John List

So let's take ourselves back to the polio vaccination and let's think what Jonas Salk did. What Jonas Salk did is he had an idea about a vaccination that could handle polio. So what he did is he tested it out on his own children to start. And then he tested again to make sure that the original results were not a false positive.

So he first of all figured out this thing works by testing and retesting. Then what he did is he tried it out on a lot of different kinds of children. So he found out what is the slice of the pie that my idea can work for? That was step two. And in step two, he found, wow, it works for all children. Then after he found out that it worked on all children, he went to step three.

So he first of all figured out this thing works by testing and retesting. Then what he did is he tried it out on a lot of different kinds of children. So he found out what is the slice of the pie that my idea can work for? That was step two. And in step two, he found, wow, it works for all children. Then after he found out that it worked on all children, he went to step three.

So he first of all figured out this thing works by testing and retesting. Then what he did is he tried it out on a lot of different kinds of children. So he found out what is the slice of the pie that my idea can work for? That was step two. And in step two, he found, wow, it works for all children. Then after he found out that it worked on all children, he went to step three.

And that's how do we actually get it in people's arms? But the brilliance behind the polio vaccination is that we leverage the healthcare system And what we essentially have done is after you have a child, as those listeners know, if you've had kids, baby comes out, gets whisked away and tested and get some vaccinations.

And that's how do we actually get it in people's arms? But the brilliance behind the polio vaccination is that we leverage the healthcare system And what we essentially have done is after you have a child, as those listeners know, if you've had kids, baby comes out, gets whisked away and tested and get some vaccinations.

And that's how do we actually get it in people's arms? But the brilliance behind the polio vaccination is that we leverage the healthcare system And what we essentially have done is after you have a child, as those listeners know, if you've had kids, baby comes out, gets whisked away and tested and get some vaccinations.

You bring your baby back in six months, it gets more vaccinations, 12 months more, 18 months, a few more. So the polio vaccination is given in a natural way. Step four in my reasoning is, well, does your idea have spillover effects? And in this case, the idea of a polio vaccination has great spillover effects because once you get the vaccination, you can't pass along polio to other children.

You bring your baby back in six months, it gets more vaccinations, 12 months more, 18 months, a few more. So the polio vaccination is given in a natural way. Step four in my reasoning is, well, does your idea have spillover effects? And in this case, the idea of a polio vaccination has great spillover effects because once you get the vaccination, you can't pass along polio to other children.

You bring your baby back in six months, it gets more vaccinations, 12 months more, 18 months, a few more. So the polio vaccination is given in a natural way. Step four in my reasoning is, well, does your idea have spillover effects? And in this case, the idea of a polio vaccination has great spillover effects because once you get the vaccination, you can't pass along polio to other children.

So that's really good. And then the fifth hurdle that you have to jump over is how much does it actually cost you to provide it and get it in people's arms? And again, with the polio vaccination, the true expense came in the R and D of the actual product. And because we leverage the healthcare system, It's now a pretty inexpensive way to give to people.

So that's really good. And then the fifth hurdle that you have to jump over is how much does it actually cost you to provide it and get it in people's arms? And again, with the polio vaccination, the true expense came in the R and D of the actual product. And because we leverage the healthcare system, It's now a pretty inexpensive way to give to people.

So that's really good. And then the fifth hurdle that you have to jump over is how much does it actually cost you to provide it and get it in people's arms? And again, with the polio vaccination, the true expense came in the R and D of the actual product. And because we leverage the healthcare system, It's now a pretty inexpensive way to give to people.

So really the polio vaccination passes over these five hurdles of an idea that is perfectly scalable. And in a way it's worked brilliantly. And these features are what is really elemental signatures of ideas that scale.

So really the polio vaccination passes over these five hurdles of an idea that is perfectly scalable. And in a way it's worked brilliantly. And these features are what is really elemental signatures of ideas that scale.

So really the polio vaccination passes over these five hurdles of an idea that is perfectly scalable. And in a way it's worked brilliantly. And these features are what is really elemental signatures of ideas that scale.

The DARE program was a social inoculation program that people basically said, don't use drugs. That original idea came from an experiment in Honolulu, Hawaii with 1,777 high schoolers that sent a signal that the idea works. But in the end, it was just a false positive. We ended up trying it in LA and we tried it in other cities and we tested it in those other cities and it didn't work.

The DARE program was a social inoculation program that people basically said, don't use drugs. That original idea came from an experiment in Honolulu, Hawaii with 1,777 high schoolers that sent a signal that the idea works. But in the end, it was just a false positive. We ended up trying it in LA and we tried it in other cities and we tested it in those other cities and it didn't work.

The DARE program was a social inoculation program that people basically said, don't use drugs. That original idea came from an experiment in Honolulu, Hawaii with 1,777 high schoolers that sent a signal that the idea works. But in the end, it was just a false positive. We ended up trying it in LA and we tried it in other cities and we tested it in those other cities and it didn't work.

We then went back to Honolulu and tried it there and it doesn't work. So we know that because of science.