The Silicon Valley style of philanthropy

San Francisco

THE founders of Silicon Valley's technology companies, many of whom have amassed huge fortunes at a young age, tend to look at their philanthropic giving much as they do their companies: They study a problem, explore ways to attack it and eventually invest heavily to scale up the ideas they think will be winners.

Dustin Moskovitz, a Facebook co-founder, and his wife, Cari Tuna, are models of the approach, hoping to help others become better philanthropists by opening up their process of giving away most of their estimated US$13 billion fortune. The couple publicly share details of their donations, their thought processes and their research into causes on the website of their foundation, Good Ventures.