Thanks so much for this helpful piece! One thing that would be great to include in this taxonomy is who can use the platforms - for example, unless you have a US bank account, you can't use Kickstarter.
Hello Jullus, Thanks so much for writing. I will surely check out your article on serendipity, as I'm sure it will come in very useful. Thank you for sharing it. :)
I'm not particularly fond of guns. But it's hard for me to imagine individuals having LESS of a claim to own high-capacity automatic weapons than cops and soldiers do. Dorner wasn't burned alive in his cabin -- premeditatedly and in cold blood -- by a lone, crazy private gunman. Neither were 100,000 Iraqi soldiers and civilians.
I certainly have qualms about cheap, easy printing of means of large-scale destruction. But not as much as I do about states -- whose entire purpose is to maintain control on behalf of an exploitative ruling class -- holding a monopoly on them.
You should include OpenFire (http://openfi.re), a new platform for projects that aren't clearly for- or non-profit, but that have a social benefit aspect.
I have been letting these "weeds" grow in my garden for years, only tp be persecuted by family and friends. I feel these three weeds are tastey and nutritional. Thanks for the recipe.
I enjoyed reading your article Cat, and recognise many of the issues that lead my husband and I to create freelywheely.com - which is a freecycling site with no requirement to find or join a local group, or any hoops to jump through to sign up.
Predominantly in the UK at the moment - we are growing at a good rate and really hope to give TFN a run for their money!!
We've had a few run-ins with TFN in the last year - mostly because of our unapologetic use of the words freecycle and freecycling on our site - so far it has been a few blustery emails, whether anything more will ever come of it remains to be seen!
Btw, please don't be discouraged by the "internal server error" message you get when posting. The comments always go through the first time, no need to repost. It's something with the system here and will be fixed soon.
well, I think that rather than viewing it through and all or nothing lens, I think it's most constructive to look at the different certifications and labels as steps in the right direction.
I think B Corp may serve as a good introduction for companies to think a little bit beyond quarterly profits. I agree that you don't have to fundamentally change your business operation to become a B Corp, though it also depends on what business you're in. If you're a product manufacturer and you have to address the life cycle of your product, it's quite a big deal. If you're not selling an actual product and just internet based, it's easier, and that would include Couchsurfing.org. I do think there's a legitimate criticism of Couchsurfing.org's move to have VC investment and become a B Corp, but I would be careful to discredit the motivations behind the whole B Corp label, as there are a lot of people and companies who've done really valuable work and evolved their thinking through it.
The next step is Benefit Corp. As Ruth says, it's a whole different animal, because it fundamentally changes the legal structure of a company. It's still a relatively new option and currently only available in 12 states, though quickly growing. While it's also not perfect and certainly not a recipe to do away with profit altogether, it is a significant commitment to expand a business' modus operandi beyond profit. I say let's get as many companies to register as Benefit Corps as possible, if nothing else, it at least gives us a broader coalition of businesses to talk about an even deeper change towards the collective ownership Patrick talks about.
The consumer-owner and profit eradication idea certainly sounds great in theory, but I think a whole host of other things would have to fall into place before that could become a widespread reality. Most importantly, I think we have to change consciousness, the way people think about themselves and the world we live in, and that only comes with real world experience. A company becoming a B Corp is a step towards being more conscious of values beyond the bottom line, and Benefit Corp even more so, so let's not discount their values because it doesn't solve every problem or discrepancy at once.
I guess my best analogy here is once again the "ecocity" model, an idea I'm pretty familiar with. There's currently no place on earth that would qualify as a true ecocity, because the very idea embodies a fundamental structural, whole systems change. But in the process, many cities are making changes that add ecocity elements, like bike lanes, urban farms, and bringing housing, services and transit closer together, and those are all steps towards changing the way people think about the place they live in.
I think it's important to dream, but you also have to have tangible road marks along the way, and that's how I view B Corps, Benefit Corps, or Worker Co-ops — they're like life boats on the raw capitalist ocean that at least allow us to breathe while we're trying to change the waters we float in.
Neither B Corps nor Benefit Corporations can solve the problem because they still refuse to admit (or probably just do not realize) the true origin and purpose of profit.
Profit is not a reward for owners to dole-out as they see fit.
Profit measures consumer dependence upon the current owners.
Profit is *eliminated* when the consumers own the corporation and accept the product as the return on investment because, in that case, the product is never sold since it is already in the hands of those who need it!
Profit is undefined when the owners are consumers and product is ROI because the price paid as consumers is simply the costs paid as owners.
