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Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

watsi.org

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Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

#131

Post by novaleaf »

brittohalloran wrote: post #12

The one thing you need to focus on above all else is transparency and preventing scams. Video of the actual person who needs the treatment would go a long way, as would video updates along the way. I'm thinking an Android app that the locals could use to document the process. If you solve that properly, this will really take off and do a lot of good. Also, you're going to eventually need to take a very small cut of t…

video, or other content doesn't help prevent scamming. It just pulls a few more heart strings, in the eyes of the viewers (thus "more sincere"). Additionally, what about people who don't have access to video, or do a poor production job?

If you want transparency, it has to be done by the organization (lots of foot work and following up with where the money was spent by the implementing orgs).

Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

#132

Post by adriand »

chaseadam17 wrote: post #24
adriand wrote: post #21

This is excellent. The funding process is fast and seamless. It took me literally less than 30 seconds to fund a treatment. Kudos for an amazing idea and excellent execution.

Adrian, you rock. Thank you so much! If you are ever in San Francisco PM me and I'd love to buy you a beer (or a tea or a juice or whatever)!

I really appreciate the offer, but just to be clear, I didn't fund the whole treatment! (I'm a beer drinker, but I live near Toronto and won't be near San Francisco any time soon - but if plans change, will do.)

I know you've had a ton of ideas thrown at you in this thread, but I've been thinking about your site since donating and I think what would be really amazing, if you can accomplish it somehow, is a way to encourage people to donate regularly.

There are probably many ways you could do this, but here's one: allow people to donate a sum of money, up front, that is not assigned to a particular person who needs treatment. Periodically prompt this person to fund treatments using some portion of this sum. Alternatively, support subscription billing where each time the money is withdrawn, the person is notified and asked to assign the money that was withdrawn to a particular person who needs it.

I really feel that a recurring process of some kind could both vastly increase the amount of money you raise, and also benefit donors by giving them a periodic uplift in their mood and level of happiness. It could become, if this word is not too misplaced, addictive.

Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

#133

Post by cbr »

chaseadam17 wrote: post #96
dinkumthinkum wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think we need video of the process. If the people want to do it fine, but making them put on a show of themselves I think is a bit much. As a person, not only are you sick and need help from others but you need to be a documentary just to prove to people you aren't a scam, little much -- it's one thing to have a photo and story so it makes it real but as long as there is some trusted third party verification,…

I really like that you brought up third-party verification. We think that's the most efficient and responsible way to scale our due-diligence process. Currently, in addition to being verified by us, all of our partners have been verified by multiple third parties (Partners in Health, Givewell, CNN, ABC, HBO, etc.) and they are all 501(c)(3) organizations which means that they are also overseen by the US Gov. I agree…

Can you tell me more about the GiveWell verification?

Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

#134

Post by chaseadam17 »

alexanderh wrote: post #118

This is "Death panels" in a fancy suit. Bid on life saving medical treatment from a thumbnail? By someones looks? and a possibly fabricated story? So now we the internet get to decide who lives and dies? Who has a healthy fulfilling life and who lives with disease and disability? Idk about this idea. Its well intentioned, but oh so wrong all at the same time. This type of charity should be first come first serve to b…

We are bummed out that the site makes you feel this way, but we genuinely appreciate you voicing your opinion. We're here to listen to the public, and if people disagree with what we are doing, we will shut down immediately. That said, I'd like to point out a few things.

1) This is not a bidding war. We won't remove a profile until it is fully funded. This is why we only post a few profiles at a time (and not hundreds) - to ensure they are all funded in a reasonable amount of time. If the patient needs treatment before the profile is funded, we will front the cost of care.

2) Humanity has always decided who lives and who dies, and it sucks. It makes me angry, but it's a reality. The only difference is now, because of how connected the world is becoming, this reality is a little harder for those of us that are the most fortunate, to ignore.

3) We aren't first come first serve. That wouldn't make sense, because our Doctors identify patients, they don't identify us (that would lead to fraud). Instead, we are lowest-cost, highest-impact first. Every profile is reviewed by at least two independent doctors (usually more) to determine which cases are the best ones to fund (and I assure you that "cuteness" is not a criteria these Doctors use to make a decision). See our FAQ for more info on treatment guidelines.

We feel terrible that our site presents itself in a way that you think is twisted, and we would love to make whatever changes we can to improve it. Feel free to reach out to me directly at chase (at) watsi (dot) org with any other thoughts. We've spent a lot of time thinking about this (and even consulted with a medical ethicist), but we always have a lot more to learn.

But perhaps the most important thing - the internet funded 11 medical treatments today for people that wouldn't have had access to them otherwise. You guys literally changed (and saved) 11 lives. I don't know how that can be a bad thing.

Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

#135

Post by cbr »

mehulkar wrote: post #66
chaseadam17 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are great points. We would love to enable recurring donations. For example, you could allocate X% of your income every month to "Watsi Credit." We also think that a program like this would be great for Corporate Social Responsibility Programs. Members of our team work for Kiva and Vittana (and I worked in microfinance for 4 years) and we would love to eventually try and offer a healthcare loan product (or at le…

Devil's advocate to myself: I heard Jessica Jackley speak once and one of the stories she told that stuck was about the that company offered to automate thousands of dollars to Kiva to go towards microloans. She refused because she wanted people to have a personal connection with borrowers. I would love to say that if you took X% off my paycheck, I would sign up instantly. But I would just be escaping my responsibili…

Why would an automatic X% donation be "escaping [your] responsibility as a citizen"?

Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

#136

Post by pjzedalis »

andrewfelix wrote: post #117
brittohalloran wrote: post #12

The one thing you need to focus on above all else is transparency and preventing scams. Video of the actual person who needs the treatment would go a long way, as would video updates along the way. I'm thinking an Android app that the locals could use to document the process. If you solve that properly, this will really take off and do a lot of good. Also, you're going to eventually need to take a very small cut of t…

>The one thing you need to focus on above all else is transparency and preventing scams. While I think transparency is important. It's disappointing that this project attracts suspicion, especially in the light of Kickstarter projects for non essential consumables attracting millions with little to no oversight/transparency. Watsi have done much more than the average Kickstarter campaign to show where the money goes…

Your points are valid however nobody on Kickstarter makes a guarantee of transparency or even fraud-less behavior.

The skepticism or desire for transparency here stems directly from the service they say they provide.

One shouldn't be cynical of holding people to their own standards otherwise the words are meaningless.

Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

#137

Post by chaseadam17 »

adriand wrote: post #132
chaseadam17 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adrian, you rock. Thank you so much! If you are ever in San Francisco PM me and I'd love to buy you a beer (or a tea or a juice or whatever)!

I really appreciate the offer, but just to be clear, I didn't fund the whole treatment! (I'm a beer drinker, but I live near Toronto and won't be near San Francisco any time soon - but if plans change, will do.) I know you've had a ton of ideas thrown at you in this thread, but I've been thinking about your site since donating and I think what would be really amazing, if you can accomplish it somehow, is a way to enc…

Those are awesome ideas! We had never thought of loading up on Watsi Credit (with a large, one-time donation) and I think that's a super cool option to offer donors. No doubt we are going to see a major decrease in traffic after this HN post, and working on ways to retain donors is going to be our next big challenge. Thanks again for the feedback and support, we all really appreciate it! (And if you do come to SF, the beer offer still stands :)

Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

#138

Post by Evbn »

dahotre wrote: post #94
brittohalloran wrote: post #12

The one thing you need to focus on above all else is transparency and preventing scams. Video of the actual person who needs the treatment would go a long way, as would video updates along the way. I'm thinking an Android app that the locals could use to document the process. If you solve that properly, this will really take off and do a lot of good. Also, you're going to eventually need to take a very small cut of t…

Do you think people who need few hundred dollars to save their life have android phones?

Lots of communities have shared cell phones and use mobile networks because there is no line infrastructure.

Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

#139

Post by chaseadam17 »

egiva wrote: post #112
chaseadam17 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really like that you brought up third-party verification. We think that's the most efficient and responsible way to scale our due-diligence process. Currently, in addition to being verified by us, all of our partners have been verified by multiple third parties (Partners in Health, Givewell, CNN, ABC, HBO, etc.) and they are all 501(c)(3) organizations which means that they are also overseen by the US Gov. I agree…

Like Kiva, it would be good to also list the "sponsor" (read: 501(c)(3) name) on the patient's profile/donation page. If that sponsor name also included a link to a basic sponsor profile page showing further sponsor information, that would be a step in the transparency direction for me. I'm hesitant to donate until I see which charity is sponsoring the person who needs treatment. EDIT: I dug through the pages and fou…

Thanks! The Google Doc could definitely use some improvement, but for now it seems to do the job.

Did you get a chance to click on the Medical Partner link on the patient profiles? It opens a lightbox with some info on the partner.

But we'd love to have more robust pages with tons of awesome info (map, financials, photos, data, etc.) for each Medical Partner. We just need to raise the money to pay for the quality dev time we need!

Re: Show HN - We just built a site that saves lives

#140

Post by giblfiz »

chaseadam17 wrote: post #129
breckinloggins wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, you're going to eventually need to take a very small cut of the donations to pay living expenses for your volunteers. 100% to the patient sounds great, but for my donation, I'd prefer to know that there is someone dedicated full-time to the cause and overseeing the process, and receiving a reasonable salary for it. Of course, be 100% transparent about those salaries as well. This might also be accomplished wi…

We are definitely considering experimenting with a donation "tip" feature. Based on our research, the average tip on peer-to-peer giving and lending platforms is about 5% of the total donation amount for a first time donation, and virtually nothing for recurring donations (people usually only tip once). It's not enough to run an organization on, but it's a great potential source of revenue to help cover some overhead…

Don't discount it. Your numbers are about right, but that can definitely be enough to run an organization. Kiva has about 80 full time staff and about 3/4s of their funding comes from lender tips.
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