Ooh, that's a good idea. I'm a huge fan of co-ops (not for any principled reason, I just think they're cool). They aren't common for startups of the type we're writing about, but I think it does make sense to discuss that topic. Thank you for the suggestion!

> aren't common for startups of the type we're writing about

You may have a greenfield market in the trades.

Indeed! The main difficulty is that while we are experts on startup law, we're not in other things, such as co-ops. But we are working on a way to allow others to combine their expertise with our software to serve other markets :)

Upvote. Even just a review of alternative models and some basic implications would be extremely helpful. It seems like worker owned software companies could be very effective.

Yea, it's a topic of interest for me personally, even if they aren't common with the types of startups we serve. Do you know of any successful worker-owned software companies? The co-ops I'm familiar with are mostly REI and grocery store types (both of which I enjoy a lot as a customer).

Not the OP but a quick search reveals: https://github.com/hng/tech-coops

Thanks!

And here's one network of tech co-ops in the UK: https://www.coops.tech/

Also reccommend https://www.usworker.coop/clinic/startups/

Not a software company, but the cheese board collective in Berkeley seems very interesting. They have survived for a very long time through the pandemic, etc. Impressive.

Not quite an answer either, but one reason for my interest in alternative models of operation is the IETF. It is, and has been a remarkably effective organization. Thanks to them I am typing on my computer at home and sending this out. They do _not_ have members. I understand that they are not a business, but they are more effective than any software company I worked for.

https://www.ietf.org/about/participate/tao/

Didn’t realize Cheese Board was a co-op! I’m not surprised though :) And I agree, we all owe a lot to IETF!