Early on, though, Fisher had thought of making the rules for think tank creation and development explicit. In 1983, he circulated a fifty-page text—Some Do’s and Don’ts for Public Policy Institutes. The Atlas team worked to refine and make these recommendations more explicit—producing “recipe books,” modular “management toolkits,” and ultimately a blueprint that became accessible through the website in 2000. … There were start-up guidelines—how to select a name; how to write bylaws; how to define the mission and set up a proper governance. There were functioning guidelines—how to organize everyday activities; how to remain independent from government and political parties; how to conduct market analysis. And finally, there were development guidelines—how to raise funds; how to find and work with authors; how to market and sell ideas; how to project competence and expertise.

Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, loc. 580