Why subscribe to ‘Rebuilding You: The Philanthropy Handbook’ by Tej Kohli?

Tej Kohli is a seasoned philanthropist who first started using his accumulated wealth to help others in 2005. In 2020 he published a book titled ‘Rebuilding You: The Philanthropy Handbook’ with the objective of enabling others to route their wealth into good causes more efficiently and with greater impact. This Substack newsletter is a free serialisation of ‘Rebuilding You’ - as well as exclusive new content.

Tej Kohli is a technologist, investor and philanthropist who blogs regularly as #TejTalks

Synopsis

‘Rebuilding You: The Philanthropy Handbook’ is a collection of lessons that Tej Kohli has learned since launching the not-for-profit Tej Kohli Foundation in 2005. Tej Kohli says that giving away wealth as a philanthropist is far more difficult than creating that wealth in the first place, and sets out to share the wisdom that he has garnered during his own journey since 2006, so that would-be philanthropists can avoid the most common mistakes and maximize their own impact.

Tej Kohli says that you don’t need to have the wealth of Warren Buffet or Michael Milken to be able to make a difference as a philanthropist and that anyone with wealth can use it to help others. But many of the formulas upon which would-be philanthropists have built their wealth simply will not work as they start to give their wealth away. To succeed as a philanthropist, Tej Kohli says that you must also be ready to change your analysis and how you think. You must 'rebuild you'. 

A Journey Into Philanthropy

Tej Kohli conveys the wisdom of his own experiences across ten themed chapters which address questions such as: Why after working so hard to become a success would you pursue a brand-new career based on giving your wealth away to others? Do you need an eponymous charitable Foundation? Should you back a cause célèbre or support a little-known cause or an unmet need? And should you focus on helping your own local community, or distant and developing nations?

According to Tej Kohli the world is awash with unmet health and medical needs that it is simply not economic for the commercial sector to solve. Governments are confined to the issues most prominent with their own voters. NGOs already play a major role in creating global coordination across major humanitarian and global health challenges, but even the largest NGOs cannot extend their footprint into every community that needs help and every challenge which needs an urgent solution.

In 'Rebuilding You' Tej Kohli strongly advocates for would-be philanthropists to capitalize from living during a time of rapid technological progression by embracing and pioneering new frontier and combination technologies in order to devise new solutions that were not available before. Would-be philanthropists must also decide how to balance the need to develop long-term universal solutions that could eventually help millions with the need to make immediate interventions into people’s lives right now.

Tej Kohli also examines the calculus of focusing philanthropic efforts on giving money to established corporate-style charities versus investing into the 'startup environment' of direct grassroots activism. Kohli also examines the challenges of technology transfer and the dichotomy of how it is the third world that is most urgently in need of new solutions - but the first world where those solutions are most often born. Tej Kohli concludes with his ‘Top 10 Tips For New Philanthropists’.

'Rebuilding You: The Philanthropy Handbook' is essential reading for any aspiring philanthropist. It provides a useful framework for synthesising new ideas and plotting a journey into philanthropy even if your final destination is not yet clear. The accompanying stories about Tej Kohli’s own journey are highly personal and serve as a stark reminder that becoming a philanthropist is not about you, but about what you can do for your fellow human beings.

NB: 'Rebuilding You' is not an autobiography.

Subscribe to Rebuilding You: The Philanthropy Handbook, by Tej Kohli

Tej Kohli says that giving away wealth as a philanthropist is far more difficult than creating that wealth in the first place. In this serialisation of his book 'Rebuilding You', he sets out to share the wisdom that he has gained during his own journey.

People

Tej Kohli is a technologist and investor who is best known for the Tej Kohli Foundation and the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation. Tej Kohli is also author of the #TejTalks blog and in 2020 wrote 'Rebuilding You: The Philanthropy Handbook'.