Like so many, I had intuitively thought that something like **effective altruism** was the most promising path for someone born into the privileges of being a white male from the North Atlantic. I figured the best way to contribute was to make a *fuckton* of money and then direct it toward the right causes. Consequently, much of what I built was driven by this mindset—aiming to generate wealth first, and then channel it toward making a difference.
But that approach didn’t work. It took me a while to realize that the main—if not only—reason was that I wasn’t actually interested in making a lot of money. What truly motivated me was solving meaningful problems. My focus had always been on creating impact, not accumulating wealth, and that disconnect made all the difference in how things played out.
When my first child was born, the stakes became real in a way they hadn’t before. It wasn’t just that I now had skin in the game when it came to securing a good future, but I also knew I wanted to be able to look my child in the eye when they were old enough to ask: “So Dad, what have you done to contribute to a good world?”
I felt incredibly fortunate when I crossed paths with Tom (Thomas Rödiger), my business partner at delodi. We not only share a first name, but also a deep, embodied understanding that living in service to the greater good is far more rewarding than the relentless pursuit of personal wealth. This shared belief has been the foundation of our work together, driving us to build solutions that contribute to something much larger than ourselves.
We embedded our ambition into the name itself. While "delodi" has an innocent, almost sweet sound to it, it actually stands for "deliver or die." It's a daily reminder that we didn’t build this company just for the sake of having a company, but to create a foundation that allows us to contribute meaningfully to the greater good. This ethos keeps us focused, ensuring that everything we do is aligned with our mission to serve something larger than ourselves.
Not only does this guiding principle help us choose our partners, clients, and co-workers wisely, but it also empowers us to treat everyone with the respect, transparency, and honesty we expect for ourselves. Above all, it gives us the freedom to pursue what we believe is important and necessary—without having to ask for money or permission. As a result, we've committed to reinvesting more than 90% of our profits into life-serving activities, and we will continue to do so. This approach allows us to stay true to our mission, ensuring that our work consistently contributes to the greater good.
I am eternally grateful to everyone involved in delodi for the enormous opportunity to build little stepping stones for actual systems change together.
Dear T. Thanks for reminding me of our joint work for one of those "Deliver or Die" (I only now realize the meaning of Delodi!) start-ups. You, Thomas Rödiger, myself and a few others worked on "Humancredit" some 10 years ago. Although the "Adblocker that paid out to accredited NGO" didn't make it beyond bootstrapping phase, it was yet another memorable start-up experience in the Social Enterprise space.
The "fuckton of money" principle rings familiar. Because it is the "old" philantropy concept since Rockefeller that some management gurus (e.g. Peter Drucker) advocated: get rich first, donate after. A misleading approach ever since "Geld verdirbt den Charakter", it channels the existing and personal energy on to the established societal, calvinistic principle and doesn't account for the transformation that every generation has as its task. Or to put it bluntly: On the road to money, you sell out and become lazy in regards to earlier aspirations. By that, this "philantropy" is a strong lever to keeping things as they are. Of course you know that. In the end, Drucker knew, too. His probably most famous saying leaves some levy for interpretation: Why would I want to be the richest person on the cemetery? :)