There is Web Hosting Coop that some friends and former coworkers of mine run:
http://www.webhosting.coop/
Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?
71–80 of 100 posts
Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?
#72I don't want to draw out a tenuous claim: but in some ways most tech companies (and particularly early-stage startups) are more like cooperatives than has historically been the case in corporations. As Sam Altman's recent article on employee equity points to, being liberal with ownership is considered a virtue in technology companies. Long-gone are the days where you can build a technology company and keep all the ow…
I spoke to this in a comment on another HN topic recently, one of the threads about the Github kerfuffle: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7623915
Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?
#73I'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
Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?
#74How do you kick out underperformers in a co-op?
Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?
#75Not 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…
Thanks for the informative post. I'm new to the idea, and I have a question. You say that the decision making process is democratic. Couldn't that be dangerous? The majority is not always right, or even informed enough to make a correct decision. An executive hierarchy puts this process in the hands of key decision makers, who are supposed to make the correct decisions to protect the company's interests based on thei…
> I was under the impression that every business decision was put to a vote by the entire cooperative.
Depends on the co-op.
I lived in a student co-op in college. Every Sunday night we had a group meeting. Every major decision was made by a consensus making process. Other decisions were delegated to committees or individuals in a particular position: food manager, garden manager etc.
I also worked at a student composting/waste disposal co-op that operated the same. Everyone has a voice in either the actual decision or in electing someone to make a decision.
This type of decision making basically requires lots of communication between members and usually at least one long meeting a week. It also demands that people have mutual respect for each other and the group decision making process.
In both instances it definitely helped me learn to relate with, communicate with and respect others and their opinions.
Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?
#76from argentina: http://www.tecso.coop/
I'm from Argentina, and work here: http://fiqus.com/
We (along with other cooperatives) founded the federation that is mentioned below (http://facttic.org.ar/)
Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?
#77Hello all. I have founded two worker cooperatives, both in the tech sector. I am also a moderator of the subreddit http://reddit.com/r/cooperatives. Check out the sidebar for a whole bunch of links!
If you have any questions about starting a worker coop, especially in CA or MA, I can help.
Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?
#78Hello all. I have founded two worker cooperatives, both in the tech sector. I am also a moderator of the subreddit http://reddit.com/r/cooperatives. Check out the sidebar for a whole bunch of links!
If you have any questions about starting a worker coop, especially in CA or MA, I can help.
Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?
#79I'm involved in Enspiral which is something like what you describe. Not directly a coop but not a traditional business by any means. http://www.enspiral.com/
Re: Ask HN: Examples of tech worker cooperatives?
#80I participated in starting one, which never really took off but churned through some contracts and I think they're still at it.