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Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?

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Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?

#81

Post by mattgab »

nickbauman wrote: post #42

I tried to form a worker cooperative for IT workers a few years ago. I thought the idea of providing health insurance, 401k, business insurance and even a bench would be something my fellow engineers would be interested in since it was better than going it alone. As long as they knew that what they paid into the coop was going straight to the support of each other. Economies of scale and all. But to do it you have to…

My IT coop started last year by taking out a loan from the Cooperative Fund of New England: http://www.cooperativefund.org/

Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?

#83

Post by LunaSea »

solarlion wrote: post #63

I am a co-founder of the tech cooperative: http://colab.coop We run a worker-owned tech cooperative supporting startup social enterprises through agile development of minimum viable products that we hope will change the world for the better (hopefully that doesn’t sound cliched as our hearts are sincere in that desire). I am glad to see some enthusiasm on HN for the cooperative cause which we believe strongly in as m…

Thanks for the enlightening post ! I had just a question.

You talk about the "brightest in the industry [...] will choose to work in cooperatives".

Wouldn't most people prefer the high-risk / high-reward choice that the startups model offers ? Or am I too cynical ?

Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?

#84

Post by nimblegorilla »

nickbauman wrote: post #42

I tried to form a worker cooperative for IT workers a few years ago. I thought the idea of providing health insurance, 401k, business insurance and even a bench would be something my fellow engineers would be interested in since it was better than going it alone. As long as they knew that what they paid into the coop was going straight to the support of each other. Economies of scale and all. But to do it you have to…

Are you the same Nick in MN? I know a small IT coop in St Paul.

Funding a bench doesn't seem appealing to me. Too many people at contracting companies view it as vacation time.

Otherwise I think a coop sounds cool.

Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?

#85

Post by producist »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #73
producist wrote: post #48

I've been exploring this space since 2010 and always wondered what it would look like if a tech co-op got as big as Facebook, Amazon, Google, or Apple. I created an evolutionary economic model called Producism, which includes building an ecosystem of cooperatives and b-corps, alternative currencies, and other concepts. I wrote a book about it that's free to read online, http://producism.org/manifesto (updated version…

> I've been exploring this space since 2010 and always wondered what it would look like if a tech co-op got as big as Facebook, Amazon, Google, or Apple. For a science fiction exploration of this, see Bruce Sterling's 1988 novel _Islands in the Net_, which features a global democratically owned and controlled tech corporation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islands_in_the_Net

thanks! will definitely check it out!

Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?

#86

Post by dragonwriter »

jawns wrote: post #29

Not a direct response to OP's question, but I wanted to give some general background info on worker cooperatives and coops in general. A cooperative is type of a business entity that does not have outside shareholders. Rather, its members are its owners. So, in the case of a worker cooperative, the people who work for the business are its member-owners. (In the case of a consumer cooperative, its patrons are its memb…

> There are two major downsides to operating a business as a coop, though. One is that you have to raise all of your capital from your members, rather than relying on outside investment.

That's only true of equity, which isn't the only form of capital financing. But, yes, its an important limitation.

Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?

#87

Post by josv »

I’m a member at a worker-owned mobile dev coop in Ottawa. (htttp://www.brierwoodapps.com)

I spent some time in grad school studying economics, and I've felt a bit like a mole on a couple of occasions, but I do think it’s a really interesting structure.

There’s definitely been some self-selection of members based on equality- and social-mindedness. Some of that expresses itself internally: There’s a lot of information sharing and support for professional development.

I think one of the great practical advantages is that it’s a structure without employee numbers. Every new employee is hired with the hope that they’ll stay on and become a full member-owner. The fact that every member is on the same footing as the founders can be pretty advantageous in a tight labour market when trying to bring on board talented developers who might otherwise prefer to work independently.

Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?

#89

Post by solarlion »

LunaSea wrote: post #83
solarlion wrote: post #63

I am a co-founder of the tech cooperative: http://colab.coop We run a worker-owned tech cooperative supporting startup social enterprises through agile development of minimum viable products that we hope will change the world for the better (hopefully that doesn’t sound cliched as our hearts are sincere in that desire). I am glad to see some enthusiasm on HN for the cooperative cause which we believe strongly in as m…

Thanks for the enlightening post ! I had just a question. You talk about the "brightest in the industry [...] will choose to work in cooperatives". Wouldn't most people prefer the high-risk / high-reward choice that the startups model offers ? Or am I too cynical ?

Well, the brightest has an asterisk where the asterisk corresponds to those who are orienting their lives towards service and the common good - those seeking solutions to our shared problems - rather than simply personal benefit.

If the goal of life is simply 'self-service' - making tons of money and living fat (ie. ‘he with the most toys wins’ mentality) - then cooperatives are not the path an individual will choose.

If the goal is to help others while working together with peers who share a common purpose, then a cooperative makes a lot of sense as a model.

In my case I realized that much of our society is oriented fundamentally towards greed with consumer capitalism actually manipulating us to be more greedy.

I was simply looking for a company structure that helped us to learn to be more generous through our work together. While I can’t say honestly that our work is yet shaking the foundations of capitalism, I can say that we are learning to be more selfless, more generous, by working within a cooperative structure that encourages us to help meet each others’ needs along with those of the clients we serve.

Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?

#90

Post by allworknoplay »

Traditionally, a lot of large engineering companies have strong ESOPs (employee stock ownership plans). Not "co-ops", as you put it, which I think tends to imply a really flat hierarchy, although I'm not exactly sure.

If it's not obvious, it benefits everyone by increasing the incentive to perform, sharing profits (obviously), and reducing the incentives to be mercenary, which as we know just increases costs for all businesses involved (and is quite logical for employees who don't have strong stakes in their business).

I think it's a good question you ask, and I think more companies who care about the long term should consider it. Problem is, most founders are especially interested in just selling, and an ESOP makes a company moderately more complex to buy. So I don't think the model fits most VC-heavy startup concepts, but I do think it deserves a much larger place in cash-flow-positive long-term businesses.

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