
  2. Post new content to Mastodon before X
  3. Engage replies on Mastodon before X
  4. Keep using X but as a lurker; reply less, follow less.
  5. Post teasers on X ("My thoughts on ABC are posted on Mastodon. Username in bio.")
  6. Occasionally post on X that you're now on Mastodon, otherwise your absence is less noticed.
jackmjenkins, to random
@jackmjenkins@mastodon.online avatar

Question for techie Mastodon folk: If Threads ends up not incentivizing news as much as journalists want, and Threads also ends up making good on joining the Fediverse, wouldn’t it be possible for journalists to join a different Fediverse app (Mastodon or something new) that incentivizes news and literally port over their Threads followers (which seems to be a Fediverse feature, at least at Mastodon)?

davidslifka,

@jackmjenkins This exact scenario is why I'm not sad about the rise of Threads. I don't know it will be a possibility (depends on their fediverse implementation), but they keep making good noises in general. I think it's currently the best shot for open social to go big.

davidslifka, to random

So many articles about the Trump judgment, but so few that link to it!

So here's the full 35-page decision: https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=op8OyfqVHpc6eGTx9LOw3Q==

davidslifka, to random

What can normies read or listen to in order to understand the topics that political professionals are actually thinking about day-to-day?

Can be articles, podcasts, publications, follows - anything publicly accessible.

This will be the topic of my next substack essay. Thanks!

davidslifka, to random

With Clarence Thomas attending the Koch Network, I remember in 2017 when Fox was quite angry that a junior WaPo reporter spoke at the Democracy Alliance ("Koch network of the left"), saying it showed her bias.

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/washington-post-reporter-caught-plotting-liberal-agenda-with-billionaire-george-soros

davidslifka, to random

Large political funders are pulling back. Small donors are giving about the same but across twice as many organizations.

The result: it’s even harder this year for pro-democracy organizations to build and prepare for another era-defining election.

More details
https://slifka.substack.com/p/sending-up-the-bat-signal-to-funders

davidslifka, to random

In the last few days I received two memos that describe this year’s funding drop-off for liberal political non-profits as an emergency. Here's one: Movement Voter Project's "Sending Up the Bat Signal"
https://movement.vote/batsignal/

Well-connected funders have told me they’re seeing the same thing.

davidslifka,

@Cassandra I don’t have data, but my rough guess is that I think a lot of new funders were mobilized by the threat of Trump (including me), and it’s inevitable that some of these will drift away over time. But there is not an offsetting flow of new people coming in. Unfortunately the movement is not very good at supporting and retaining donors over time; too many spam emails and calls, not enough community.

natematias, to random
@natematias@social.coop avatar

How do actual scientists even begin to compete with semi-informed thought leaders who spend 110% of their time writing op eds, showing up at fancy conferences, and raking in cash/power for boondoggles?

Asking for a friend.

davidslifka,

@natematias they’re basically two different careers that can look superficially similar right?

That said, maybe the answer is for scientists to try to raise enough money to get support to do both science and the other stuff? (Easier said than done!)

davew, to random
@davew@mastodon.social avatar

Here's a weird idea, why not use email to build a social network.

davidslifka,

@davew agree there’s lots of room to explore. Here’s an interesting concept of social-via-email: https://twitter.com/super_hive/status/1680944538016178176

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