This eliminates the need to sell the product and eradicates profit naturally.
For a corporation to be actually beneficial would require they treat some of their profit as **an investment from the payer**.
Treating profit as the payer's investment will cause all consumers to incrementally gain the co-ownership used to finally stop buying the products they need instead of groveling at the feet of those who hold ownership against them (as measured by the amount of profit those owners can collect).
It's really not as hard to obtain a 501(c)(3) status as portrayed by the people who sold out CouchSurfing. WarmShowers (budget <1k$) has successfully done it recently.
CouchSurfing has managed to obtain the B label based on data from another completely separate non profit entity. The B corp label is only checked about every 5 years.
B corp label already is a sharing equivalent of greenwashing eco label and I have no problems discrediting the label. If I see a "sharing" company holding this label I would think twice before dealing with them in any way. If a US entity is really about sharing they should just go straight for the 501(c)(3) status.
B Lab (the nonprofit behind the B Corp) has a confusion-challenge on its hands. B Corp is a label, yes, but it's an audited label. Benefit Corporation, however, is a different animal, an additional B Lab creation. It's not just a label; it's a business status, just like 501(c)3. It's not yet available in every state, but it is certainly worth watching. http://www.benefitcorp.net/
B Lab (the nonprofit behind the B Corp) has a confusion-challenge on its hands. B Corp is a label, yes, but it's an audited label. Benefit Corporation, however, is a different animal, an additional B Lab creation. It's not just a label; it's a business status, just like 501(c)3. It's not yet available in every state, but it is certainly worth watching. http://www.benefitcorp.net/
It's really not as hard to obtain a 501(c)(3) status as portrayed by the people who sold out CouchSurfing. WarmShowers (budget <1k$) has successfully done it recently.
CouchSurfing has managed to obtain the B label based on data from another completely separate non profit entity. The B corp label is only checked about every 5 years.
B corp label already is a sharing equivalent of greenwashing eco label and I have no problems discrediting the label. If I see a "sharing" company holding this label I would think twice before dealing with them in any way. If a US entity is really about sharing they should just go straight for the 501(c)(3) status.
It's really not as hard to obtain a 501(c)(3) status as portrayed by the people who sold out CouchSurfing. WarmShowers (budget <1k$) has successfully done it recently.
CouchSurfing has managed to obtain the B label based on data from another completely separate non profit entity. The B corp label is only checked about every 5 years.
B corp label already is a sharing equivalent of greenwashing eco label and I have no problems discrediting the label. If I see a "sharing" company holding this label I would think twice before dealing with them in any way. If a US entity is really about sharing they should just go straight for the 501(c)(3) status.
It's really not as hard to obtain a 501(c)(3) status as portrayed by the people who sold out CouchSurfing. WarmShowers (budget <1k$) has successfully done it recently.
CouchSurfing has managed to obtain the B label based on data from another completely separate non profit entity. The B corp label is only checked about every 5 years.
B corp label already is a sharing equivalent of greenwashing eco label and I have no problems discrediting the label. If I see a "sharing" company holding this label I would think twice before dealing with them in any way. If a US entity is really about sharing they should just go straight for the 501(c)(3) status.
Such a wonderful article (love the way you write). I will also look into the other article about Italian co-working your recommended. My most recent blog post is also about serendipity (find it here http://juliusparrisius.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/sxswlucky-the-new-serend...). It offers five principles for us to live by to be more lucky in life and business. One of the principles is about networking and ties very well into the co-working concept. Tell me what you think. Best, Julius
You cannot 3D-Print an AR-15. You can print a lower receiver, magazines, and a few cosmetic parts, but that's it. You still need a steel barrel, springs, pins, bolt, bolt carrier, firing pin, etc. Not to mention ammunition.
With great power comes great responsibility. So who do you think should have great power? The government? Nothanks. I'm an adult, I can take responsibility, and I exhort others to do likewise.
Agreed. The beauty of taking a shared ownership model that is built on principles of open collaboration is that it inverts the power pyramid and enables large numbers of individuals to create and protect various commons for the good of all. This can even be done using a blend of market principles and community governing structures -- as the Linux model has shown in its developmental core and the diverse markets created around it.
Thanks so much for this helpful piece! One thing that would be great to include in this taxonomy is who can use the platforms - for example, unless you have a US bank account, you can't use Kickstarter.
There is also www.startsomegood.com, and www.pozible.com from Australia - open for any nation to use.
