Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 173 posts

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#61

Post by jk4930 »

tptacek wrote: post #55
jk4930 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the info. I didn't intend to imply that they (or other nonprofit startups) would face opposition by all established players. It's just that I found many "nonprofits" showing questionable behaviours: The people working in the field are often very interested in helping, (some but important) people in the administration became cynics or bigots and working for a nonprofit became less of a mission and more of a…

I'm sure this is true of a lot of charitable endeavors, but the health care charities are generally about getting medical teams on the ground and deploying desperately needed care. It makes sense to route contributions to reputable charities. In the medical space, you have not only PIH but also organizations like Médecins Sans Frontières/DWB-USA. One of the very cool things about what Watsi is doing is that they prov…

Yes to all of the above. And I think there are other days when I can express my concerns, now it's time that I start celebrating Watsi's success. :)

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#63

Post by dmoney »

glimcat wrote: post #5

So, the really cool part is this: "At Watsi, 100% of your donations directly fund medical treatments. Watsi.org is separately funded. They pay all their operational costs from their own funding, and none from your donations. They even eat the credit card processing fees." This works great with Watsi's crowdfunding-style model. It probably wouldn't help with things which need legs on the ground full-time, but it would…

So, the really cool part is this:

"At Watsi, 100% of your donations directly fund medical treatments. Watsi.org is separately funded. They pay all their operational costs from their own funding, and none from your donations. They even eat the credit card processing fees."

It doesn't sound (as) cool me if the founders can only do this until they go broke. It looks like they do accept direct donations to fund their operating costs, but it seems to me that the demand (if that's the right word for the desire to donate) might not increase at the same rate as the demand to fund treatments (and therefore costs for credit card fees, hosting, staff) increases. Better to take a percentage and be transparent about what you use it for.

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#65

Post by philwelch »

loceng wrote: post #46
tptacek wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worth mentioning that patients in the US, and particularly children, are guaranteed medical care regardless of ability to pay. Medical care funding can bankrupt you in the US, but it cannot prevent you from having a broken femur fixed. States also run "CHIP" programs to provide health insurance coverage to children. The same is not true in Haiti or Malawi. Without the funds to pay for care, a child can live for years…

"guaranteed medical care" - of what quality, with what results? And the value of medical care being covered is that it doesn't destroy the rest of your life. It's actually kind of pointless to help someone just get to the point of surviving, and then leave them to fend for themself.

To me, it's plainly obvious that people in those other countries need our help more than people in the United States. What other concern is there? "I'd like to help people in MY country" is just a vaguely nationalistic bigotry.

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#66

Post by tptacek »

dmoney wrote: post #63
glimcat wrote: post #5

So, the really cool part is this: "At Watsi, 100% of your donations directly fund medical treatments. Watsi.org is separately funded. They pay all their operational costs from their own funding, and none from your donations. They even eat the credit card processing fees." This works great with Watsi's crowdfunding-style model. It probably wouldn't help with things which need legs on the ground full-time, but it would…

So, the really cool part is this: "At Watsi, 100% of your donations directly fund medical treatments. Watsi.org is separately funded. They pay all their operational costs from their own funding, and none from your donations. They even eat the credit card processing fees." It doesn't sound (as) cool me if the founders can only do this until they go broke. It looks like they do accept direct donations to fund their ope…

HN is bad at subtext, so let me offer you a decoder ring on the subtext of the 'pg story we're commenting on:

YC is working on addressing the problem of funding Watsi's overhead. The point of the service is that end-users don't fund Watsi, they fund patients. In the same sense as you need to take it sort of on faith that Airbnb can bootstrap and maintain a two-sided market for short-term lodging, you should probably take it on faith that Watsi's model is going to work; if you want to make Watsi work well, go fund a patient with it.

There is a real 13 year old girl on Watsi right now who is unable to walk because of a correctible congenital condition. Who cares about the Watsi founders? Go help the girl! :)

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#68

Post by Golobulus »

Will there be some kind of illness directory? Or a way I could keep track of or sign up for notices of new listings? What about a widget that I could embed on my site for specific kinds of illnesses that readers/users might be interested in donating to? Congratulations on all of this, really great idea/implementation.

Re: Meet Watsi, Y Combinator's First Nonprofit

#69

Post by chaseadam17 »

corin_ wrote: post #47

I'm personally not a fan of the concept of donating to help a specific person, rather than a cause, but am unsure whether I'm a rare exception or whether many people have the same view as me - hopefully a few replies could help answer this? When I say not a fan of the concept, I absolutely don't mean I disapprove. I don't have any problem with organisations raising money this way, nor with people choosing to donate m…

Great point. It's all about personal opinion. There are currently tons of organizations that enable people to fund a cause, but nearly none that let you fund something as specific as an individual treatment. We're providing a new, more direct and transparent, alternative.

Oftentimes there is institutional support for specific "mainstream" conditions (e.g. HIV, TB, etc.) and as a result, some patients who are in unique situations (e.g. have a rare condition, need a slightly expensive treatment, need referral care, etc.) often fall through the cracks. Watsi provides an opportunity to those patients by enabling them to tap into the crowd.

While there are pros and cons to each approach, it's important to note that they are complementary. Charitable giving is not a zero sum game, and we're working hard to expand the pie, not take a piece of it.

Post reply on HN