[adamsmith143]

Worker Co-Ops aren't a new concept but I think in the USA it's taboo because it gets in the general vicinity of "Communism" so people are wary. I always thought it was disturbing that Americans can simultaneously preach about their love of Freedom, shouting Freedom this Freedom that and yet subject themselves to an essentially Authoritarian/Dictatorial workplace for 8+ hours a day with no qualms. Apparently Democracy only goes as far as the front door of your office and is dropped off there until you clock out. Quite strange.

As poster above mentioned fundraising is a major challenge. Seems like debt is your only option if you want to keep the thing 100% employee owned. Bootstrapped businesses are of course a thing and can scale to Unicorn level but at a much slower pace than a VC backed startup.