[_huayra_]

I wonder if anyone works in a worker cooperative software company. I'd imagine there are some, but I wonder what kinds of software they do / products they make.

From what I've read about co-ops, I would definitely love to work at one one day. Even having to work more hours would feel more meaningful because I'd by benefitting my own bottom line in a way, not just going towards the CEO's private island fund.

[ryanchants]

I've actually thought about starting one. It seems like a software consultancy would probably be the best fit.

[eitland]

I work for a employee owned software consultancy in Oslo, Norway.

It is in deed ideal in many ways or ay least has been while I've worked there.

(It doesn't hurt either though that it is the first place I've worked for more than two - three years without spotting an a__hole or two. Take this into account.)

[_huayra_]

Do you think a worker co-op either/both avoids hiring a-holes in the first place and/or avoids bringing out a-hole tendencies in otherwise normal folks?

Being ~8 layers deep in the corporate hierarchy at my current place is very frustrating, and I think it probably affects my current a-hole level just due to apathy...

[eitland]

I think we've been lucky.

Maybe it also helps that everyone has a financial incentive in making sure everyone else performs at their best since that means more bonus and also higher stock prices.

[_huayra_]

Yes it seems like software consultancy would be the most obvious choice. I wonder if such a structure could expand to build a complicated B2B product, for instance. The example that comes to mind is some sort of enterprise wifi / networking thing. Could a co-op grow to encompass a manufacturing supply chain?

I just wonder how one would handle this beyond ~Dunbar's number. I've only heard of the company that makes Gore-tex handle this in a creative way [0], essentially splintering organizations into separate orgs once they became large enough.

[0] https://blog.gembaacademy.com/2011/06/21/dunbars_number_span...