Hello Jullus, Thanks so much for writing. I will surely check out your article on serendipity, as I'm sure it will come in very useful. Thank you for sharing it. :)
I'm not particularly fond of guns. But it's hard for me to imagine individuals having LESS of a claim to own high-capacity automatic weapons than cops and soldiers do. Dorner wasn't burned alive in his cabin -- premeditatedly and in cold blood -- by a lone, crazy private gunman. Neither were 100,000 Iraqi soldiers and civilians.
I certainly have qualms about cheap, easy printing of means of large-scale destruction. But not as much as I do about states -- whose entire purpose is to maintain control on behalf of an exploitative ruling class -- holding a monopoly on them.
You should include OpenFire (http://openfi.re), a new platform for projects that aren't clearly for- or non-profit, but that have a social benefit aspect.
Full disclosure, I am using OpenFire for my campaign to create an open seed data catalog: http://openfi.re/goals/a5fb2b5969be1bc9bb135ab8130393e1
Great overview! I'm surprised Kickstarter didn't make the list, but I really like the attention to the three lesser known options.
thank you for the post
IT doesbouth
Hackers do great things!
I have been letting these "weeds" grow in my garden for years, only tp be persecuted by family and friends. I feel these three weeds are tastey and nutritional. Thanks for the recipe.
I've written up a cheap and simple, open-source way to double carbon sequestration in our yards, gardens and farms. This method and examples are at:
http://garden-life.ws/plant-lynx.htm
Calm unity leads to community.
I enjoyed reading your article Cat, and recognise many of the issues that lead my husband and I to create freelywheely.com - which is a freecycling site with no requirement to find or join a local group, or any hoops to jump through to sign up.
Predominantly in the UK at the moment - we are growing at a good rate and really hope to give TFN a run for their money!!
We've had a few run-ins with TFN in the last year - mostly because of our unapologetic use of the words freecycle and freecycling on our site - so far it has been a few blustery emails, whether anything more will ever come of it remains to be seen!
Btw, please don't be discouraged by the "internal server error" message you get when posting. The comments always go through the first time, no need to repost. It's something with the system here and will be fixed soon.
well, I think that rather than viewing it through and all or nothing lens, I think it's most constructive to look at the different certifications and labels as steps in the right direction.
I think B Corp may serve as a good introduction for companies to think a little bit beyond quarterly profits. I agree that you don't have to fundamentally change your business operation to become a B Corp, though it also depends on what business you're in. If you're a product manufacturer and you have to address the life cycle of your product, it's quite a big deal. If you're not selling an actual product and just internet based, it's easier, and that would include Couchsurfing.org. I do think there's a legitimate criticism of Couchsurfing.org's move to have VC investment and become a B Corp, but I would be careful to discredit the motivations behind the whole B Corp label, as there are a lot of people and companies who've done really valuable work and evolved their thinking through it.
The next step is Benefit Corp. As Ruth says, it's a whole different animal, because it fundamentally changes the legal structure of a company. It's still a relatively new option and currently only available in 12 states, though quickly growing. While it's also not perfect and certainly not a recipe to do away with profit altogether, it is a significant commitment to expand a business' modus operandi beyond profit. I say let's get as many companies to register as Benefit Corps as possible, if nothing else, it at least gives us a broader coalition of businesses to talk about an even deeper change towards the collective ownership Patrick talks about.
The consumer-owner and profit eradication idea certainly sounds great in theory, but I think a whole host of other things would have to fall into place before that could become a widespread reality. Most importantly, I think we have to change consciousness, the way people think about themselves and the world we live in, and that only comes with real world experience. A company becoming a B Corp is a step towards being more conscious of values beyond the bottom line, and Benefit Corp even more so, so let's not discount their values because it doesn't solve every problem or discrepancy at once.
I guess my best analogy here is once again the "ecocity" model, an idea I'm pretty familiar with. There's currently no place on earth that would qualify as a true ecocity, because the very idea embodies a fundamental structural, whole systems change. But in the process, many cities are making changes that add ecocity elements, like bike lanes, urban farms, and bringing housing, services and transit closer together, and those are all steps towards changing the way people think about the place they live in.
I think it's important to dream, but you also have to have tangible road marks along the way, and that's how I view B Corps, Benefit Corps, or Worker Co-ops — they're like life boats on the raw capitalist ocean that at least allow us to breathe while we're trying to change the waters we float in.
Neither B Corps nor Benefit Corporations can solve the problem because they still refuse to admit (or probably just do not realize) the true origin and purpose of profit.
Profit is not a reward for owners to dole-out as they see fit.
Profit measures consumer dependence upon the current owners.
