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Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

bocoup.com

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Re: Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

#21

Post by ForTheKidz »

tonymet wrote: post #19
ForTheKidz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Coops are basically geared toward mediocre success - because there's really no pressure to risk aiming for amazing/startup-style success. I'm just straight-up offended at this. Co-ops are the job most people want. What you refer to as "amazing success" is dismantling our society and the people who run them appear to struggle to empathize with other humans. Granted, i'm sure coops can be equally antisocial and misan…

are there any examples?

Enshittification is the most obvious one—we should be nationalizing efficient processes at the point they fail to yield further productivity gains.

I don't really have much energy to argue with true believers today, so all I'll say is "read schumpeter dammit". For an industry allegedly founded by the dude I haven't met a single person working with VCs who's actually read the man. He would not consider today's America to have a healthy economy.

Re: Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

#22

Post by surgical_fire »

bombcar wrote: post #5
tonymet wrote: post #3

What are some success stories of coops? I’m thinking United , REI , Winco. I’m curious why aren’t there more and why they generally have mediocre success if not failure

Coops are basically geared toward mediocre success - because there's really no pressure to risk aiming for amazing/startup-style success. Ownership structure doesn't change many of the business risks, but coops can avoid the "expand or die" that sometimes normal companies experience. The largest coops are mutuals (think: insurance) and banks (think: credit union). Others exist in farmer's coops (Land o' Lakes, Dairy…

> Coops are basically geared toward mediocre success

There's something deeply wrong with a society that can label moderate success as "mediocre".

I wish society gave more incentives to healthy, moderately successful, profitable companies instead of "growth and greed at all costs" success.

Or, as you put it, "amazing/startup-style success". Fuck that noise.

Re: Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

#23

Post by tonymet »

ForTheKidz wrote: post #21
tonymet wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are there any examples?

Enshittification is the most obvious one—we should be nationalizing efficient processes at the point they fail to yield further productivity gains. I don't really have much energy to argue with true believers today, so all I'll say is "read schumpeter dammit". For an industry allegedly founded by the dude I haven't met a single person working with VCs who's actually read the man. He would not consider today's America…

this doesn't sound like an example, more of a complaint

Re: Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

#24

Post by ForTheKidz »

tonymet wrote: post #23
ForTheKidz wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Enshittification is the most obvious one—we should be nationalizing efficient processes at the point they fail to yield further productivity gains. I don't really have much energy to argue with true believers today, so all I'll say is "read schumpeter dammit". For an industry allegedly founded by the dude I haven't met a single person working with VCs who's actually read the man. He would not consider today's America…

this doesn't sound like an example, more of a complaint

You didn't bother to articulate what particular claim you wanted an example on. I can't read minds, and you're wasting my time.

Re: Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

#25

Post by dv_dt »

tonymet wrote: post #20
andbberger wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

REI is not a worker coop they just cosplay as one.

can you explain more to an outsider? i've been a lifelong member and they were very active in their COOP image in all the member comms

When you talk about coops, there is a distinction between a consumer coop and a worker coop. A consumer coop is generally where consumers band together to get better prices on consuming some product or group of products. A worker coop is where workers have ownership and make business decisions together. There are actually other coops too - e.g. farming coops are generally capital equipment sharing arrangements - think sharing ownership of the processing center for some crop. (Also ESOP worker coops - but I would say they generally are very weak on workers making significant decisions).

REI is a consumer coop. At least some of their employees are actually unionized. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/02/rei-coop-union-...

Re: Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

#26

Post by rezmason »

vvpan wrote: post #13
happyopossum wrote: post #10

Announce your company is worker-owned in a blog posted by a guy whose profile pic shows him in a banana suit. Not the best way to build confidence in the new ownership...

I disagree. Stern corporate demeanor is a disadvantageous to a group that is trying to show personality.

Besides, what's wrong with getting one's apparel at Banana Republic?

Re: Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

#27

Post by bsammon »

tonymet wrote: post #20
andbberger wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

REI is not a worker coop they just cosplay as one.

can you explain more to an outsider? i've been a lifelong member and they were very active in their COOP image in all the member comms

According to their Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REI), REI is a "consumers' co-operative". This is a different thing than a "workers' cooperative". My understanding is that most grocery co-ops are organized as consumers co-ops, or something close to it.

The grocery co-op near me has occasionally faced the prospect of the formation of an employee/worker union. I imagine that unionization is a thing that doesn't happen (or get seriously discussed) in a workers' co-op.

I find this distinction vaguely fascinating, but (apparently) not enough for me to actually get informed about it.

Re: Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

#28

Post by giraffe_lady »

Tr3nton wrote: post #7

Browsing the barebones site and reading the Code of Conduct, I get the sense that political activism is a higher priority than engineering. There's a dedicated BLM page, where they honor George Floyd, but not the woman who was pistol-whipped by Floyd and his crew during an armed robbery, while the woman was home alone with her children.[1] I am aware that this is wrongthink. Americans rejected this worldview in the r…

> While I have no issue with people advocating for their flavor of justice

Really? Because I'm getting extremely strong "I have an issue with people advocating for this kind of justice" vibes from your comment here. Might want to take a look again if you didn't intend that.

Re: Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

#29

Post by tonymet »

ForTheKidz wrote: post #24
tonymet wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this doesn't sound like an example, more of a complaint

You didn't bother to articulate what particular claim you wanted an example on. I can't read minds, and you're wasting my time.

> " Co-ops are the job most people want."

-- what are some examples?

Re: Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

#30

Post by tonymet »

dv_dt wrote: post #25
tonymet wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can you explain more to an outsider? i've been a lifelong member and they were very active in their COOP image in all the member comms

When you talk about coops, there is a distinction between a consumer coop and a worker coop. A consumer coop is generally where consumers band together to get better prices on consuming some product or group of products. A worker coop is where workers have ownership and make business decisions together. There are actually other coops too - e.g. farming coops are generally capital equipment sharing arrangements - thin…

this is a helpful way of looking at it. so it sounds like REI employees are not seeing any dividends?
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