How to Do Good AND Make Money | Carnegie Mellon University Po-Shen Loh

"If you want to do good, make money." Po-Shen Loh, a social entrepreneur and Carnegie Mellon math professor who coached the US Math Olympiad team for a decade, learned this from a philanthropist he'd approached for a donation. The answer: don't ask for money, make it, then use it to do good. He'd already seen the trap: if you lose money on every person you help, you stay dependent on philanthropy forever. Impact without sustainability doesn't last. So for 10 years, he's been building situations where, in his words, "2+2=5," in which everyone involved comes out ahead. And he finally made one that checks all the boxes: LIVE, a venture operating on margins over 50% where the profit funds the mission. We asked him to explain how it works. 00:00 Intro 01:15 Make 2+2=5 06:32 We Invented a Better Model 13:01 Learning From What Didn't Work to Build What Does 17:23 How to Get Paid to Do Good 22:12 Try Everything But Quit 25:41 The Best Time to Be a Social Entrepreneur --- Begin your 2-week free trial with Attio, the AI-native CRM platform to power your growth👉https://attio.com/eo --- EO is a global media brand for builders. We tell the defining stories of founders shaping the future: people who see what others don't and build what they believe in. Subscribe to EO: https://www.youtube.com/@eoglobal EO Magazine: https://www.eomag.io Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eostudio.official/ X: https://x.com/eostudi0 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eo-studio EO Studio: https://eo.team/ Business inquiries: partner@eoeoeo.net Build what you believe in.

Po-Shen LohguestUnknown Hosthost

Jul 23, 202631mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: July 23, 2026
Duration: 31m
Channel: EO Studio
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

"If you want to do good, make money." Po-Shen Loh, a social entrepreneur and Carnegie Mellon math professor who coached the US Math Olympiad team for a decade, learned this from a philanthropist he'd approached for a donation. The answer: don't ask for money, make it, then use it to do good. He'd already seen the trap: if you lose money on every person you help, you stay dependent on philanthropy forever. Impact without sustainability doesn't last. So for 10 years, he's been building situations where, in his words, "2+2=5," in which everyone involved comes out ahead. And he finally made one that checks all the boxes: LIVE, a venture operating on margins over 50% where the profit funds the mission. We asked him to explain how it works. 00:00 Intro 01:15 Make 2+2=5 06:32 We Invented a Better Model 13:01 Learning From What Didn't Work to Build What Does 17:23 How to Get Paid to Do Good 22:12 Try Everything But Quit 25:41 The Best Time to Be a Social Entrepreneur --- Begin your 2-week free trial with Attio, the AI-native CRM platform to power your growth👉https://attio.com/eo --- EO is a global media brand for builders. We tell the defining stories of founders shaping the future: people who see what others don't and build what they believe in. Subscribe to EO: https://www.youtube.com/@eoglobal EO Magazine: https://www.eomag.io Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eostudio.official/ X: https://x.com/eostudi0 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eo-studio EO Studio: https://eo.team/ Business inquiries: partner@eoeoeo.net Build what you believe in.

SPEAKERS

Po-Shen Loh
guest
Mathematician at Carnegie Mellon University and social entrepreneur.
Unknown Host
host
EO Studio interviewer/host who delivers sponsor reads.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of EO Studio, featuring Po-Shen Loh and Unknown Host, How to Do Good AND Make Money | Carnegie Mellon University Po-Shen Loh explores social entrepreneurship: build profitable engines to scale meaningful impact Social entrepreneurship works best when each person helped also generates sustainable margin, reducing dependence on philanthropy and enabling scale.

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