Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by fragmede 2477 days ago
Why doesn't the phrase "we should make a co-op version of X company" fit well with the platform coop model? Or rather, the focus on employee happiness is a product all its own. Just like consumers are willing to pay higher prices for "organic" produce, simply being a coop is a product feature.

Yes, competition (from corporations) means it's not enough to say "we're a co-op" if the product doesn't actually work, but well-funded corporate competition could clone any feature that isn't linked to a more egalitarian equity structure. My "co-op for Doordash but we don't steal tips" is far harder to copy, business-wise than "co-op for Doordash, but with a 'food me now' button that picks food for me".
2 comments
Co_Reentry 2475 days ago
Sorry maybe I wasn't clear. I don't mean to say that there should not be a focus on member (employee or otherwise) happiness. Actually quite to the contrary. Co-ops do a much better job of aligning incentives for all stakeholders (especially worker-coops in the case of employees) and most track engagement as a business metric. I totally think that simply being a cooperative makes the business model more defensible, I just think it is not the only differentiator needed. So if you are a b2b saas business that just so happens to be structured as a worker-coop or a media outlet that is owned by media producers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press). It just boils down to designing around a business case first, then adding the layer of mutual aid.
link
walshemj 2476 days ago
In a coop version of doordash the people doing the deliveries would be both employees and members there would be no such thing as individual tip.

Not quite sure you know how coops work - its not just a nice trendy name to put over yet another exploitative "gig" economy

link
fragmede 2476 days ago
Not sure why you felt the insult was necessary, but yes, that exactly!

Co-op doordash turns the entire concept of tipping on its head, contrary to traditional corporate governance, which has incentive to funnel money to a CEO and a board, compared to a more egalitarian co-op structure.

link