Profit is *eliminated* when the consumers own the corporation and accept the product as the return on investment because, in that case, the product is never sold since it is already in the hands of those who need it!
Profit is undefined when the owners are consumers and product is ROI because the price paid as consumers is simply the costs paid as owners.
This eliminates the need to sell the product and eradicates profit naturally.
For a corporation to be actually beneficial would require they treat some of their profit as **an investment from the payer**.
Treating profit as the payer's investment will cause all consumers to incrementally gain the co-ownership used to finally stop buying the products they need instead of groveling at the feet of those who hold ownership against them (as measured by the amount of profit those owners can collect).
It's really not as hard to obtain a 501(c)(3) status as portrayed by the people who sold out CouchSurfing. WarmShowers (budget <1k$) has successfully done it recently.
CouchSurfing has managed to obtain the B label based on data from another completely separate non profit entity. The B corp label is only checked about every 5 years.
B corp label already is a sharing equivalent of greenwashing eco label and I have no problems discrediting the label. If I see a "sharing" company holding this label I would think twice before dealing with them in any way. If a US entity is really about sharing they should just go straight for the 501(c)(3) status.
B Lab (the nonprofit behind the B Corp) has a confusion-challenge on its hands. B Corp is a label, yes, but it's an audited label. Benefit Corporation, however, is a different animal, an additional B Lab creation. It's not just a label; it's a business status, just like 501(c)3. It's not yet available in every state, but it is certainly worth watching. http://www.benefitcorp.net/
B Lab (the nonprofit behind the B Corp) has a confusion-challenge on its hands. B Corp is a label, yes, but it's an audited label. Benefit Corporation, however, is a different animal, an additional B Lab creation. It's not just a label; it's a business status, just like 501(c)3. It's not yet available in every state, but it is certainly worth watching. http://www.benefitcorp.net/
It's really not as hard to obtain a 501(c)(3) status as portrayed by the people who sold out CouchSurfing. WarmShowers (budget <1k$) has successfully done it recently.
CouchSurfing has managed to obtain the B label based on data from another completely separate non profit entity. The B corp label is only checked about every 5 years.
B corp label already is a sharing equivalent of greenwashing eco label and I have no problems discrediting the label. If I see a "sharing" company holding this label I would think twice before dealing with them in any way. If a US entity is really about sharing they should just go straight for the 501(c)(3) status.
It's really not as hard to obtain a 501(c)(3) status as portrayed by the people who sold out CouchSurfing. WarmShowers (budget <1k$) has successfully done it recently.
CouchSurfing has managed to obtain the B label based on data from another completely separate non profit entity. The B corp label is only checked about every 5 years.
B corp label already is a sharing equivalent of greenwashing eco label and I have no problems discrediting the label. If I see a "sharing" company holding this label I would think twice before dealing with them in any way. If a US entity is really about sharing they should just go straight for the 501(c)(3) status.
It's really not as hard to obtain a 501(c)(3) status as portrayed by the people who sold out CouchSurfing. WarmShowers (budget <1k$) has successfully done it recently.
CouchSurfing has managed to obtain the B label based on data from another completely separate non profit entity. The B corp label is only checked about every 5 years.
B corp label already is a sharing equivalent of greenwashing eco label and I have no problems discrediting the label. If I see a "sharing" company holding this label I would think twice before dealing with them in any way. If a US entity is really about sharing they should just go straight for the 501(c)(3) status.
Such a wonderful article (love the way you write). I will also look into the other article about Italian co-working your recommended. My most recent blog post is also about serendipity (find it here http://juliusparrisius.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/sxswlucky-the-new-serend...). It offers five principles for us to live by to be more lucky in life and business. One of the principles is about networking and ties very well into the co-working concept. Tell me what you think. Best, Julius
Google always do spring cleaning. They do not earn on rss reader - they close the program.
You cannot 3D-Print an AR-15. You can print a lower receiver, magazines, and a few cosmetic parts, but that's it. You still need a steel barrel, springs, pins, bolt, bolt carrier, firing pin, etc. Not to mention ammunition.
With great power comes great responsibility. So who do you think should have great power? The government? Nothanks. I'm an adult, I can take responsibility, and I exhort others to do likewise.
Hi Milton,
Agreed. The beauty of taking a shared ownership model that is built on principles of open collaboration is that it inverts the power pyramid and enables large numbers of individuals to create and protect various commons for the good of all. This can even be done using a blend of market principles and community governing structures -- as the Linux model has shown in its developmental core and the diverse markets created around it.
Best,
Joe